Jay-Z & Damon Dash: One Is Broke, The Other's Losing Hope

I appreciate artists like Kanye West, even though I'm not so sure I appreciate the new music he's been releasing as of late. But there's no denying that in the past five years, 'Ye has given many of us a breath of fresh air when it comes to hip-hop music. However, I often wonder if Kanye would have been around to give us something refreshing to listen to if it weren't for Damon Dash. Why wonder, though, when the answer to that is an obvious "no"?

It's been four years since the separation of Jay, Biggs, and Dame. And not long after those three parted ways, Kanye admitted in an interview with MTV's Sway that he was wrong for turning his back on Dame to jump ships with Hov; after all, Dame was the one who believed in him from the beginning and somehow convinced others to give him a chance. Even in "Big Brother," Kanye speaks on how Hov never gave him the time of day. And the irony in that is that Kanye is currently the only one keeping "The ROC's" name alive. Many say that without Kanye there would be no "ROC," even though that label barely exists anymore. Looking at Jay-Z's lukewarm post-retirement career (as far as music), can anyone convincingly argue that he's the reason people still know what Roc-A-Fella is?

And that's what's so weird about it. It seems that these lagging two years that Hov has endured have a mind of their own, and they don't intend to halt-- or make a turn-around-- any time soon. As time progresses, his presence seems to lessen. His musical buzz is not what it used to be. His songs don't excite his audience the way they used to. Needless to say, that "retirement" label kind of slowed his momentum. Now Kanye has revealed that Jay's Blueprint 3 album will drop in February of next year. Say word? Since when did Hov ever need to place a delay on an album release? Never, as far as I can remember. Looks like his "Jockin Jay-Z" and "History" isn't really doing what was expected.

Dame, being as bitter as he is, would love to laugh at Jay right about now, but he can't. The n*gga's broke and when it comes to Dame, the saying "broke as a joke" could never be more true. The joke is on the media, because for a cat to have so much money and then lose it-- yet have the media speculating on his financial status for so long and still not be able to confirm it despite numerous reports-- is kind of funny.

But this isn't: