Can Jim Jones Bring Back Damon Dash?

You know Damon Dash is counting on Jim Jones' next career step to put him back on the gravy train.  Jones has a lot going on including:

"a Christmas album of hard-core street stories...a role in the cable drama 'Crash,' an autobiographical documentary submitted to Sundance...and, most important, his major-label debut, Pray for Reign."

And Damon Dash is all wrapped up in Jim's career at the moment including a documentary, This Is Jim Jones, which they're hoping makes Sundance and an off-Broadway play, The Hip-Hop Monologues.

Jones presents the play as, in part, a marketing maneuver:

"For the most part, when you're an artist, you do the conventional thing, like hold a listening session for the media. ... So, I was trying to think of something new, now that I had a deal from Columbia...I was just thinking of new ways and new advances and the play was one of them. I'm like, 'Yo, Dame, I got an idea. You think we can pull this off?' You know, Dame thinks he can pull anything off.'"

So far they seem to be a good match.  And doing an off-Broadway play is certainly a unique way to signify that one's moving to bigger and better things.  This may be fun to watch!

Damon Dash Facing Foreclosure on 2 Properties

The Associated Press is reporting that Dame Dash and Rachel Roy face foreclosure on two Manhattan apartments on which they owe $7.3 million.

"Your Mama" at the Real Estalker has more:

"According to property records, reports and court filings, the alliteratively blessed couple carries a whopping $7,300,000 mortgage on the N. Moore Street condo, which is comprised of two combined units. Mortgage holder Eastern Savings Bank, the entity that initiated the uglee foreclosure proceedings, claims the couple were meant to be making monstrous monthly payments of $78,500."

Hit her blog for a taste of Your Mama's style and her take on this situation.

Rachel Roy/Damon Dash in Deal w/Jones Apparel Group

Jones Apparel Group, which has deals with all sorts of people, now has a joint venture with Rachel Roy, Damon Dash and TSM Capital LLC to:

"develop, market and license the New York-based fashion brand, Rachel Roy.  Under the terms of the agreement, Jones owns 50% of the joint venture interest. The remaining interest is owned by the two founders, Rachel Roy and Damon Dash, as well as TSM Capital which acquired a minority stake in the business last November.  Jones said it will assume operations of the existing designer collection business under license with the new joint venture."

Via Nah Right who says rumors are circulating that the joint venture is valued at $4 billion.

Official Site:
Rachel Roy

Damon Dash Puts Jay-Z's Reasonable Doubt on iTunes

You know Damon Dash and Kareem "Biggs" Burke are getting a laugh [and anticipating a nice payoff] from putting Jay-Z's Reasonable Doubt on iTunes after the recent rejection of iTunes by both Jay-Z and Jermaine Dupri.

Watch those fans chop up that album and take the good parts of Jay-Z's only true classic album and listen to those parts as individual tracks, destroying the artist's vision and leading us further down a hellish path where ringtone rappers rule and true artists can't get no respect.

Chop it up, bag it, sell, sell, sell.

Wait a minute, that sounds like drug dealing.  I thought Jay-Z was so into that kind of thing.

Distribution via Tunecore.

Damon Dash's Empire in a Slump

Though the New York Post's Suzanne Kapner says that an "analysis of [Damon] Dash's various holdings, which range from fashion to entertainment, turns up more misses than hits", he doesn't sound like he's doing all that bad.

But he is having to adjust and adapt to his current reality which includes the deaths of his Ultimate Hustler tv show, the State Property fashion line and the Damon Dash Music Group.  Hmmm, that does sound bad.

On a brighter note, Pro-Keds, which Dash licensed from Stride-Rite and has put a lot of energy into, is estimated to have "more than doubled sales in the past year to exceed $22 million".  Plus, though Dash's CEO fashion line and wife Rachel Roy's line haven't exploded, they're still in the early stages.

