Record producer and Roc-A-Fella Records co-founder Damon Dash has had a series of high-profile personal and professional relationships throughout his career, including a love affair with the late Aaliyah, a marriage to fashion designer Rachel Roy and business partnership with Jay-Z. Eventually, each of these relationships ended or turned sour, and instead of dealing with his losses in the public eye, Dash decided to spend the last few years of his life out of the spotlight.
MUST READ: Throwback: Damon Dash Remembers Aaliyah: “Every Time I Was With Her, I Felt It Was The Place To Be”
Well, he’s risen from his cave and he finally opened up about some of the harder times in his life in a recent interview on the Comebat Jack Show. Here’s a few highlights on what he had to say about healing and moving forward.
On dealing with Aaliyah’s death:
Meeting someone that’s trying to do the same thing you’re trying to do in the same urban marketplace but not really being so urban. Her mind was where my mind was. She understood me and she got my jokes.
My heart was broken when she died. I felt like a f–king broken heart, like you feel when someone you love dies. That was a normal human reaction and you have to push through it. God does things and put certain things in front of you to see how strong you are. That was defining pain but as everyone saw, I dealt with it. I was able to move forward even through the pain. I was able to give people a perspective on death because I went through it whether it is with my mom or with the girl that I didn’t expect to lose.
I was reading a lot of books. ‘The Seeds of the Soul’ and I don’t necessarily think that death is a bad thing because it happens to everybody. Death is 100% going to happen to every human being, or anything living in the planet. It’s a process that you have to deal with. Everybody goes through it, everybody survives loss.
The same time I lost Aaliyah, 9/11 happened a month later. Thousands of people lost and they weren’t able to do it in the way I was.
On getting married again after his divorce from Rachel Roy:
I don’t know. I don’t think about sh*t like that. If it happens I’m not opposed to it. I haven’t met a better woman than Rachel. She’s a strong woman. You have to remember the two women in my life were Aaliyah and Rachel so for me to find one greater than that I’d be a lucky man.
I’m raising my children. More than anything it’s about your kids. So I love the life that my kids have. The life that my kids mother has. I love Rachel’s life. My daughter and son just came back from opening up a gallery in Hong Kong with me. Ava just came back from a trip with is mom Rachel to India. On both sides, she’s a woman that’s strong. And she’s also seeing a man that’s strong, creative, and independent, and never had to compromise quality of living. I can pick my daughter up from school every day. That’s what it’s always been about.
On the last time her spoke to Jay and what he would like to say to him:
I don’t remember. Its crazy. It’s corny. I always felt that way.
I don’t think it’s an issue with him. I just think we took different paths. I’m proud of everything that he’s done and I’m proud of everything that I’ve done since then. I feel like I’ve done a lot and whatever his dreams are he’s made them come true but my dreams aren’t the same as his. What I consider a win most people don’t.
Life is about perspective. So my perspective on things is probably different than most. I’m not trying to be in hip-hop at 42 and 43 looking like an old man in the club. I never wanted to do that. I always wanted to do fashion, make movies, I enjoy business and being an entrepreneur on every level. I really enjoy it. I really enjoy my independence. I enjoy doing businesses without anyone’s help.
Listen to his full two-hour interview below and tell us what you think of what Dame had to say.
RELATED STORIES
Rachel Roy And Damon Dash To Split
Aaliyah and Damon Dash: A Look Back
Check Out This Gallery
