As part of a feature story for Variety, Sean “Diddy” Combs spoke in detail about the issues currently plaguing the black community. During the conversation, the Hip Hop entrepreneur addressed the lack of business investments, the impact of gentrification and much more.
Having founded Bad Boy Records in 1993, Diddy demonstrated his expertise as he discussed exclusion at the hands of record companies who make money off black culture.
“You have these record companies that are making so much money off our culture, our art form, but they’re not investing or even believing in us,” Diddy said. “For all the billions of dollars that these black executives have been able to make them, [there’s still hesitation] to put them in the top-level positions.”
He continued, “They’ll go and they’ll recruit cats from overseas. It makes sense to give [executives of color] a chance and embrace the evolution, instead of it being that we can only make it to president, senior VP … There’s no black CEO of a major record company. That’s just as bad as the fact that there are no [black] majority owners in the NFL. That’s what really motivates me.”
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Diddy later touched on the downside of gentrification and its aftermath, specifically in New York City.
“Gentrification is heartbreaking,” he said. “When I go back to New York, the energy doesn’t feel the same — the nightlife, the excitement, the provocativeness. In Harlem you still feel that, even though the community has gotten displaced and shrunk.”
Check out Diddy’s entire discussion with Variety here.
