Ye’s struggles for acceptance as a rapper are well documented in the early stages of his career. Dame Dash admitted he originally signed the artist formerly known as Kanye West to Roc-A-Fella for his prowess as a producer, but the Chicago native had much grander aspirations.
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Dash joined the TFU Podcast on Tuesday (March 3), where he recalled Ye’s status within the Roc-A-Fella army in the early 2000s, doubting his rapping ability and the mentality that allowed Yeezy to break through and become a full-blown A-list superstar.
“I didn’t necessarily think he was so talented like that. I didn’t think he could rap, I thought he made good beats. He had good beats, but he showed up,” he explained. “For example, ‘We Are the Champions‘ was the record that kind of broke him and I produced that with him.”
Dame continued: “I was giving that sample to Just Blaze. Had Just Blaze done what I asked him to do and given me the respect, that might have been a Just Blaze big record for him. It was the first time Queen cleared the sample. Just Blaze didn’t do it, so after a while I said, ‘Kanye, you do it.’ He did it that day and reaped the benefits of it.”
It wasn’t until West broke his jaw in a 2002 car accident that Dame thought Ye could be special — West remained gung ho in his pursuit of greatness even with a wired jaw. “I saw that he was still proactive and turned something that could’ve put him out of business [into] something that put him into business,” Dame said. “I’m more into a person’s hustle and respect.”
“He’s not a quitter. He could fail and make it a learning experience — which he did in fashion — and that he was fearless,” the Roc-A-Fella cofounder added. “Kanye won because of his hustle and the fact [that] he went and did other verticals and he’s also polarizing.”
West turned his tragedy into triumph with the No. 15 Billboard Hot 100 hit “Through the Wire” and cemented his superstar status with his debut album, The College Dropout, in 2004, which arrived at No. 2 on the Billboard 200. The set contained anthems such as the Hot 100-topping “Slow Jamz,” as well as “All Falls Down” and “Jesus Walks.”
In the years since, Ye’s decorated résumé includes earning 11 No. 1 albums on the Billboard 200, five No. 1 hits on the Hot 100 and 24 Grammy Awards. However, has star has dimmed considerably since he began spewing antisemitic hate speech in recent years, which led to the loss of many of his brand deals. He has since apologized several times for his remarks, with the most recent apology coming in January 2026, during which he claimed that a brain injury led to his “reckless behavior.”
Watch the clip of Dame Dash talking about Ye below:
Dame Dash on when he knew Kanye West was special.⸻#DameDash #KanyeWest #RocAFella #HipHopHistory #MusicIndustry pic.twitter.com/kKFqV4dp23
— TFU Podcast (@tfupodcast_xx) March 4, 2026
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