Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs Said He Wouldn’t Give Up Biggie’s Publishing Rights Until His Bones Were ‘Crushed to Powder’

When Christopher Wallace — also known as the Notorious B.I.G. or Biggie — signed to Bad Boy Records, he helped Sean “Diddy” Combs’ new label rise. He was an incredibly successful and influential artist and he began raking in money for the label. According to some sources, though, he wasn’t making nearly as much as he could have been. Diddy held his publishing rights and refused to give them up.

Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs refused to give up Biggie’s publishing rights

Towards the end of his life, Biggie reportedly began making plans to leave Bad Boy Records. He had a contract that gave Diddy half his publishing rights, which other artists with the label believed was incredibly unfair.

“Other than Puff, no one else has prospered off the label,” former Bad Boy rapper Mark Curry wrote in his book Dancing With the Devil: How Puff Burned the Bad Boys of Hiphop (via Salon). 

Curry alleged that Biggie was trapped in a deal that was unfair to him.

“I was in the same spot as Biggie when he signed with Bad Boy,” he wrote. “After Biggie signed the contracts that Puff forced on him, for example, he walked away with only $25,000.”

Biggie’s lawyers began pushing for more control over the publishing rights, but Diddy fought them at every turn.

“I will never give it up until I’m dead and my bones are crushed into powder,” Diddy said, per Rolling Stone. 

This legal battle reportedly only gave Biggie more incentive to leave the label behind.

Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs gave Biggie his publishing rights in 2023

Over two decades after Biggie’s death, Diddy finally relinquished control of his publishing rights. In 2023, he “decided to reassign his Bad Boy publishing rights back to all Bad Boy artists and writers who helped build Bad Boy into the powerhouse it is today,” a source told Variety.

The artists who received their publishing rights included Biggie, Faith Evans, Ma$e, and more. The assets were reportedly worth hundreds of millions of dollars.

According to the source, Diddy hoped this move would help Black artists.

“Combs sees it as part of a broader goal of promoting economic empowerment for Black artists and culture,” they said.

The rapper’s mother shared her current opinion of Diddy

Diddy’s decision to relinquish publishing rights back to Bad Boy artists did little to improve Biggie’s mother’s opinion of him. Voletta Wallace said she used to like Diddy, but she is now disgusted with the allegations against him by his ex-girlfriend, Cassie Ventura.

“I’m sick to my stomach,” Wallace told Rolling Stone, adding, “I’m praying for Cassie. I’m praying for his mother. I don’t want to believe the things that I’ve heard, but I’ve seen [the hotel video]. I pray that he apologizes to her.”

She said she wishes she could hit him.

“I hope that I see Sean one day and the only thing I want to do is slap the daylights out of him. And you can quote me on that,” she said. “Because I liked him. I didn’t want to believe all the awful things, but I’m so ashamed and embarrassed.”