I don't really see any reason to count Dame out and it's often a good sign when rich men with a lot of ego invested in their companies can shut them down if it's the right business move.

However, having found Dame's need for servants rather extensive, one wonders how well he's handling the fact revealed by a "friend" that he's "flying first class these days, not by private plane."

Via Complex.

From The Vaults: Armadale Vodka Product Placement In Jay-Z's Change Clothes Video

Damon Dash's Armadale Vodka

Though a sedated-looking Dame Dash holding what are apparently two bottles of Armadale Vodka appears only briefly towards the end of Jay-Z's Change Clothes video, it seems like a nice compliment to the tale of Armand de Brignac Champagne.

Jay-Z - Change Clothes

Jay-Z May Deepen Relationship With Microsoft

Not only did Jay-Z recently do a commercial for HP, apparently he's also working with Microsoft in some yet to be announced capacity.  However, the relationship is already blooming:

In New York, at an MSN-sponsored dinner to celebrate the fall lines of his Rocawear clothing and S.Carter sneaker, the crowd featured artists, industry-types and more than a few Microsoft techies.  When Jay-Z lifted a glass to toast his new friend "Willy Gates," despite a few amused cringes, one got the sense Microsoft might be onto a whole new kind of innovation. And this time, it's social.

The article details some of Microsoft's other moves with folks like the Dixie Chicks.

Many of us hip hop bloggers were quite impressed with the meeting of Jay-Z and Bill Gates back in May.

No doubt Damon Dash will be tying all this in to his groundbreaking moves with the Rocbox!  Um, which seems to have ceased to exist.

Damon Dash Feature, Cam'ron's Platinum Entrepreneur

Interesting piece on Damon Dash in New York magazine:

“Not many people understand how important having a butler is, but it is,” Dash says. “I need somebody to help me get everything I’m going to wear for the day all set up, know what I’m saying?” A day with Damon Dash is like a Britney Spears concert, with a change of outfits for every phase (he’s currently doing a sort of matchy-matchy homeboy thing with below-the-knees shorts, a long-sleeved T-shirt, and spotless leather high-tops, all in red). “You’d think it’s easy, but I’ve got a lot to put together, accessory-wise, especially at night. Cuff links are a motherf*cker.”

Found the above via Nah Right where there's also news regarding the first issue of Cam'ron's Platinum Entrepreneur, now available as a free .pdf download.

The Dash article does discuss his business history and fallout with Jay-Z but Platinum Entrepreneur offers an article called Cam'ron: Self Made Millionaire with fresher and more revealing biz information.  Although, given some of Cam'ron's nutty public statements, it's kind of hard to take his numbers at face value.

Update:
After looking back at our discussion in the comments of how much Cam gets per album, I realized that the problem isn't the claim of 6 dollars to 2 dollars [or similar figures] but more of a question of who's responsible for paying what, how does the recoupment process work and so forth.  What I think Cam did was keep more of his cut by not spending on publicity.  The album, whatever is was, got little attention despite Cam's crazy public statements that apparently stood in for a publicity campaign and basically flopped for an artist at his level of visibility.

Damon Dash News: Toronto Conference, Bun B Sneaker, Rocawear Sale, Sigel Leaves

With the upcoming premier of Ultimate Hustler, it seems appropriate to see what else Damon Dash has been up to lately.

In December, the How Can I Be Down? conference makes its way to Toronto in conjunction with the Hip-Hop Summit Action Network. The Damon Dash Music Group is involved with the conference and Dash is expected to be a panelist.

Bun B has a sneaker deal with Damon Dash's Pro-Keds for a limited edition line of sneaks.

Damon Dash has cashed out of Rocawear and "is severing business ties with former partners including Jay-Z":
"They gave me $30 million and 75% of Team Roc. I'm real happy with the deal. I got $22.5 million in cash and the rest in companies (like State Property, Team Roc, Pro-Keds and other entities)."

