Dame Dash talks rappers faking wealth

So as the ongoing saga involving 50 Cent filing for bankruptcy continues, everyone seems to be weighing in. Earlier this week, 50 Cent shocked many by revealing in a court that his personal net worth is $4.4 million; a drastic difference from the estimated $155 million that he was said to have. That large figure comes from a recent article by Forbes magazine that attributes his worth to deals such as Vitamin Water, SK Energy Drink, movies, music and other ventures.  Apparently, that figure was grossly exaggerated.

When asked about his lavish lifestyle during his recent court appearance, 50 made claims that his lifestyle has been a complete front. 50 Cent stated that his jewelry and cars were all for show and that he returned most of it after using it to flash in front of the cameras.

This is a sentiment that former Roc-a-fella CEO, Dame Dash can identify with. According to Dame, the "big pimpin'" lifestyle that he, Jay-Z and other Roc-a-fella associates presented was played up for the cameras as well. Dash says Forbes once stated his net worth at $300 million, which he claims he never had.

At Roc-A-Fella that was our marketing – a lot of flash, not as much cash. We would always pretend that we had more than we had, so we would always make something look bigger. That was our thing- if we had $1 million it looked like $10 million, we had $10 million it looked like $100 million.

Dame goes on to say that the flashy lifestyle may be a reason for the government to snoop around in your financial life.

If you're in the newspaper and you're making yourself look bigger, but your taxes don't reflect what they saying you got...that's how people get audited. Cause they're saying you got $200 million but you only paid $1 million in taxes. So now they gotta look under the hood.

Now, whether 50 Cent really is only worth $4.4 million (I say only like that's not a lot of money), that remains to be seen. The subject, however, is great for discussion. I have been long trying to convince people that the entertainment industry is all smoke and mirrors. Nothing and no one is exactly what it seems to be. With that being said, hopefully this will be a nice reality check for some people.

Check out Dame Dash's full conversation with Dr. Boyce Watkins of FinancialJuneteenth.com.