Word Of Mouf

Damon Dash has regrets. Don’t we all? Dame spoke with SOHH.com about Jay, Roc-A-Fella, Kanye West and why he retired from the music business….basically you notice he wished he had better judgments in decisions such as leaving the Roc so he could have a piece of that Kanye Graduation guap…hey, it’s life.

[Sidenote: Cheer up Dame, I've heard two of leaked tracks from Jay's American Gangster and I think they're not so good.]

 ”People told me don’t mess with Jay-Z at all, then I did. The same exact people told me ‘Nah Kanye’s not the one,’ including Jay-Z,” Dash explained. “Then when he came out, everybody’s up under him. It’s hard to keep arguing about things you know are right.”

Despite the fact that Kanye stayed with Jay-Z after the Roc-A-Fella fallout, Dash said he’s happy to see Kanye prosper.

“More power to him,” Dash told SOHH. “I think it’s a good thing that someone that was probably kicked around his whole life is now empowered, it’s just what he does with it. The only thing that bothers me about Kanye’s situation is that everyone’s still eating off it except me. I would have poly’d that deal a little different. Everyone that’s still eating off him is everyone that said he couldn’t make it, but other than that I’m happy to see what he does.”

Moving on…

• One thing that made me go ‘wow‘ was when Tamika Scott (of Xscape fame) went on Miss Jones’ Hot 97 show a few days ago and cleared out some rumors of Jermaine Dupri’s details in his new book, Young, Rich & Dangerous (<—I think I want this book though). Basically JD decided to share his life story via a new book and gives some details about his former/still-are So So Def (that shit still exists?) acts…Blah, blah… Tamika went on Miss Jones show and said that some of his statements were fabricated and part of Xscape’s breakup was because of Kandi Burruss’ selfish ways and her fuckin’ (including Jermaine) for tracks….Seriously, Tamika didn’t give a rat’s ass and aired that bizness out. No one goes on to Miss Jones and talks and/or open up because she has a habit of pickin’ on people who do or what they say, but I feel if your presence shows that you don’t play, she’ll act civilized. Not once did she diss Xscape as a group, her or her sister/former bandmember LaTocha…They wanted Tamika to discuss the whole T.I. situation through conversation about Tiny, but she didn’t, just wanted to point out the fact that Tiny was there for T.I. when he wasn’t shit and now that she ain’t shit, he really doesn’t want her to pursue her goals and more blah, blah…..No link, but you can click on the first podcast on the Miss Jones side on the Hot97 site and it’ll download it for you.

• It seems as The Source magazine is steppin’ their financial business game up. I didn’t know The Source was bankrupted in the first place. Have you noticed that their magazines are a little thinner than usual and they don’t include many celeb photos anymore? [See Oct. 2007 issue]  The Source spoke about this at a press release:

“With the conclusion of the bankruptcy process, The Source is now well-positioned financially and poised for growth,” said Jeffrey Scott, Chairman of the Board of The Source and a Managing Director of Black Enterprise/Greenwich Street Corporate Growth Partners, the company’s majority owner. “The Source belongs to hip-hop. The company exists to serve hip-hop. The Source will continue to empower its readers, advertisers and other stakeholders to achieve their goals — be it promoting an album or a product or just raising a voice to reflect the mood of the culture,” added Jeremy Miller, CEO and President of the magazine.

I don’t know…I don’t know too many people who still fucks with The Source…

::silently::XXL is this beeeeyotch…

• A noose was found hanging around the neck of the late legendary rapper 2pac’s bronze statue in Atlanta this weekend. It was one in a series of attacks on the Tupac Amaru Shakur Center for the Arts in recent days, according to the center’s website. Vandals defaced the building and left a noose around the statue’s neck, ironically in the center’s Peace Garden on Saturday (October 20). Early Monday morning (October 22) the statue was further damaged and plastered with handbills of rants referencing 9/11 and Hurricane Katrina. Some bills also had vague threats against record companies and rappers. A male has been arrested in connection with the break-in, and is currently being held in custody. The DeKalb County Sheriff’s Office is investigating this as a hate crime.