For anyone seeking music business advice from Roc-A-Fella Co-founder Dame Dash, it will cost US$22,500 for every 15 minutes. Dash is the latest industry figure to join the celebrity chat app Minnect, a platform founded by Iranian-American entrepreneur Patrick DetDavid. The platform allows anyone from anywhere in the world to book a consultation with notable people from 26 industries, including media, AI, parenting, and even mechanic advice.
Dash, real name Damon Dash has co-founded several companies and kickstarted the careers of billionaire hip-hop superstars Jay-Z and Kanye West, as well as fashion brands like Rachel Roy, Roc-A-Wear, and CEO.
He also founded DD172, a media collective encompassing a magazine, web design firm, record label, and art gallery. His personal life has been marked by relationships with the late Aaliyah, Rachel Roy, who has two of his children, and his current fiancée Raquel Horn.
The “Paid In Full” movie director has already scored seven consultations. In 2006, Dame Dash signed Sizzla to a record deal under his Dame Dash Music Group after efforts fell through with Jay-Z. Around the same time, Dash and Jay-Z had split up their iconic Roc-A-Fella label.
Sizzla explained how the deal came about in an Entertainment Report podcast episode two years ago, saying, “Honestly, Gavin started that link. Foxy Brown and Gavin are brother and sister. Gavin wanted Jay-Z to give him that break as Foxy’s brother, so he asked me if I could get to Jay-Z as someone with that influence. So I got the number and called Jay.”
He recalls meeting up with Jay-Z and Beyoncé in the studio in New York along with several artists. “Jay said no problem, Dada, you are my inspiration, and we got into the studio. It was Beyoncé, Jay-Z, Sizzla, Foxy Brown, Barrington Levy, Cookie, Cud, Guru, and two or three more females. From there, we got the link, and they Yankee link began, saying, ‘that’s Jay,’ but it was just fun. I wasn’t really thinking about anything.”
Sizzla said that after the recording studio session, he didn’t get the deal with Jay-Z, speculating that it was because of his firebrand artistry, which was indifferent to the path Jay-Z was on. “I thought very well that Dame Dash heard now that Sizzla didn’t get a deal, and he tried his best, and we got a little deal, and that’s how Dash Dash came and looked for Sizzla.”
The deal with Sizzla and Damon Dash Music Group (DDMG) spawned one album, “The Overstanding,” which featured 15 tracks, including re-recordings of “Thank You Mama,” “Black Woman and Child,” and “Take Myself Away.”
Dash, who is the author of the book “Vultures,” has since left the hip-hop music industry but regularly comments on podcasts about happenings in the entertainment industry.
Other figures on Minnect include former underboss of the Gambino family Salvatore “Sammy The Bull” Gravano, who charges $2000 per 30 minutes.
To book a session with actor Chazz Palminteri from The Bronx Tale costs much less, at $200 per minute.
In December, The Wall Street Journal reported that another chat app named Cameo was used by Russian propaganda trolls to manipulate videos from celebrities like Elijah Wood, Kate Flannery, and Dean Norris, among others.
The trolls requested personalized messages addressed to “Vladimir,” which were then edited to appear as if the celebrities were addressing Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, portraying him as a drug addict with celebrity acquaintances. Cameo, though not directly addressing the specific incident, stated that such bookings violate their Community Guidelines.
