Music mogul and Roc-A-Fella Records co-founder Damon “Dame” Dash is forced to part ways with some of his most valuable assets to pay a $4 million judgment. The former hip-hop mogul has signed off on an auction of various high-profile assets, such as company shares and rights to iconic urban films, to satisfy a defamation lawsuit filed against him by filmmaker Josh Webber, which he lost.
The current financial debacle is one of the latest battles in a contentious relationship between Dash and Webber over the film Dear Frank. It has come to a head once more after Dame went on the Earn Your Leisure podcast and made public comments, which Webber deemed defamatory. The court did, and Webber was awarded a multimillion-dollar judgment. Dame Dash is going the extra mile to follow the court’s order. Among the items up for auction will be his equity interests in several companies and the right to intellectual property for a handful of his most prominent movies.
At the heart of the auction are the rights to State Property, a gritty 2002 crime drama that offered a small glimpse of street life and was something of a cult classic in hip-hop cinema. Starring heavy hitters in the rap game like Beanie Sigel, Freeway, JAY-Z, and Memphis Bleek, the movie represented a period in which the cultures of music and film collided with grit and realism. State Property 2, the follow-up film, is also part of the sold package. Other auction highlights include the 2007 documentary Mr. Untouchable, detailing the ascent and downfall of infamous drug kingpin Nicky Barnes. These are testaments to an era when Dame Dash was instrumental in unifying hip-hop culture with mainstream media.
Check out this article: Sean “Diddy” Combs’ Ex-Assistant Capricorn Clark Testifies About Alleged Kidnapping Over Missing Jewelry
The sale is the latest sign of Dame Dash’s financial woes in recent years. This isn’t the first time he has had to let go of valuable assets. In 2023, he unloaded his share in Roc-A-Fella Records, once the crown jewel of his entertainment empire, in connection to an unrelated legal dispute. That sale alone reverberated through the music business, signaling the end of another era for one of the most legendary outfits in hip-hop. Dame Dash’s now-accepted agreement to work with the judgment is also a rational change of tactics. As painful as the sale may be for the mogul, it also offers him a possible new start. Rather than drawing out the litigation, the auction’s approval could be read as a signal of readiness to move on, both legally and creatively.
However, what remains to be determined is how much these assets will be worth and who will ultimately own them. Film and entertainment rights, especially those to culturally significant works, have a history of sparking intense bidding wars. With the lineage of State Property and Mr. Untouchable leaving its indelible mark, there’s no reason to believe that collectors won’t be lining up to stake their claim in hip-hop film history.
An auction date has not been formally announced, but the news has already generated chatter in the entertainment and legal communities. For Dame Dash, the evening may be the epilogue of one chapter and the uncertain prologue to another. Once celebrated as a visionary mogul who wrote the blueprint for urban entertainment, he has to fight through a path of old controversy. As Dame Dash gets ready to part with the rights that were a huge part of his legacy, there’s little doubt that his impact still resonates across culture and commerce, even in the face of misfortune.
