reasonable doubt
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Recently, it was reported that a court-ordered Dame Dash‘s share of Roc-A-Fella records to be auctioned off to satisfy his mounting debt. Now, Jay-Z is hitting potential bidders with a “Buyer Beware” notice as his debut album, Reasonable Doubt, is the crown jewel of Dash’s stake in the record label.
According to TMZ, Jay-Z is taking legal action regarding the auction of Dame Dash’s 33.3% ownership of Roc-A-Fella Records, which will begin with a starting bid of $1.2 million. While we assumed Jay-Z would just participate in the auction and put up whatever amount of money is needed to get back the majority of his old record label, it seems like he’s going a different route and letting potential buyers know that Reasonable Doubt will be his in just a few years regardless of who ends up with Dame Dash’s share of the label.
Per TMZ:
While Roc-A-Fella currently holds the copyright on the record and all its tracks … Jay’s attorneys have now filed notice that those rights will revert to one Shawn Carter/”Jay-Z” in 2031.
Even though Jay and Dame ain’t exactly vibing these days, this legal move isn’t about revenge, it’s just biz — the rights would have gone back to Jay 35 years after the record was released, anyway. His lawyers have just filed the paperwork to make it official.
So, what does this mean for the August 29 auction? Whoever ends up winning Dame’s shares — minimum bid is $1.2 million — will enjoy one-third of all “Reasonable Doubt” revenues … but only for about the next 6 years and change. Then it’s all Jay’s.
Well, that certainly won’t sit well with anyone bidding on Roc-A-Fella’s illustrious catalog.
How will this affect the auction remains to be seen but putting down more than $1.2 million on something that’s going to have its biggest asset removed in six years doesn’t seem like a sound investment. Just saying.
What do y’all think? Let us know in the comments section below.
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Photo: Getty
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Source: Courtesy of Damon Dash / Damon Dash
Just a week ago it was reported that Dame Dash was about to sell his stake in Jay-Z’s classic debut album, Reasonable Doubt. But now, it seems like Dash will be forced to sell much more than he originally intended.
According to TMZ, a court has just ruled that Dame Dash will have to sell his entire share of Roc-A-Fella Records as his money woes continue to pile up. According to the report, Dash will have his 33.3% in the iconic record label auctioned off by a U.S. Marshall on Aug. 29. For serious bidders who plan on getting in on the action, they’ll have to send an email to attorney Christopher Brown in order to register for the upcoming event.
Naturally, the biggest gem here is Dash’s share of Reasonable Doubt. With rumors having swirled that Jay-Z had been trying to get that back from Dame for a while now, we wouldn’t be surprised if a representative for Hova ends up with the winning bid for Dame’s share of Roc-A-Fella Records.
TMZ reports:
Brown, as you may know, represents film director Josh Webber, who secured an $800K-plus civil judgment against Dash for copyright infringement and defamation two years ago.
Webber and Muddy Water Pictures produced “Dear Frank” and filed suit against Dash after claiming he went around and told people he owned the rights to the movie even after he was dropped from the project.
The court docs specify the purpose of the auction is to collect on the judgment. The docs also note Jay Z’s album “Reasonable Doubt” is the biggest asset Roc-A-Fella owns.
It will be quite the pricey entrance fee for anyone interested in the auction as the starting bid will be $1.2 million, with the winning bid having to put down 20% of the final tally as soon as the auction ends. We all know that’s pocket change to someone like Jay. Just sayin’.
What do y’all think of Dame Dash’s latest legal setback? Let us know in the comments section below.
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Source: Courtesy of Damon Dash / Damon Dash
It seems Dame Dash is very serious about letting his share of Reasonable Doubt go. He announced it is for sale.
As reported by HotNewHip-Hop, the Harlem, New York, native recently took to social media to let the world know that his piece of Jay-Z’s debut is available for a price. On Friday, July 19, he posted the album artwork with a rather undiplomatic caption stating he is taking offers. “This sh*t is for sale 1/3 … only real inquiries only,” he wrote. The second photograph on the Instagram post is a visual of Jay-Z, Damon Dash and Kareem “Biggs” Burke from the project’s original CD booklet.
Naturally, the post quickly went viral and received over 10,000 comments within 24 hours. Lupe Fiasco left a comment, which has since been deleted, urging Drake to buy it. “@champagnepapi will keep it safe for generations to come. This is grail and influenced an innumerable amount of rappers to see it peddle such a lack of grace genuinely hurts my feelings a little bit.” Lupe went on to recommend that Dash hold on to his share saying, “Or just keep the s**t OG you should be infinitely proud of this. Without it there is no me as I am and I’m sure other MCs will agree.”
This is not the first time the former Cakeaholic has tried to sell his 33% ownership in the 1996 effort. During an appearance on the Veuit podcast, Dash revealed that Jay-Z offered him $1.5 million dollars for his stake but he told his former partner no. Earlier this year, Cam’ron and Mase alluded to buying Dame’s share, but the transaction was never confirmed.
Last month, he reached out to Kendrick Lamar via IG after he unearthed an old social post from K Dot from 2010. “I’m sorry, Reasonable Doubt is better than Illmatic…. #youcanunfollowmenow” it read to which Dame posted, “@kendricklamar my 3rd is for sale if you want to buy it.” Kendrick never publicly responded to Dame Dash’s offer.
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Source: Jim Spellman / Getty / Jonathan Mannion
After shocking the Hip-Hop world when he sued Jonathan Mannion, the photographer who took the iconic Reasonable Doubt cover art, JAY-Z and Mannion have come to an agreement on the matter.
In June 2021, Jigga slapped Mannion with an unexpected lawsuit for selling photographs, specifically the ones he shot for the Reasonable Doubt cover art, without his consent.
The Brooklyn rapper/mogul demanded Mannion fork over millions of dollars after asking Mannion to cease his sale of the merch featuring the photos. The two men tried to settle in January 2022 but failed and were set to battle it out in court in March, but a resolution in the matter has been met.
According to court documents obtained by AllHipHop, JAY-Z and Jonathan Mannion were working diligently to reach a settlement asking the judge to vacate the trial, implying that cooler heads have prevailed.
Crisis Averted
They have until February 17 to file the necessary paperwork. According to the documents, the “parties have engaged in settlement discussions and agreed in principle on the terms of the settlement, which includes a stipulated dismissal of this action, subject to execution of a long-form settlement agreement.”
At the time of the lawsuit’s announcement, Jonathan Mannion’s attorney said, “Mr. Mannion has created iconic images of Mr. Carter over the years, and is proud that these images have helped to define the artist that Jay-Z is today. Mr. Mannion has the utmost respect for Mr. Carter and his body of work, and expects that Mr. Carter would similarly respect the rights of artists and creators who have helped him achieve the heights to which he has ascended. We are confident that the First Amendment protects Mr. Mannion’s right to sell fine art prints of his copyrighted works, and will review the complaint and respond in due course.”
We’re happy to see the two legends in their respective crafts have worked things out.
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Photo: Jim Spellman / Getty
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