Sean “Diddy” Combs has decided to return some music rights to artists and songwriters who were signed to his label, Bad Boy Records, according to a close source.
Diddy was presented the option to cash in on the multimillion-dollar offers, but chose to reallocate publishing rights to the artists and songwriters. The move comes ahead of the label’s 30th anniversary.
Established in 1993, Bad Boy Records produced a boatload of legendary artists including The Notorious B.I.G, Ma$e, Faith Evans, Craig Mack and 112. According to the Combs Global website, the hip hop label sold over 500 million records, produced 38 platinum singles and earned multiple Grammy Awards.
During this time period, it was common for music labels to secure a percentage of an artist’s publishing rights when they signed deals.
However, this practice has created tension between former Bad Boy talent and Diddy. In 2020, Ma$e called out the label executive about the discrepancies in his businessman ethics.
In the since-deleted post, Ma$e wrote, “Your past business practices knowingly has continued purposely starved your artists and been extremely unfair to the very same artists that helped (you) obtain that Icon Award on the iconic Bad Boy label.”
Giving former artists their publishing rights comes after years of criticism that Diddy didn’t treat his artist fairly.
Present day Bad Boy record artists include, French Montana, Janelle Monáe and pop-punk rapper Machine Gun Kelly.