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Sean “Diddy” Combs has been in the music industry for three decades, working as a rapper as well as a record executive. He launched Bad Boy Records in 1993 and signed some of the biggest names in hip-hop, including his friend The Notorious B.I.G. Now, in the streaming era, Diddy has a bone to pick with streaming services like Apple Music and Spotify.

Diddy, who recently called out Apple Music and Spotify, wearing a black suit
Sean “Diddy” Combs | Paras Griffin/Getty Images

Diddy has been a music executive for 3 decades

Prior to founding Bad Boy Records, Diddy worked in A&R at Uptown Records under the widely respected Andre Harrell. Diddy was eventually fired by Harrell in 1993 and went on to create Bad Boy Records later that year.

Throughout Bad Boy’s life in the music industry, many talented artists in hip-hop and R&B have been signed to Diddy’s label. Faith Evans, 112, Total, The Lox, Boyz n da Hood, Foxy Brown, Danity Kane, and Cassie have all been a part of Bad Boy’s roster at one point. Today, artists including Janelle Monáe, French Montana, and Machine Gun Kelly are signed to the label.

Diddy called out streaming services Apple Music and Spotify for dictating release dates

In October 2022, Diddy took to his Instagram Stories to vent about streaming services — specifically, how officials from companies like Apple Music and Spotify attempt to dictate when Diddy can release music.

“We gotta change tone,” Diddy said. “If you work for Apple or Spotify and y’all got these rules and regulations, we gotta drop our music when you want us to drop our music — yo, I drop my music when the f*** I want to drop my music. And y’all gonna have to catch up. It’s all good.”

Diddy went on to claim that there are several people trying to decree how he runs his career. “These people out here trying to control me,” he said. “They trying to control us, f*** that. I ain’t being controlled. I’m being f***ing free. I ain’t come all this way to listen to some f***ing algorithm, computer rules — f*** that.”

“I want to make it totally clear, if you f*** with my s***, play it,” he continued. “If you don’t, it’s all good. You cannot stop this. You cannot never, ever, ever stop this. No computers, not you, not your job, not your media base — you cannot stop the feeling of the frequency, never, ever, ever, on God.”

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Diddy’s music career

Even though he’s largely worked as a music executive, Diddy has also found success as a rapper. His 1997 debut album No Way Out was certified seven-times platinum with over seven million copies sold. The album’s single “I’ll Be Missing You,” a heartfelt tribute to his late friend The Notorious B.I.G., reached No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.

He continued to release successful albums throughout the late ’90s and 2000s. His 1999 album Forever was certified platinum. Diddy’s last solo album, Press Play, was released in 2006. In total, he has three Grammy Awards: he won Best Rap Album for No Way Out and Best Rap Performance By a Duo or Group for “I’ll Be Missing You” and “Shake Ya Tailfeather.”

In 2022, he released his first new music in five years in the form of the single “Gotta Move On” featuring singer Bryson Tiller.

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