Dame Dash: The Man That DISCOVERED & Built Jay-z & Kanye West! | E192

TL;DR

Dame Dash recounts his journey from a Harlem childhood where a nursery school embarrassment made him vow never to care about others' judgments, through his mother's death at 16, which made him fearless and led him to sell drugs as a coping mechanism.

Key insights

• Dame’s mother taught him to “talk back” and never let someone tell him something he didn’t believe without speaking up, which shaped his defiance of authority.
• Losing his mother at 16 made him “a beast” and fearless because he had already faced his biggest fear, so later problems (unless involving health, death, or freedom) don’t feel serious.
• He sold drugs to grieve and distract himself after his mother’s death, because he didn’t have money for therapy and didn’t know to seek it at that age.