(AllHipHop News) Damon Dash and his family appearing on WEtv’s “Growing Up Hip Hop” is the greatest thing for the franchise, but possibly the most difficult for the embattled family.
A show that capitalizes on Hip-Hop pain, the producers have been accused of editing the Roc-a-Fella Records brainchild to look like a “bad dad.”
However, the genius that he is, flipped the script with a second video, showing what most parents know: children don’t always tell the truth about their parents.
There are a few things that those who have been following Hip-Hop for a minute know about Damon Dash and they are as follows:
· He still says ‘pause.’
· He is a Harlem hustler cut from the cloth woven by God himself that several generations of Harlem hustlers have been cut from.
· He holds grudges: If you cross, be prepared to have epic long wars— Iliad-comparable rap beef
· He has triggers … so don’t step (even if you unknowingly do so) on the mental and emotional land mines.
But someone at WEtv should have prepped the family counselor that producers hired to support the Dash children on an upcoming episode of “Growing Up Hip Hop.”
During a back and forth with Ava, Dash’s oldest daughter, the counselor suggested that the rap mogul was not being honest about his communication with his child.
Dusko Poppington objected, of course, stating that the communication between him and his daughter was not only documented but was appropriate and justifiable.
Ava, his beautiful 20-year-old daughter, sided with the doctor.
Dash owns his own media brand and studio and negotiated that he can have his cameras roll whenever he is being filmed.
What a good thing that he did!
His unedited b-roll footage shows and an aggravated father struggling to express himself to a young woman seemingly caught between her parents’ bitter fighting.
The therapist says, “[She has] some things that you said but you don’t remember writing, but you did.”
Dash replies with a shrug, “I’d like to hear it … I didn’t say if you didn’t do it my way you are not my daughter.”
The attention shifts to Ava and she reads from her text messages: “You said my mom ‘is a thief.’ I said ‘What does her being a thief have to do with me?’ And then you said, ‘I’m going to jail and you can care less. That’s all you should be talking about. I’m so disappointed in you.’”
Dame turns to the doctor, calmly but smugly, “That doesn’t reflect what you just said.”
While the doctor looks confused, knowing he accused Dash of saying something he did not say, Ava jumps in and says, “Yeah, it does.”
She is wrong.
She defends her misspeaking to the stranger by saying, “Your saying that your relationship with my mom affects ours.”
The core of why Ava is upset is because Dash has not paid her car note and her college tuition.
Dash tries to explain that every time he gets money, her mother and another child’s mother garnishes it — basically making him impotent as a father.
His social impotence in this scenario is clear, as his daughter is given paternal power to this counselor who says within the video captured by Dash Studios that he is there to support the children.
So protective over Dash’s daughter’s interest he interrupts Dame, asserting that there are social boundaries that need to be set up for clear communication to happen.
Dame agrees: Don’t disrespect him … especially not his front of his children.
The family matter is escalated as she tries to paint him as a deadbeat dad, a trigger not listed above as something that everyone knows blows his top.
But from the looks of his IG caption, it did more than blow his top, but broke the Roc-a-Fella founder’s heart furthering his distrust for the production and the network’s editing machine.
His post says:
The Real Therapy
“It a good thing I have my own footage of every episode and my own network @damedashstudios ..to show it on ..about how @wetv @guhh_wetv and @eone_tv will only pay white production companies to tell our black stories about our Families and make us look crazy in edits for money…this is a piece of the real session and I’ve been to therapy…this Was not that this was a setup I’ve never seen a therapist conducted themselves like this… #staytuned”
Dame has said many times that the network cares more about his family drama than protecting his children.
His son, Boogie, who has openly struggled with substance abuse allegedly is fed alcohol on the show.
