A Former Bad Boy Artist Was Shocked When Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs Did ‘Good Stuff’
Sean “Diddy” Combs founded Bad Boy Records in 1993. He helped lift a number of artists to success, but some grew to resent them because of their publishing deals. Several artists complained about the unfairness of their contracts. Rapper Mase was so frustrated that he confronted Diddy during a radio interview and asked to be let out of his contract. He was shocked when Diddy complied, noting that he rarely saw him do good things.
Bad Boy artist Mase tried urgently to get out of his contract with Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs
While Diddy was being interviewed on an Atlanta radio station, Mase arrived unannounced and asked to be let out of his contract. During a break, they stepped away from microphones, where Diddy signed the document.
“Just be clear [Mase] has the freedom to do whatever he want to do,” Diddy said when he was back on air, per XXL Magazine. “People have felt like our situation I may have stopped him or whatever, he can do whatever he wanna do. I’m tryna make sure everyone is crystal clear. If you want those Mase verses, getcha hustle on. He gotta slick tongue though, he’s a mean negotiator so you better come with that guap.”
Mase could hardly believe things had gone his way. He wasn’t used to Diddy being agreeable, which was possibly why he confronted him on air.
“Took me 10 years to get this paperwork right here,” he said. “I had to put this in UPS; I don’t want nothing to spill on it. I don’t even know what I’mma put out now. Oh my goodness. We good … I got my official papers right here from Puff Daddy. It was love. So I guess we don’t have no problems after all. I don’t even know how to take that. I ain’t used to Puff doing good stuff.”
Another Bad Boy artist said Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs didn’t give artists fair deals
Mase wasn’t the only Bad Boy artist who had a problem with his contract. Rapper Mark Curry claimed Diddy was the only person at the label who made money off of music.
“Other than Puff, no one else has prospered off the label,” Curry wrote in his book Dancing With the Devil: How Puff Burned the Bad Boys of Hiphop (via Salon)
Curry believed Diddy locked the Notorious B.I.G. into an unfair contract as well.
“I was in the same spot as Biggie when he signed with Bad Boy,” Curry wrote. “After Biggie signed the contracts that Puff forced on him, for example, he walked away with only $25,000. To avoid people finding out just how broke Biggie was when he was killed, Puff announced that he was giving the fallen star’s family several million dollars.”
Artists received their publishing rights in 2023
In 2023, Diddy relinquished control of Bad Boy artists’ publishing rights. The assets were reportedly worth hundreds of millions. Biggie received his publishing rights posthumously, but artists like Mase also benefited.
