In an interview with Shannon Sharpe for his Club Shay Shay podcast, Fat Joe addressed Dame Dash's comments about him and admitted that it's "sad to see" him struggling with his financial situation.
The 54-year-old rapper had a back-and-forth with the 53-year-old Roc-A-Fella co-founder earlier this year, and when asked about the situation Joe clarified that he has "no issue" with Dame Dash. "I didn't diss him, he took something I had said prior and just accepted that, and he said that I said he was delusional. I did not say he was delusional," he said.
"It's very sad to see what's going on with Dame Dash," he continued, seemingly referring to his financial situation. "But sometimes you so smart that you stand in the way of yourself and you block your own blessings. ... Damon Dash, you know what time it is. ... He just know the difference between me and him, let's be clear. So the way he came at me was for me to respond and I felt like this was all clickbait. It wasn't that serious, I respect him as a brilliant mind. Hear this too, Dame... I respect him as a brilliant mind, somebody who contributed to hip-hop."
The comments he referred to were made during an Instagram Live stream earlier this year, which itself was a reference to Jay-Z's 2006 track "Lost Ones," on which he rapped, "I heard motherfuckers sayin' they made Hov / Made Hov say, ‘Okay, so? Make another Hov!’” Joe quoted the line to suggest it was "delusional" for people to "hype themselves up to believe that they're something they're not," but clarified that it was in no shape or form a diss at Dame. ... It's sad to see where he's at right now, to be honest with you."
"Lost Ones" is a direct diss against Hov's former business partners, Dame and Kareem "Biggs" Burke, referring to Dame's claim he was responsible for Jay-Z's success. When Fat Joe referenced the line, Dame Dash dissed him in response and claimed he was responsible for the careers of Kanye West and Cam'ron, too.
Earlier this year, the court-mandated auction of Dame's 33.3 percent stake in Roc-A-Fella Inc., whose sole asset is Jay-Z's debut album Reasonable Doubt, was delayed due to his unpaid child support and tax-related debts, which total almost nine million.