While Jay-Z’s star shines brighter and wider year after year, deep within my soul - when BP3’s on pause - I see this and wonder, “Where and what’s up with Dame Dash?” Occasionally you’ll see him on a random YouTube video that bubbles to the top of your playlist. I’ll say it, those things are hard to watch. There’s the guy that used to brag about poppin tags daily, never wearing the same pair of sneakers twice, reduced to keeping it basic - “white tee for me.” Hey, they do come 3 to a $7.99 pack. Easy to keep fresh.

I joke, but it’s not funny. This is the man who served his opinions with big scoops of confidence and bravado, at ear deafening levels, mostly fighting for his crew. No matter what the problems were between Dame Dash and Jay-Z over the years, there is no doubt he lived and breathed Roc-A-Fella.

So he gets kicked off Fantasy island. Is the black list so thick he can’t make any moves?

Well coming out of left field, Dame Dash is back in action, and it appears he’s in sync with Blueprint 3 - on to the next/raising the hip-hop bar - by teaming up with blues/rock act The Black Keys. They provide their gut bucket blues 2.0 soundscape for a handful of lyric minded rappers to rip on an album called Blakroc.

Rappers on mic check are Ludacris, Mos Def, RZA, Q-Tip, Raekwon, Billy Danze (MOP), Pharoahe Monch, of course - Jim Jones, some guy called Noe, and singer Nikki Wray.

Judging from this preview video clip they all step up in a big way. Let it run to the end and you’ll hear Jim Jones float over the track real nice like.

Blakroc in stores Black Friday, November 27, 2009.

Maybe this will get Dame off the couch for good 😉