For years, some have speculated that Bad Boy’s CEO, Sean Combs, has taken money from the label’s artists. After several artists left the company, many have had public feuds with Diddy, including The Lox, Mase and others. Aware of this perception, Puff took to the pages of this month’s Vibe Magazine to clear the air about the way he’s seen by many.
“There’s an off perception that needs to be addressed about me that I have ever robbed somebody or mistreated somebody. Or tried to be ruthless or whatever in this game. Like, all this year I’ve heard people say, ‘Where’s Carl Thomas, where’s Black Rob, where’s G.Dep? Where are these artists?’ And for some reason they go ahead and equate that, cause those artists aren’t with me, that I’ve done something wrong or malicious or conniving. It’s something that I do have a problem with because they don’t have no proof that I’ve ever done nothing like that,” he said.
Diddy went further to speak on this perception, saying that he’s not at fault for artists who haven’t had long lasting success.
“It’s a misconception. Especially someone who’s been brought up like me. I’ve been brought up to work hard for mine and never take from nobody. And to always try and help people. But people don’t understand this game that were in. You have a short life expectancy. It’s rare to a me, to be a Jay-Z, an LL, a Nas. That shit is a rarity. That’s not even one percent of the rappers. If you look at any artists that were on Ruff Ryders, where they at? If you look at any artist that was on Def Jam at the time we started, where they at? If you look at any artist that was on Roc-A-Fella, Jive, where they at? It’s not like anything was wrong with them. It’s just that you have a four, five-year average in this game. That’s just something I wanted to address.”
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For more of Diddy’s interview, check the August/September issue of Vibe.