Though Beanie Sigel recently thanked Damon Dash for his support and described him as "just like my brother", Sigel is leaving the Damon Dash Music Group in order to be independent of drama between Jay-Z and Damon Dash:
"I got my own [State Property imprint] with Universal . . . I didn't want to be in the situation where I had to pick between my homies. They both good homies of mine. . . I just said the best thing for me to do as a man and true friend was to back up from both situations. I would have my friends on the same level. I don't gotta worry about one feeling no type of way because I'm riding with this one. That's a real uncomfortable feeling."

Official website: Damon Dash Music Group

Damon Dash's Ultimate Hustler Premiers Oct. 4th

I've actually seen very little online about Damon Dash's "reality" tv show Ultimate Huster that premiers Tuesday, October 4th 9:00 ET/PT on BET. However, I just received this press release with the basic information about the show.

The show will run for 13 episodes and feature 16 contestants in what sounds like a combination of MTV's Real World, whatever that Donald Trump show is called and Survivor.

The contestants include a "party promoter from Atlanta, fashion designers from Miami and New York, a street hustler from New Orleans and even an adult entertainer from Long Island." They will be housed "in Harlem in the former home of legendary 1970's gangster, Nicky Barnes; fully equipped with state-of-the-art technology which delivers their weekly challenges." Furthermore, "'You are being watched' is the consistent theme throughout the series with the contestants under constant surveillance by Dash, even in their private quarters." That's the Real World voyeuristic element.

The Survivor element comes in with the kind of tasks given that sound like an endurance contest:
"In each episode viewers watch as contestants face a series of mental and physical challenges. Tasks put forth by Dash, run the gamut from boxing ring stamina, innovative street sales to all night studio sessions --- the hustle never stops."

An instant death option is built in to create additional stress for the participants, dramatic tension for the viewers and leaving Dash free to go off and eliminate people on a momentary whim:
"Dash does not follow the usual formula of one contestant eliminated per episode. Contestants may be asked to leave the show at any given point, sometimes in multiples."

Not surprisingly, the opportunities for product placement in the show are incredible, including Dash's own properties:
"Each task will focus on a different arena of Dash's empire. Dash's vast array of businesses includes America Magazine, Damon Dash Music Group, Dash Films, Armadale Vodka, Dash Management, PRO-KEDS, State Property, Team Roc and Dash/DiBella Boxing."

But the prizes also represent branded entertainment:
"The ULTIMATE HUSTLER winner receives a position within the Damon Dash Empire to shepherd their winning "big pitch" idea, a platinum and diamond chain worth $15K, a 2006 Jeep Commander, and a myriad of additional prizes (Roc Box, clothing, etc.) fit for an Ultimate Hustler from Damon Dash."

Damon Dash states, "This program will be the blueprint on how to become an entrepreneur and BET is the perfect place to demonstrate it to my culture." Whatever. Despite my reservations, I will probably be trying to check this out but I certainly won't be drinking the kool-aid.

In related branded entertainment news, the NY Times has an extended piece on the ever more extensive desires of advertisers as tv viewers Tivo out ads and "brands go from props to stars".

More On Boxing, Dash and Lou DiBella

I was inspired to follow up on my previous post about hip hop and boxing by a brief biting comment from Janice, who I assume is Janice Spence of Write On Point!, a UK based online hip hop zine. If you check out the 2004 Archives on her site, you'll see an earlier more hopeful take on Damon Dash's possible effects on the UK hip hop scene that haven't gone as well as hoped. Mostly I recall the Posh Spice deal devolving into scandal.

As I wrote about back when Dash/DiBella Promotions was getting off the ground, some folks in boxing welcomed the partnership, though I also recall a lot of scepticism in the comments sections following various articles on boxing sites. However, I mostly think that Damon Dash is a good fit for boxing promotion.

