Diddy has come clean about the supposed $5,000 per day he pays Sting for sampling The Police on the 1997 Biggie tribute “I’ll Be Missing You.”
Explaining that it’s not actually true, it comes after many outlets picked up a previous tweet from the Bad Boy mogul where he disclosed the alleged figure he gives the British rocker.
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“I want y’all to understand I was joking,” he tweeted on Friday (April 7). “It’s called being Facetious! Me and @OfficialSting have been friends for a long time!
“He never charged me $3K or $5K a day for Missing You. He probably makes more than $5K a day from one of the biggest songs in history.”
With rumors flooding the internet, Charlamagne Tha God originally pressed Sting about the four-figure daily payment for using his band’s 1983 hit “Every Breath You Take” in an interview with The Breakfast Club back in 2018, which he said was true.
“Yeah, for the rest of his life,” Sting said before explaining to Charlamagne that Diddy asked for permission after “I’ll Be Missing You” was already released, but it’s all water under the bridge as they’re “very good friends now.” He added: “It was a beautiful version of that song.”
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The resurfaced clip crossed Diddy’s desk earlier this week and he threw more fuel on the fire by adding that the Sting fee was bumped up an additional $3,000, but he wasn’t bitter about it.
“Nope. 5K a day,” Diddy tweeted on April 5. “Love to my brother @OfficialSting.”
The Harlem-born icon must’ve felt compelled to clear up the rumors about coughing up $1.825million a year to Sting as social media commentary ran rampant with the faux story. Although, it’s still unclear if a deal was made at the time of the 1997 track’s release.
Diddy commemorated his friend and artist The Notorious B.I.G. a couple of months after the legendary rapper’s March 9, 1997 death with “I’ll Be Missing You,” which was built around The Police’s “Every Breath You Take” sample and features Biggie’s ex-wife Faith Evans and 112 on the hook.
The tribute anthem spent 11 weeks on top of the Billboard Hot 100 and won Best Rap Performance by a Duo or Group at the 40th Annual Grammy Awards.
“I’ll Be Missing You” was the second single to be taken from Diddy’s 1998 debut album, No Way Out.
Meanwhile, Diddy has been in the giving mood as of late. On Wednesday (April 4), DJ Khaled took to Instagram with a video showing off a luxury golf cart that Puff bought him.
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“Thank you @diddy love brother beautiful gift!!!!!!!” Khaled wrote in the post’s caption. “Grateful ! #LetsGoGolfing.”
In a separate post, Diddy praised Khaled on his golf game, as well as explaining his reasoning behind the gift.”I’m so proud of my brother @DJKhaled for all the work he’s putting in on the golf course,” he wrote. “Enjoy my gift to you! I had to find the flyest of the fly for my brother! This ain’t no regular degular golf cart!”
