Dame Dash Says Lyor Cohen Influenced "Roc" Collapse, "He's A Mastermind"

Written by Cyrus Langhorne

Roc-A-Fella co-founder Damon "Dame" Dash recently spoke on seeing his former record label collapse and said he still maintains "love" for his ex-associates including Jay-Z and Kanye West.

Dame also suggested former Def Jam president, Lyor Cohen, influenced the company's 2005 break-up.

"I'm very disappointed where Roc-A-Fella went," Dame explained in an interview. "I'm very disappointed, it's like the brand is compromised. I never thought that could ever happen where Roc-A-Fella is just not relevant. Lyor is a funny dude, he's a mastermind. He's not scared, I think his influences are what broke up Roc-A-Fella. It's just all business man and even though I'm not running it no more, you still don't wanna see something go down. It feels good but it feels bad, it's bittersweet. It's hard. I got love for everybody, really. But sometimes people do things that are uncharacteristic of what I thought they were. I wish [Beanie Sigel] could have done a little more. I'm surprised at that certain position he took. But you know, he's a man and he's gotta do what he's gotta do...Kanye is a funny cat to me, I can never know whether he's acting or not...The Kanye I see on television isn't the Kanye that I know -- but I always will admire his hustle, his work ethic..." (Mixtape Monster)

Lyor, now an executive at Warner Music Group, was reportedly a deciding factor in Jay-Z's decision to release his number one album, Blueprint 3, through the company.

"Jay knows Lyor and Kevin [Liles] from back when they all worked together at Def Jam, and he obviously wants to work something out with his friends," says our insider. "He wants to get the dream team back together. There have been a few whiffs of a reunion in the past, but only now - and very privately - is something finally starting to happen...This is big in hip hop. These are three of the most powerful men in music, who might be working together, and there's no question the success they'll have as a team will be huge." (New York Daily News)

Dame recently weighed in on seeing Jay and Beans having their issues publicized.

"I love Jay, I love Beans -- what's the reason for beef?" Dash responded in an interview. "That's stupid. What's the reason for beef? People die, people don't feel good -- I want people to laugh...I was hurt for him, more or less, because I know that ain't him. But I don't want to speak on that. Whatever [Beanie's] going through where he's got to do that...I could understand where he may look at things and feel that way. I can see that. He's probably got a lot of people around him and nobody to really tell him what's going on. It was a different environment for Roc-A-Fella back then. I feel bad for those cats. I love those cats. I hate that they struggle. I hate it. I hate to see anybody struggle. I don't embrace that. I'm not one of those dudes that get happy when I hear something bad about somebody I had a bond with. I really loved those dudes." (MTV)

He also announced plans to launch a new Internet radio station earlier this year.

"I think it's gonna launch in a couple weeks and it's just really for good music," he revealed in a September interview. "It's not about getting money or all the ads, or things like that, it's really about giving people a platform to hear good music...I think the whole world is getting ready to turn for that. It feels like good music is gonna take the forefront and people with a good show. I think that's the good business model." (XXL Mag)



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