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With Problematic Roster, Record Mogul Starts Over

By LOLA OGUNNAIKE

Published: April 2, 2005

On Tuesday, Damon Dash released a CD from the first artist signed to his newly formed record label, the Damon Dash Music Group. That artist, the gruff and tumble Beanie Sigel, is currently incarcerated. On April 12 Mr. Dash will release a CD from the second artist signed to his label. That artist, Ol' Dirty Bastard, is currently deceased. As far as auspicious beginnings go, it is not a great one.

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But Mr. Dash has high hopes all the same. He is eager to reinvent himself as a mogul who can make it without his former partner, the rapper Jay-Z, born Shawn Carter. Mr. Dash and Mr. Carter, co-founders of Roc-A-Fella Records, severed their professional ties late last year, selling the rest of the company to Universal Music Group's Island Def Jam for $10 million (Island Def Jam Music Group had owned half the company since 1997, and in 2002 paid $22 million to extend its partnership with the founders until this year.) In January, Mr. Carter became president of Def Jam Recordings, while Mr. Dash, a self-professed "independent spirit," chose to start his own label under the Island Def Jam umbrella.

Whether Mr. Dash will be able to soar without Jay-Z, his biggest artist to date, remains a matter of serious debate in the music industry.

"I think it's going to be challenging for him," said Chuck Creekmur, founder of the Web site allhiphop.com. "One guy in jail and one dead? It's going to be difficult to promote." Mr. Creekmur added that the novelty of an artist doing time or dwelling in a grave has become "so cliché."

Unlike the rapper Shyne, who orchestrated a media campaign from his prison cell for his sophomore release, "Godfather Buried Alive," Mr. Sigel has been unable to do much work from behind bars. (Shyne, for all his business acumen, sold an underwhelming 400,000 copies, then quickly saw his proceeds frozen under New York's "Son of Sam" law.) Mr. Dash, 33, said he visited his artist, who is serving a year in prison for gun possession, once a month to talk business.

Mr. Sigel, born Dwight Grant, a married father of four children, is scheduled to be released from the Fairton federal prison in New Jersey this summer. He is due back in court in September to face an attempted murder charge stemming from an incident outside a Philadelphia bar in 2003. "As soon as we realized that he wouldn't be here, we decided to get as much footage of him as possible," Mr. Dash said. "We shot seven videos, a movie and four television shows." The rapper also recorded enough material for three albums. "Up to the day he went to jail," Mr. Dash said, "he was recording,"

Still, Mr. Dash finds himself in the precarious position of being both a behind-the-scenes player and the proxy for his artists. He has made a slew of public appearances, visiting radio stations like the beleaguered Hot 97 and cable channels like BET and MTV to promote Mr. Sigel's album, "The B. Coming," which was released on Tuesday and is expected to debut in the Top 5 on the Billboard charts. When not talking up "The B. Coming," he has had to field questions about everything from his split with Jay-Z to rumors that he recently married. ("Do you see any rings on my finger?" Mr. Dash said, when asked about his marital status.)

Even more problematic is the advancement of O.D.B.'s career, which was cut short in November when the rapper died of a drug overdose. No videos were made for his new album, "A Son Unique," and O.D.B., born Russell Jones, did not have a large catalog of material, making the prospect of posthumous fame unlikely. "I don't have another O.D.B. album," Mr. Dash said, "it's not a Tupac thing. We didn't make 50 songs."

It was Mr. Sigel's project that was at the forefront of Mr. Dash's mind, however, one rainy afternoon last week. During a heated phone exchange with Steve Bartels, president of Island Records, Mr. Dash wondered why the rapper's second single, "Don't Stop," was not receiving more radio play. "Is somebody trying to insult me or sabotage this project?" he asked in his signature rapid staccato, a noticeable edge in his voice. Later, after tucking into a lunch of steaming Caribbean chicken and checking his blood sugar level, Mr. Dash, a diabetic, said he pushed everyone he worked with. "I don't want anyone to settle for mediocrity," he said. "Unless Beanie is No. 1 on the charts, I'm going to say it's not enough. That's my job."

Antonio Reid, the chairman of the Island Def Jam Music Group, would not give an interview but by e-mail said of his employee, Mr. Dash: "When it comes to innovative marketing skills and entrepreneurial vision in the entertainment business, I can't think of anyone whose track record comes close to that of Damon Dash."

But Mr. Dash has his share of detractors, and when given the chance to remain on the Roc-A-Fella roster, now overseen by Jay-Z, or to flee with Mr. Dash, a number of artists chose to stay put. The rapper Peedi Crakk has been particularly vocal about his dislike of Mr. Dash, telling MTV.com that in addition to lacking common sense, "he don't know how to pick music." Mr. Dash refused to respond to that assessment but did offer, "All I can say is good luck to that kid, 'cause he's going to need it."

Mr. Dash acknowledged that many now regard him as an underdog. "I appreciate the love, but I don't need it." Like a scorned lover intent on proving that life without the ex is just grand, Mr. Dash paced about his well-appointed office, discussing his various business ventures: a shoe line, a high-end watch line, a management firm for boxers, and Dash Films. With Jay-Z and a silent partner, Kareem (Biggs) Burke, he still shares joint custody of Rocawear clothing and Armadale Vodka. Copies of America, the downtown glossy magazine he started last year, sat on his desk, near two giant platinum chains festooned with diamonds.

Life without his former partner is "a little less aggravating," Mr. Dash said, scrolling through messages on his BlackBerry. "With Jay you've got to move at Jay's pace. I'm a little more aggressive and he's a little more laid-back."

Jay-Z declined to comment.

When asked how he would react if his first two projects were failures, Mr. Dash shrugged.

"If it tanks, it tanks," he said. "I wouldn't look at it as if the music wasn't good. I'd look at it as if the rest of the world wasn't ready."


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