The History Of Roc-A-Fella Records

Roc-A-Fella Records was an American hip hop record label and music management company founded by record executives and entrepreneurs Shawn “Jay-Z” Carter, Damon Dash, and Kareem “Biggs” Burke in 19941. The label was started after Jay-Z had been rejected by major record labels, and it began as an independent outlet for his debut album1. Carter, Dash, and Burke started the label through Priority Records, using finances from Payday Records due to their singles-only deal1.

The first album released on Roc-A-Fella Records was Jay-Z’s debut studio album, “Reasonable Doubt”, which was released in 1996 and became an instant classic in the hip-hop genre2. The label was responsible for launching the careers of Jay-Z, Memphis Bleek, Beanie Sigel, and Kanye West2.

In 1997, Jay-Z and his co-founders sold half of Roc-A-Fella to Def Jam for a reported $1.5 million2. Seven years later, in 2004, Def Jam bought the other half of Roc-A-Fella for $10 million2. In 2005, Jay-Z was named CEO of Def Jam in a deal that allowed him to continue to run Roc-A-Fella2.

However, there were disputes among the founders. Jay-Z filed a lawsuit against Dash, alleging Dash had stolen the copyright to his 1996 debut album, “Reasonable Doubt”, and minted it as an NFT to sell at an auction2. The suit claimed Dash was “frantically scouting for another venue to make the sale”2. The copyright for the album was evenly divided between Dash, Jay-Z, and fellow Roc-A-Fella founder Kareem “Biggs” Burke2. Jay-Z’s legal team argued Dash has no right to sell the copyright or any individual ownership interests in “Reasonable Doubt” because he only owns partial rights to it2. Jay-Z and Damon Dash eventually settled their feud over Dash’s alleged attempt to sell the copyright to Jay’s “Reasonable Doubt” as a non-fungible token2.

In 2008, Jay-Z started his own record label, Roc Nation2. Roc-A-Fella Records was dissolved in 20131.