“We really should have done some Rihanna Rocawear umbrellas when that song became a hit.  We could have made a load of money on those.  I'm still kicking myself.”

For all of the chaos that was left in the wake of the Roc-A-Fella break up, there is still some positivity that can be found if a person searches through the rubble of the Dynasty.

Aside from being business partners in their musical venture, Shawn “Jay-Z” Carter and Damon Dash also decided to take a crack at the fashion industry.  A true hustler knows that various paychecks becomes much more beneficial than a single check so the two needed to find a means to use their exposure to broaden their brand.

Officially launched in 1999, the line has developed clothing for adults and children and has expanded by creating handbags, jewelry and even sunglasses.

Unfortunately the break up found Dash selling his stake in the enterprise to Jay for $20 million.  Jigga would later sell his own rights in March 2007 to Iconix Brand Group for $204 million.  Jay, however, was still given the ability to oversee the marketing, licensing and product development.   

As Jay caught up with Women's Wear Daily, Mr. Carter actually gave his former business partner his due for his work with the clothing line.  He also added how their different mentalities in business were a reason behind the rift.

“Dame did a great job when he was here.  I just feel that I have a different way of running things, which I think is working out well. I let people make mistakes, and push them to be creative. I let a design team design. When they feel good about something they have created, it makes them want to do more. It makes them want to do their best. People are happy here. I'm not a controlling manager and I have a great team that makes me confident that things can run well when I'm on the road, and I'm proud of that.”

Jay also expressed how the brand has been absorbed by the community and established itself within the marketplace.

 “Rocawear has always been a part of the whole overall culture.  It's connected to everything that I do.  So, coming in full time was important to me.  It's something I really believe in and something I want to protect.” 

Always known to be a trendsetter, Hov explained how the actual idea of the brand was sparked back in 1997 while the rapper was on stage.

“I would be onstage performing, and I noticed that all the kids were wearing iceberg jeans.  The same jeans that I would wear.  So, we thought, ‘Why should we let Iceberg get all this business when we can do it ourselves?”

Acting as a catalyst to having young African-American males ditching sports jerseys and throwing on button ups, Rocawear was able to hit the fashion industry by storm.  As FUBU was, the new brand from Jay and Dame was fully embraced by the urban community. 

Estimates show that Rocawear has annual sales of $800 million.  In March 2009, reports stated that the brand launched its first social networking site which offers things such as style news, music and fashion.

“In ‘02, I started seeing funny moves and a lack of communication. Beginning ‘05, it was the demise and paperwork was made. It was an accumulation of things that went on and how people said Cam'ron did it. And not to sh&$ on nobody but you can't get into Forbes Magazine with three ni**as eating off your plate. Only way you can get into Forbes Magazine and you getting bread is if that bread is not being cut up and you get all the money. If your company is making a lot of money, then you as an individual can't get the accolades of Forbes Magazine. You can't be like Puff if you gotta break your money up with this guy and that guy. Puff broke his money up with no one. Same with Master P when he was in there a lot. All his bread was his bread. So with Roc-A-Fella, Roc-A-Wear, this and that, that money was getting cut up. So in order to get it not cut, you gotta diversify. Nothing personal, sh%$ happens. The diversification came about and everybody had to do what they had to do to continue moving.”

Dash also says that Jigga over reacted to Cam'ron being named Vice President at Roc-A-Fella and that Roc-A-Fella was damn near over before Cam signed to the label. He added:

“ Within Motown, there were a number of Vice-Presidents. So for him to come in and be President of The Diplomats and be on Roc-A-Fella… if you're at Roc-A-Fella and you're the President of your own entity, then at the very least you're a Vice-President in here. Which at the end of the day Beans would have been a Vice-President because he's the President of State Property. Bleek would have been Vice-President because he's President of Get Low. Everybody had their own lane to make their own statements but Cam was the only that was out there... As a man a lotta times you gotta take a step back and look at the situation for what it is. He's the President of Dip which makes him an executive at Roc-A-Fella… because he's in charge of that department. So the (reaction) was kind of gay because all you have to do is think for a second about how companies are ran…”

Bobby Dash also spoke on how most of the artists like Beans, Freeway, Kanye West and others followed Jay-Z and how most wound up being unsuccessful on the business aspect after Dame was erased from the picture.

“All the dudes that…went the other direction, and not to sh&$ on going the other direction but that's not the direction that's gonna be speaking up for you. The person that is gonna fight for you is over here. The one that always fought for you is on this side. And ya'll went to the other side so if you're expecting someone to fight for you, then you went to the wrong side because on that side it's about business. It's about make sure you take care of your business, make sure you get your businesses right and then you'll be alright. But my brother was like babysitting and was like not only is this ya'll business but this is my business and now I gotta make sure ya'll carry my business and your business properly. Where on the other side, it was like. “Dawg, ya'll do what ya'll gotta do because I'm good.”

Check out the footage below as Bobby Dash continues to weigh in: