PUFF DADDY

Jadakiss Explains Why He ‘Really Hated’ Ghostwriting For Diddy Early In His Career

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There are a lot of avenues to success in the music business. While most folks probably immediately think of performers since they’re the most visible product of the industry, songwriting is actually one of the most lucrative. Although songwriters might not receive as much attention and fame, they get a lot of love on the backend — unless they aren’t credited as writers, in which case, they’re considered ghostwriters and usually get paid up front for services rendered.

And while that’s still a pretty decent gig if you can get it, for potential stars like a young Jadakiss, it’s not enough without the spotlight. As Jadakiss told fellow New York rapper Smoke DZA on The Personal Party Podcast recently, the Yonkers standout “really hated” his early career role penning hits for the far-more-famous Puff Daddy (aka Sean “Diddy” Combs).

“After giving him ‘[All About] the Benjamins,’ ‘Señorita,’ ‘Victory,’ a couple remixes, I used to feel like it was taking away too much from me,” Kiss explains in a snippet of the episode on social media. “I ain’t know how to morph. It ain’t like he a n**** that I knew my whole life that I can just scribe him how I think he should be. I ain’t feel like I could write the bars for myself and give it to him, because I ain’t feel like it fit him. He had too much money. I was still extra grungy. My mind couldn’t think of that much Versace or being on that type of financial level. It used to conflict with me writing for him.”

As he elaborates, he felt that if he gave Diddy “Jada-style” rhymes, the glitzier Bad Boy founder’s image wouldn’t support the bars. However, he credits Combs for being able to sell them like they were his own anyway. “He just used to tell me, ‘Give me the shit that you would say for you,’” Kiss recalls. “I’m like, ‘It ain’t gon’ fit for you.’ He used to know how to make it work.”

To his own credit, Jadakiss has become a star in his own right, a highly-coveted and respected feature killer among his peers and contemporaries, and a fascinating repository of hip-hop history and behind-the-scenes knowledge.

Check out the full interview above.

Diddy Said He And Biggie First Tried Ecstasy During The ‘Hypnotize’ Video Shoot

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On what would’ve been The Notorious B.I.G.’s 50th birthday, his friend and collaborator Diddy took to Twitter Spaces alongside Jay-Z and Fat Joe (per HipHopDX) and shared stories about the late rapper. Often known for their debauched, lavish music videos, Diddy recalled the shoot for “Hypnotize.” When speaking of the video, Diddy revealed the shooting of the video was the first time the two tried ecstasy.

“I mean, it was an experience, you know what I’m saying?,” said Diddy. “Ayo, Biggie’s 50. Check this out, we have nothing to hide. That was a long time ago… it was the first time. It was just a little nibble, it was all right. It was a little nibble. But we was in extra high, high spirits. Yeah, this breaking news and sh*t. F*ck it. On his 50th birthday, I wanna let y’all know that.”

During a special dinner on Biggie’s 50th birthday, his Junior M.A.F.I.A. collaborator Lil Kim told People she believes Biggie would still dominate hip-hop if he were alive today.

“It’s always important to honor the king. He’s the king. The king lives on,” Kim said. “He’s just an amazing person, amazing artist. […] His legacy. It’s just great. Like, I mean, look at the catalog. Look at everything that he’s accomplished, even at such a young age.”

Diddy Takes Credit For Travis Scott Performing At The Upcoming Billboard Music Awards

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While the Billboard Music Awards’ announcement of Travis Scott’s return as a performer came as a shock to some, for others it signaled the next phase in his ongoing comeback after the Astroworld Festival disaster. However, as Travis and Live Nation are still entangled in a deluge of lawsuits stemming from the many, many injuries and ten deaths at Astroworld, it appears Travis needed an outside advocate to fight for him to perform at this year’s BBMAs.

Enter: Sean “Puff Daddy/P. Diddy/Brother Love” Combs. In a video posted to Instagram, the veteran hitmaker made it clear that he deserves the credit (or the blame, depending on where you stand) for Travis Scott’s impending redemption. It seems Diddy gave the show’s producers an ultimatum:” For the Billboard Music Awards this Sunday I made a request, I made a demand,” he said. “I said ‘My brother Travis Scott has to perform. I’m executive producing, he has to perform,’ and NBC said ‘yes.’”

Diddy continued to boast in a separate interview with REVOLT Black News (which, you may recall, he owns). “I am uncanceling the canceled,” he declared. “There will be no canceling on my watch. Love is about forgiveness… so that was why it was important for me to have Travis Scott perform. It’s going to be a great night.”

While forgiveness is an admirable goal, there are some who don’t feel it’s Diddy’s or anyone else’s place to offer that. Those people include Bernon and Tericia Blount, the grandparents of Ezra Blount, the youngest Astroworld victim at nine years old. The Blounts previously condemned one of Travis’ efforts to make amends, calling it a PR stunt, and nearly 3,000 victims have lawsuits against the rapper and Astroworld’s promotion company, Live Nation. Those suits have been combined into a single case, which has yet to be tried.

Diddy Launches His R&B-Focused Label, Love Records, In Partnership With Motown

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Last summer, Diddy announced that he is putting out an R&B album, as well as launching an R&B-focused music label. Today, he officially revealed the label’s name, Love Records. The label was started in partnership with Motown Records, and Diddy’s upcoming album will be its first release. According to a statement from the label in Variety, the focus will initially be to “release singles and collaborative projects from a collective of world-class artists, producers, and songwriters.”

Diddy previously cited his inspiration in launching the new label, saying, “I feel like R&B was abandoned and it’s a part of our African American culture.” Meanwhile, he also intends to try a new business model, rather than locking artists into deals for a cut of the profits. “I’m not signing any artists,” he said. “Because if you know better, you do better. I’m doing 50–50 partnerships with pure transparency.”

The music mogul has had plenty of experience in the arena of R&B. Before launching the label for which he’s best known, Bad Boy, he A&Red projects from the likes of Jodeci and Mary J. Blige at Uptown Records. That experience should serve him well as he and Love Records — which he’s sort of named after himself — prepare for the release of his first album in seven years, Off The Grid Vol. 1.

Benny The Butcher Updates Biggie’s Instructional Classic On ’10 More Commandments’ With Diddy

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Although both rose to prominence decades apart, Griselda rapper Benny The Butcher and The Notorious B.I.G. have plenty in common. Both men rap with a gritty, underground-approved delivery about life in the streets, yet have risen to mainstream prominence on the strengths of their talents and connections. Both made their money via shall we say “alternative means” before finding success in the rap game. And now, both have parlayed their hard-won experience into instructional songs about the commandments of the illicit drug trade.

Building on the ground rules established by Biggie’s Life After Death standout “10 Crack Commandments,” Benny linked up with the late rapper’s number-one benefactor Diddy to offer “10 More Commandments” from Benny’s newly released project, Tana Talk 4. Produced by Griselda’s go-to beatsmith Daringer, “10 More Commandments” finds Benny counting down from number 20 this time around, dishing more advice that, while being far less pithy than Big’s, is no less useful to the aspiring kingpins who might be listening. Some examples:

  • Count the money
  • Test the work before you buy it
  • Only buy sh*t that can be sold
  • No social media postin’
  • The most important one: The first chance you get, you better get out this sh*t

Man’s got a point.

Watch the “10 More Commandments” video above. Tana Talk 4 is out now via Griselda Records / EMPIRE. Stream it here.

A Thirsty Rapper Got Arrested After Hopping Diddy’s Fence To Give Him A Demo

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Look anywhere on the internet and thirsty aspiring rappers are everywhere. They thrive in the margins of comment sections, anxiously trying to get someone, anyone, to check out their album, song, or freestyle. You get the idea. So how does a rapper cut through the white noise of the internet? Trespass onto Diddy’s property and hand him a demo in person, of course!

That’s exactly what rapper Isaiah Smalls (no relation) did over the weekend. TMZ (who else?) posted a video of Smalls shouting rather haphazardly at the security gate of Diddy’s Los Angeles mansion in hopes that the Bad Boy Records boss would hear his cries. Unbeknownst to Smalls, Diddy wasn’t even home, and his security guards refused to let him in, obviously. But this didn’t stop the 23-year-old from hopping the gate and getting onto the property in hopes that he could personally hand-deliver a copy of his demo to Diddy. According to TMZ, security immediately apprehended the hungry lyricist and held him until the police arrived. He was charged with trespassing and was released within the hour.

And yes, I do realize that his stunt led to outlets like us shouting this dude out for what he did, but ya gotta love his determination. Hip-hop is a hustle and sometimes, you just gotta hop a fence and see what happens. Isaiah Smalls, remember that name.