Source: Alberto E. Rodriguez / Getty
It’s been a while, so an annual Mase appearance was overdue. The former Bad Boy rapper took to social media to send his old buddy Sean “Diddy” Combs,
now also formally known as “Love,” a message, Give me my publishing, sir (we’re paraphrasing).
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Kelis recently took to the press to reveal that
she feels the Neptunes had hoodwinked her out of royalties early in her career. That surely put the battery in the Harlem rapper’s back because now he’s demanding coins for him and his former Bad Boy Records labelmates.
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But in the lengthy post he shared on Instagram, he also cited Diddy’s widely reported criticism of the Grammys for its ill treatment of Hip-Hop and Black music. It’s quite lengthy, and full of scorching hot tea.
I heard your
#Grammy speech about how u are now for the artist and about how the artist must take back control,” wrote Mase, who @’d Diddy so you know that it’s real. “So I will be the first to take that initiative. Also, before we ask of other ethnicities to do us right we should do us as black people better. Especially the creators. I heard u loud and clear when u said that u are now for the artist and to that my response is if u want to see change you can make a change today by starting with yourself. Your past business practices knowingly has continued purposely starved your artist and been extremely unfair to the very same artist that helped u obtain that Icon Award on the iconic Badboy label.”
Mase was just warming up. Also worth noting, he
performed at the same gala where Diddy gave the speech he referenced. He added, “For example, u still got my publishing from 24 years ago in which u gave me $20k. Which makes me never want to work w/ u as any artist wouldn’t after u know someone is robbing you & tarnishing your name when u don’t want to comply w/ his horrendous business model.”
Damn, son. That’s a nice amount of hits for only $20K. Worth noting is that the photo Mase used is a pic of Meek along with a caption of the tweet were the Philly rapper criticized labels for exploiting young Black talent.
Anyway, Mase went on: “However, people would always ask what’s up w/ Mase? So I would be forced to still perform to not look crazy when I was getting peanuts and the robbery would continue. So many great moments and people lives in music were lost. But again, I rode with u in the face of death without flinching & u still wouldn’t do right. I never said anything because I wanted to wait until I was financially great so I can ensured that I was addressing this from a pure place and not out of spite. To add insult, u keep screaming black excellence and love but I know love isn’t free. So I offered u 2m in cash just a few days ago to sell me back my publishing(as his biggest artist alive) that always show u respect for u giving me an opportunity at 19 yrs old. Your response was if I can match what the EUROPEAN GUY OFFER him that would be the only way I can get it back. Or else I can wait until I’m 50 years old and it will revert back to me from when I was 19 years old. You bought it for about 20k & I offered you 2m in cash. This is not black excellence at all. When our own race is enslaving us. If it’s about us owning, it can’t be about us owning each other. No More Hiding Behind “Love”. U CHANGED? GIVE THE ARTIST BACK THEIR $$$. So they can take care of their families.”
Wow. Mind you this is just Mase’s side of the story, for now, but those details are damning.
As usual, Hip-Hop has plenty of opinions on this matter. They typically range from Diddy is a scoundrel who needs to pay up, to you ungrateful louts knew what you were getting into before he made you famous. But a peruse of the Internets reveals it’s heavily leaning on the former.
Peep some of the more poignant takes below.
