Hip-hop mogul Diddy has launched many a successful artist’s career in the music industry, namely Mase, 112, Faith Evans and The Notorious B.I.G. But in recent times, Diddy and Bad Boy have come under fire from critics who claim that there’s a “black cloud” looming over the label and that anyone who signs to it is doomed to career failure. In a recent interview with DJ Whoo Kid, Diddy addressed the critics, saying that their claims are unwarranted.
“Over the last couple of years, there’s been a strong propaganda movement that’s been brewing in the negative sense against Bad Boy, against what it is to sign to the Bad Boy label, if it’s a detriment to your career,” he said. “[It’s] just hate. Just regular hate and also a lot of people not understanding how this industry works.”
According to Diddy, his naysayers aren’t aware of the dog-eat-dog nature of the music industry and should respect the fact that his label is one of the few urban labels of the ’90s that is still standing.
“This industry has a life expectancy of two years. It started a couple of years ago like, ‘What happened with this artist? Why isn’t this artist still on the label?’ So people started to try to give us a bad rap and spread that propaganda through the new generation. When honestly, nobody on Def Jam’s still on Def Jam. No one who was on Roc-A-Fella is still on Roc-A-Fella. There’s not even still a Roc-A-Fella. It was named something else. We the last people standing, we the last crew standing. And I’m not saying that with any disrespect toward anybody’s name who I just said. We not letting that propaganda ride.”
Diddy does make a valid point, with the continuing shifts in the music industry, the increasingly fickle nature of American audiences and the high-mortality rate for an artist’s musical career, it’s commendable that Bad Boy is still viable.
However, it’s hard to ignore the number of acts who have jumped ship from Bad Boy and complained about the mogul’s business skills and lack of personal attention. Below, you can check out a list of artists who have left Bad Boy and Diddy behind. –nicholas robinson
