Former Vice President of Interscope Records and President of Urban Music at Sony, Steve Stoute, recently made an appearance on Shannon Sharpe’s Club Shay Shay podcast to speak about his career and journey in the music industry. However, he also made some revelations about his business relationship with Jay-Z, who is his cousin.
During his conversation with the NFL player, Stoute revealed to Sharpe that he and Jay-Z are not only business associates but are also cousins. Explaining why he doesn’t really speak about his familial ties, Stoute told Sharpe, “I don’t talk about it, because there’s no reason to talk about it. But I went to my grandfather’s funeral, and his grandparent is buried two lots down. It’s just like one of those things.”
Sharpe asked him if the pair had developed a friendship due to their familial bond, but Stoute clarified that that wasn’t the case, stating, “Nah, he and I just became very close friends over time.”
Stoute also gave his opinion on former Roc-a-Fella CEO Dame Dash, and insisted he “blew it” when it came to handling Jay-Z.
The executive once managed Nas and said that he was bewildered when Dash ruined his opportunity to handle “the most important artist of his generation,” meaning Jay-Z. Speaking about loyalty, Stoute unveiled, “The people around him wanted to meet with other people. People were becoming less beholden to him, but he was unaware of it.”
He continued, “And then while he was building businesses, he would go off all around the world with cameras and girls and all kinds of crazy shit, and then come back flipping on everybody as if [they were wrong].”
Speaking about the glass ceiling that Dash put in place, Stoute added, “Jay grew up, Jay wanted more. I think Jay saw Dame’s ceiling and I think that’s really what it was. He wanted more. Everybody wanted more. Dame just had a very particular way of approaching things.”
He concluded, “He’s far from stupid — very, very smart, very talented. Ego through the roof. So there was no working with him. No one wanted to work with him. Jimmy Iovine had this line: when the shit gets bigger than the cat, you gotta get rid of the cat.”
