Still, the sneakers are just one line item on his acquisitions docket.īy 6 p.m., on a summer weekday, there are 23 employees crammed into Dash's office. Dash knows this, and in his unceasing quest for - we're not making this up - "world domination," he's just acquired Pro-Keds for an undisclosed sum. In the $10 billion game of hip-hop - which turns 30 this year - where Run-DMC immortalized "My Adidas" and Heavy D rhapsodized about Nikes, it pays to be branded. He parades about the room, modeling sneakers, soliciting opinions, answering his cell phone, berating those whose attention wanders.ĭash knows from sneakers never wears the same pair twice. Indeed, sneakers are everywhere, piled up on the window ledges, all in size 91/2, and all laced just the way Dash likes them. "Pay attention," the single father of two says. Life at the top can get awfully complicated. He's facing serious legal problems, including a civil lawsuit brought by a woman who accuses him of sexually assaulting her in Brazil, an allegation he vehemently denies.Īnd he's in negotiations to sell Roc-A-Fella Records. Jay-Z, the man upon whose back Dash built his fortune, says he's retiring. But as he sees it, the devil - him - is in the details, and if he doesn't keep an eye trained on every aspect of his companies, then who will? These days, he's got more than his share of pressure. EVERYBODY.ĭash, 33, Harlem-born and prep-school-bred, may oversee a $500 million hip-hop empire, the one he founded in 1996 with his friend, Grammy-winning rapper Jay-Z. A few minutes later, Dash flings open the door and orders everyone, the music folks, the fashion folks, the sneaker folks and the advertising folks, inside. Holding court.įirst, he summons the music guys: "Ah, here we have the no-hit team." Dash kicks out a reporter and shuts the door to his office, and the hollering commences.
Damon Dash - CEO of the "Roc," Roc-A-Fella Records, Rocawear Clothing, Armadale vodka, Tiret New York watches and Dash Films - sits, picking at the tropical fruit, baseball cap swung backward, diamond stud blinging in one ear. On his desk in his corner office is a fruit plate, prepared for him by his at-home chef and served to him by one of his harried personal assistants, the one who never has time to eat and who lost 15 pounds in the first month on the job.
#Dam dash intelligent hustl series
One in an occasional series marking the 30th anniversary of rap music
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