Damon Dash has never been one to hold his tongue [pause]. He infamously barked on Def Jam during his run at Roc-A-Fella, and hasn’t shied away from confronting the likes of Lyor Cohen, Funkmaster Flex, and even the journalists interviewing him.
The latest person to end up in Dash’s crosshairs is Complex and Ecko Unltd. founder Marc Ecko. Dame is currently on Facebook dropping the type of statements usually accompanied by “Flex Bomb” sounds by calling Ecko a “nerd” whose company is “owned by a hedge fund.” Let the drama begin.
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Photo: Power 105.1 YouTube screen capture
Video Monetization
This is probably a good time to point out that WorldStar, VEVO, and just about any other web outlet is leveraging your content against pre-roll ads. That’s not saying Dame is right or wrong, it’s just a fact in today’s business climate.
Robbery
Again, very few no sites are splitting that advertising pie. The unspoken agreement is that artists are trading exposure for a site’s right to make advertising money off of them. Is it robbery? Is it fair? That’s for each artist’s attorney and/or manager to help them decide.
Culture Vultures
This claim has been leveraged by Dash against Funkmaster Flex, Lyor Cohen, Joie Manda and others. This is a good time for the tried and true *sips iced tea* meme. We’re gonna leave this one alone.
Let’s Talk Ownership
According to a 2009 SEC filing, Marc Ecko is still an owner and board member at Complex Media Inc. Ecko raised $12.8 million in funding from Accel Partners and Austin Ventures.
photo: WENN
Haven’t We Been Here Before?
If it feels like the “culture vulture” accusations aren’t new, it’s because Dame barked on Interscope executive Joie “IE” Manda based on alleged moves when Manda was at Warner and Dame was breaking bread with Curren$y. Obviously, only the men directly involved know what happened.
photo: WENN
And One More Time?
Dame also sent shots at Lyor Cohen, who ran things while Roc-A-Fella was in business with Def Jam. Since we weren’t directly involved, this is a good time to refresh that glass of iced tea.
photo: WENN
Third Time’s The Charm
In the midst of a now deaded beef, Funkmaster Flex took Dash to task for his culture vulture claims. Flex cited hypocrisy and said he was doing so because Manda was a personal and professional friend. Just assume there were lots of “Flex Bomb” sound effects during that explanation.
A Difference Of Opinion
If you heard the infamous Q&A between DJ Envy and Dash on The Breakfast Club, which sparked the #TweetLikeDameDash hashtag, you know Dame doesn’t really care about liquid assets. He also has no respect for a man that works for another man. So by Dame’s own definition, there will most likely be no agreement on this issue.
photo: WENN
The Lesson
As always, the lesson here is maybe do your own homework and see what’s best for you. You can’t knock Dame’s message of ownership and economic empowerment. And it takes less than five minutes to see who owns which companies and how much of a cut an artist gets from those companies for their work.
