“There’s an off perception that needs to be addressed about me that I have ever robbed somebody or mistreated somebody, or tried to be ruthless or whatever in this game. Like, all this year I’ve heard people say, “Where’s Carl Thomas, where’s Black Rob, where’s G.Dep? Where are these artists?” And for some reason they go ahead and equate that, cause those artists aren’t with me, that I’ve done something wrong or malicious or conniving. It’s something that I do have a problem with because they don’t have no proof that I’ve ever done nothing like that.”
It’s a misconception. Especially someone who’s been brought up like me. I’ve been brought up to work hard for mine and never take from nobody. And to always try and help people. But people don’t understand this game that were in. You have a short life expectancy. It’s rare to a me, to be a Jay-Z, an LL, a Nas. That sh*t is a rarity. That’s not even one percent of the rappers. If you look at any artists that were on Ruff Ryders, where they at? If you look at any artist that was on Def Jam at the time we started, where they at? If you look at any artist that was on Roc-A-Fella, Jive, where they at? It’s not like anything was wrong with them. It’s just that you have a four, five-year average in this game. That’s just something I wanted to address.
– Diddy in Vibe Magazine
Diddy gave artists an opportunity, what they do with it is in their hands in my opinion. Check the full interview in Vibe magazine.
The purpose of being on a “family” label is that a “family” label develops you, guides you, and pushes your career… the artist = the talent; the label = the machine. This is not to say the artist should enter shitty deals and not read their paperwork but Ruff Ryders, Bad Boy, RocaFella, G-Unit, No Limit, Cash Money etc did not promote or set their labels up in the same way Geffen, Def Jam, Interscope, Jive or even Koch did.
Those labels let you know they were just a label and you and your team had to put the work in… all of the black owned labels promoted that they were not just your label but they were your team; when in retrospect a number of the situations were just business like at Geffen, Jive or any other non black owned label.Thats why there are so many disgruntled artists, I’m sure if Puffy presented his label in the same manner Warner Music Group runs their label these people wouldn’t be so pissed.
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