Despite the negative press Kanye gets in the media, it’s hard to deny his genius, and his documentary jeen-yuhs only proves that. Many people caught on to West’s genius early on, specifically Dame Dash, who ended up signing Ye to Roc-A-Fella in the early 2000s. In a recent interview with The Jasmine Brand, the Roc-A-Fella records co-founder reflected on Ye’s two-decade-long career in the industry.
“I was the guy who always ran around with a camera ’cause I knew that these moments were priceless, it was just a matter of when it was time,” Dame said. “So, I was glad that they actually took that advice and did that, or at least followed the example. I got a lotta footage, but it’s just the time, it’s always about the times. I think this is the right time for that.”
Dame went on to call Ye “our new Michael Jackson,” someone that even Kanye has likened himself to. “Whether that’s negative or positive, but that’s just what it is,” Dame added. “Every move he makes, everybody’s paying attention to.”
Dame went on to say how Kanye was not as bold when he first started, but over the years, he has continued to push the boundary and leverage his celebrity status to expand his brand outside of music. “He wasn’t that bold back then, but he always was very confident,” Dame shared. “It’s levels to it, so I thought he had a lot of confidence rapping among the fierce rappers that were around and also being vocal. I give everybody the same exact opportunity [when] I see potential, I see the same potential in most everybody. He just really took the opportunity, and he really listened. And what he did was he leveraged his celebrity very well.”
Dame added, “I love the fact that [Ye] was smart enough to take his celebrity, and that’s what I taught them—use your celebrity to leverage it for your own products. And that’s what he did and that’s what mostly everyone who has been successful has done.”