Last month, BallerStatus.net ran an earlier interview with Dash regarding his interest in boxing and what he'll bring to the sport:
"Back in the day when we first started to get a few dollars, it was a big event to go to a fight. We would get dressed up and wear our best jewelry. It was status to have good seats and there was electricity. It's like being in a club; you're not only watching the fight, but you're looking to see who is there. That made you want to go to more fights. I developed a love for the sport from that perspective, and because of the art and skill of it. I'm trying to bring it back to suit-and-tie status because I feel boxing deserves that kind of attention and should be that kind of event."

He also commented on what he and Lou DiBella bring to their partnership:
"Lou knows the business of boxing, and I learned that and I know the business of marketing, enough where I could bring in other demographics. Together and combined -- once any of these fighters win a bunch of fights and become champions -- we'll be able to put together the ideal event because he has the infrastructure to facilitate the business part of boxing and promoting, and I have the infrastructure to facilitate the awareness and also make sure the girls look good, the jewelry is correct -- everything."

So Dash brings marketing skills and infrastructure allied with an understanding of girls and jewelry. His comments make me smirk yet they also support my feeling that he might do ok. More importantly, they confirm Janice's comments that the promoters are ultimately dependent on the boxers doing well or the glitz and glamour won't follow.

SecondsOut.com has a really great feature on Lou DiBella about whom I have to admit I knew very little. Thomas Hauser describes DiBella's decision to leave his position at HBO Sports where he was "once one of the most powerful people in boxing." Going independent and trying to reform boxing is not an easy thing to do.

Back in 2000, DiBella said:
"I'll work for the fighter . . . I'll hire the promoter, who will be responsible for promoting each fight in accordance with the laws of the state in which the fight is held. The promoter will control the legal administration of the show, but I'll negotiate the site fee and close the television deal. In other words, the promoter will work for the fighter. I'm trying to make a point. I'm trying to rattle the cage and do things differently. I can't turn boxing upside down overnight. But it's as important to me now to shake this business up as it is to make money."

He ran into a lot of problems, overspending on a boxer who didn't do so well and getting ditched by a boxer who did. Hauser describes critics as saying that "he gave new meaning to the word 'lou-dicrous' and could start a fist-fight in an empty room." A story that suggests he and Dash may have been meant for each other, at least in terms of their personalities!

Hauser discusses DiBella's current status in the "second tier of promoters behind Top Rank and Don King Productions." About his partnership with Damon Dash, DiBella states:
"For a long time, I've thought that something had to be done with marketing to revitalize the sport . . . The idea is to create a synergy between boxing, rap music, and urban style; particularly with African-American fighters. There have been attempts to sexy-up the sport for the young urban market before. But for the most part, they've been undertaken by white television executives, who are the wrong people for the job."

After being burned by his early business endeavors, he looks at boxers a bit more cynically now and has some choice words about the business of boxing:
"I've been tempered by reality. I still think boxing is a miserable business. Everything is a deal. People lie all the time and don't even consider it lying. Sooner or later, virtually everyone in the business adopts a go-along mentality or they get crushed. I've come to the conclusion that I can't change the way other people do business. So I operate my own company consistent with my conscience and no longer get a stomach ache every time I see an injustice in boxing. I can't say that I enjoy the business, but it's addictive. And I don't want to be pushed out by the bad guys. I won't let the bastards beat me. If I quit, I want it to be when I'm on top. Maybe then I'll decide that I don't want to be a big fish swimming around in a sewage tank."

Believe it or not, there's plenty more worth reading in Thomas Hauser's article, including a discussion of DiBella's Broadway Boxing endeavor and a great trash talking encounter between DiBella and boxer Bernard Hopkins. If nothing else, it sounds like Damon Dash and Lou DiBella will provide plenty of material for future discussion.

Hip Hop to Revitalize Boxing?

Last week, NY Times' writer John Eligon considered the possible effects of hip hop on boxing with a special focus on Damon Dash and promoter Lou DiBella with whom Dash founded Dash-DiBella Promotions. Dash is hoping to revitalize the audience for boxing by revitalizing the sport's showmanship.

