Dame Dash has revealed the reason his relationship JAY-Z crumbed was due to HOV’s connection to R. Kelly.
During an interview with America Nu, Dash opened up about how the collaborative album The Best of Both Worlds was the real reason behind the end of his working relationship with JAY-Z. According to Dash, it was JAY-Z’s decision to collaborate with R. Kelly on their joint album that severed their ties, as the project was morally unacceptable due to Kelly’s past with Dash’s former girlfriend, Aaliyah.
Dash dropped the bombshell while speaking on his belief that Jaguar Wright was correct when she said the link between JAY-Z, Beyoncé and Diddy was R. Kelly during her recent interview with Piers Morgan.
“There was a conversation had about the moralness, like it’s morally wrong to do a project with someone that we know raped my girl or raped anybody for that matter,” Dash revealed. “So I do know that conversation was had, and I was really surprised that he moved forward with that relationship.”
Dash was romantically involved with Aaliyah in the early 2000s until her tragic death in 2001 at the age of 22. Though Dash would’ve been around 30 years old around the time of his relationship with Aaliyah, his remark about her and R. Kelly as a clear reference to the widely speculated and inappropriate relationship they shared. Kelly and Aaliyah, who were illegally married in 1994 when she was just 15 years old and Kelly was 27.
Dash emphasized that his decision to distance himself from both the project and his former friend was rooted in principles.
“When that project did come out, I didn’t want any part of that project,” he said. “I didn’t want any of the money to go to Roc-A-Fella or me.”
Released in 2002, The Best of Both Worlds was a highly anticipated collaboration between JAY-Z and R. Kelly, combining the former’s rap prowess with the latter’s R&B dominance. Despite the controversy surrounding Kelly at the time, the album debuted at No. 2 on the Billboard 200 chart, selling more than 223,000 copies in its first week.
However, it was far from a success in the long term, as tensions between the two artists led to a fallout during their subsequent tour. The two attempted to rekindle their collaboration with 2004’s Unfinished Business, but both the album and their relationship withered due to legal troubles, infighting and public criticism of Kelly.
Dash added that all of this occurred around the same time JAY-Z was also trying to pull away from Roc-A-Fella Records, seemingly inferring the collaborative album saga exacerbated their rift.
“When it came to Roc-A-Fella, it was around the time that Jay was trying to kind of separate himself from us, and he was saying that he didn’t want to be a part anymore,” he said. “The way we resolved it was, Yo, you keep all the money from that project. I don’t want no parts of it’.”
While Dash didn’t explicitly accuse JAY-Z of condoning R. Kelly’s actions, his statements suggest a deep moral divide between the two former business partners. JAY-Z has remained largely silent about his work with Kelly in light of the singer’s criminal trials and convictions. Folllowing R. Kelly’s convictions on multiple charges of sexual abuse and racketeering, the collaboration remains a controversial and uncomfortable chapter in JAY-Z’s career. For Dame Dash, it appears to have been the final straw in his partnership with the man once considered his closest ally.
“Homie has to answer some questions right now,” Dash concluded, suggesting that the moral lines blurred in the name of business might still haunt JAY-Z.