Ma$e Addresses Diddy’s Business Practices Amid His Grammys Speech
This past weekend, hip-hop mogul Diddy’s cultural-shifting contributions to the music industry was recognized by The Recording Academy, who bestowed the Bad Boy Records and REVOLT founder with their Icon award at a pre-Grammys gala this past Saturday (Jan. 25).
In his acceptance speech for the honor, Diddy delivered some blistering remarks toward the Grammys. He noted how the institution has historically undervalued rap and Black music with Black artists routinely shut out of major categories. Diddy closed out his 58-minute long speech with a call to action for artists to “take back control” instead of letting awards dictate what success looks like and gave the Grammys 365 days to get their act together.
Some found fault with Diddy’s comments given that the hip-hop mogul has long faced criticism for his past business practices and alleged mistreatment toward his artists. Most recently, Brooklyn rapper Sauce Money criticised Puff and Jay-Z for practicing the same “back door politics” that they publicly preach against.
Now, former Bad Boy artist Ma$e has come forward with his own thoughts. He posted a lengthy message directed to Diddy on Instagram Friday (Jan. 31) where he also called the Bad Boy Records honcho out.
“Your past business practices knowingly has continued purposely [starving] your artist and been extremely unfair to the very same artist that helped [you] obtain that Icon Award on the iconic Bad Boy label,” he wrote. “For example, [you] still got my publishing from 24 years ago in which [you] gave me $20K.”
Ma$e continued, “I would be forced to still perform to not look crazy when I was getting peanuts and the robbery would continue.” He then revealed that he recently tried to buy back the publishing rights to his music but Diddy refused to sell them unless he matched another offer.
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“So I offered [you] $2 [million] in cash just a few days ago to sell me back my publishing...Your response was if I can match what the EUROPEAN GUY OFFER him that would be the only way I can get it back. Or else I can wait until I’m 50 years old and it will revert back to me from when I was 19 years old,” he stated. “You bought it for about $20K [and] I offered you $2 million in cash. This is not Black excellence at all. When our own race is enslaving us. If it’s about us owning, it can’t be about us owning each other. No More Hiding Behind “Love.” U CHANGED? GIVE THE ARTIST BACK THEIR $$.”
Puff has yet to address the Bad Boy Records veteran rapper, but it’s safe to say fans will be looking for an explanation to the claims following his Grammys sentiment.
Read Ma$e’s full message below.