Dash stated:
"I think boxing in general has lost a little bit of the glitz and the glamour that it used to have, and I think hip-hop brings back that glitz, that glamour and that intrigue . . . Over all, what I'm trying to do for boxing as a whole, I want to bring the sexiness and the charisma of the glitz and the glamour and the diamonds back to the sport. I want people to look at the fights more as an event as well as loving the sports aspect of it."

And a variety of people in the world of boxing agree with him or, at the very least, welcome such attempts. For example, Dino Duva of Duva Boxing thinks that folks like Dash can be particularly helpful in raising interest for black boxers, who some feel have been underpromoted of late:
"I think that they can be great for the sport if they do what they do best for the boxers . . . That has to do with helping market and publicize fighters. They obviously have a huge vehicle to be able to market and get exposure for fighters through the hip-hop industry. I think that can be great for African-American fighters."

As Sugar Ray Leonard put it:
"Hip-hop is major . . . It would help the kids and young boxers cross over to the newer generation."

The article has a lot of other interesting bits and pieces but I'm particularly drawn to its closing comments:
"Boxing does not have to worry about hip-hop tarnishing its image because corporate sponsorship is scarce and the sport's reputation is already in question because of perceived corruption. 'We don't have many corporations that are running to boxing,' said the promoter Todd duBoef, president of Top Rank Inc. By turning to hip-hop, he added, 'We got nothing to lose.'

Now that's the kind of enthusiasm that's certain to bring the bling back to boxing!

Followup: More On Boxing, Dash and Lou DiBella

Damon Dash's ODB Plans Blocked on Both Sides

Damon Dash's plans to create an ODB Pro-Keds sneaker are being met with legal threats from Ol' Dirty Bastard's widow Icelene Jones. Attorneys for Ms. Jones state that only she can approve the creation of such a line of sneakers.

Former ODB manager Jarred Weisfeld has also gotten into a beef with Dash demanding that he "remove his name, his voice and all scenes in which he appears from an ODB documentary scheduled to be released with the album." Supposedly, Darrin Chandler, an associate of Damon Dash, responded to Weidfield's demands with the following email:
"We will make sure his b*tch ass is out of the special and for the record your [sic] a f--g clown."

Weisfeld's response?:
"I got a good laugh at his unprofessional remarks, and they made me realize why Jay-Z is Def Jam president and Damon is yesterday's news."

Bloggers on the Rocbox & DJ Green Lantern, WritersWeekly.com on The Source

Hashim Warren considers the rocbox Blog, written by a purchaser who's discovered that there's little customer support for the Rocbox and is in the process of hacking the firmware.  The author also links to the official website which looks kind of cool but I'm not the one hoping to get information on my discounted Rocbox.

The Hip Hop Blogger also comments and suggests that the "Rocbox really could benefit from a fresh marketing plan."  It sounds like a job for Jameel Spencer who recently joined Roc Brands.  Maybe they're waiting for the Rocbox 2.

Mixtapes Etc.'s Ahsmi rounds up the news on DJ Green Lantern's departure from Eminem's camp due to fallout from 50 Cent's many feuds.

The Source was recently added to the Whispers and Warnings file at WritersWeekly.com.

Damon Dash: Death of a Dynasty, State Property 2

Damon Dash directs, produces and stars in Death of a Dynasty and State Property 2. Recently he talked to VH1 about other movies that influenced him.

The pseudocumentary about Roc-A-Fella, Death of a Dynasty, which was apparently completed in 2003, opens at the end of the month. Cinematical reviews the trailer for an amazingly similar film about a label they call "Rock-A-Fella."

State Property 2 is out and is being described as better than the first in places like the NY Times. The first was pretty weak but I haven't seen the second. However, according to the Village Voice, Beanie Sigel is as unconvincing as ever. The guy just can't act and he may be scary in real life but he's certainly not on the big screen. Peep the trailer.