“Now, what y’all wanna do? Wanna be ballers? Shot-callers? Brawlers?” You don’t have to be a fan of hip hop to know where those lyrics are pulled from. “It’s All About the Benjamins” dropped way back when in 1997, but it’s still a relevant hip hop, party jam. The Deric “D-Dot” Angelettie-produced classic had multiple versions that featured Diddy, Notorious B.I.G., Jadakiss, Sheek Louch, and Lil Kim. Diddy’s bars are some of the most memorable from “It’s All About the Benjamins,” and Jadakiss talked about penning Puff Daddy’s lines during a recent visit with People’s Party with Talib Kweli.

According to Jadakiss, he was just minding his business, spittin’ a few bars when Diddy overheard him. “I already had that rhyme,” the rapper said of Diddy’s verse. “He heard it and was like, ‘Nah, that’s me. Let me get that rhyme right there. He took that and put that on ‘Benjamins.’ Me and [Sheek Louch] didn’t like the ‘Benjamins.’ He almost forced us to record the verses that we have on there. We didn’t really understand what that beat…it [didn’t] grasp us at the time. We wasn’t eager to just record it.”

Yet, Diddy had a vision and knew it would be a hit. “That’s what makes Diddy Diddy,” Jadakiss added. “That really was like, our first commercial and ‘hood hit that catapulted us besides the mixtape stuff that we was doing.” Diddy’s final “All About the Benjamins” verse wasn’t how it was initially penned, because Jadakiss also revealed that the rap mogul “did about four versions of it.”

Check out what else Jadakiss had to say below, including bits about Mase writing for Kanye and how he felt about being mentioned in Yeezy‘s 2005 hit “Touch the Sky.”

Fivio Foreign is one of the trailblazing new rappers out of Brooklyn that you definitely need to know right now. Fresh off releasing the remix to his breakout single “Big Drip” featuring Lil Baby and Quavo, Fivio decided to take a quick visit to HOT 97 to give Paul Rosenberg the rundown on new music arriving soon, how he found out about the death of fellow drill emcee Pop Smoke and a clarification behind his business dealings with Mase.

 
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After explaining his disbelief when people first started blowing up his phone the day Pop Smoke died, Fivio put the loss into perspective by saying it was the first death he’s truly felt since his mom passed away in his arms from a stroke a few years ago. Fivio then went on to explain that the situation with Mase started after he dropped “Blixky Inna Box” with Jay Dee and Dee Savv, saying, “[Mase] was hip to the sound, to the Brooklyn drill sound.” After Mase showed interest in signing all three guys, Fivio then confirmed that it was strictly a “production deal” on his end, further adding, “He don’t own none of my publishing.” This of course contradicts heavily with 50 Cent’s claim last month that alluded to Fivio being stuck in an unfair publishing deal with Mase. Mase later denied that story himself, and it looks like Fivio just gave us a better understanding of the situation overall.

Watch Fivio Foreign’s full interview with Paul Rosenberg for HOT 97 below, which breaks down a few more things regarding his business with Mase and the new seven-figure publishing deal he just signed with Sony/ATV:

In the late 1990s and early 2000s, 112’s was one of the reigning R&B groups. The Bad Boy Records quartet was one of the biggest singing groups in the world at the time with hits like “Only You” with Mase and Notorious B.I.G, “Anywhere” with Lil’ Zane, “Peaches & Cream,” “Cupid,” and “It’s Over Now.” Like many other singing groups of music history’s past, 112 eventually disbanded over personal differences, but Q Parker sat down with TV One for Life + Lyrics to chat about what it was like in 112’s heyday.

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“Being signed to Bad Boy was a dream come true,” Q recalled. “It was sort of like, our gift, because all we watched were Boyz II Men, Jodeci, Take 6. So when we finally put our group together it was like, that’s gonna be us one day. Jermaine Dupri passed on us, Dallas Austin passed on us, Teddy Riley passed on 112.”

Then, the R&B group got their big break. “Here comes Puffy who had this edge about him,” said Q. “I believe the gift for us was we were supposed to sign with Bad Boy because he brought an element out of us that I don’t know would have been brought out of us had we signed to those other executives. We would’ve still been the balladeers and the crooners and all of that, but Bad Boy gave us like—we were the guys you could take home to mom, but we were the guys mom want you to stay away from. We had a nice blend of bad boy but church boy, too.”

He said Bad Boy’s era from 1194-2004 is something that is etched into R&B and hip hop history. “And you can’t mention that era, and the dominance of that era, without mentioning 112,” he said. Q added that the group met Diddy outside of the nightclub 112 and they sang for him on the spot. They soon became the fourth artist to sign to Bad Boy.

Check out Q Parker talk about his Bad Boy memories, his relationship with Diddy now, and why he’ll always show the hip hop mogul love.

After Diddy was bestowed with the Industry Icon Award at the Pre-Grammy Gala a few weeks ago, Mase came forward to criticize Diddy’s business tactics. According to Mase, when he was signed to Bad Boy Records, Diddy bought his publishing for a mere $20,000. Recently, Mase supposedly approached the mogul to buy back his publishing for $2 million, but Diddy declined as he had a higher offer on the table. Mase aired Diddy out for expecting him to outbid a European, while he’s preaching about black excellence. 

50 Cent has been in the music industry for quite some time now and he’s got a solid understanding of how business works in general. He’s also always willing to share his opinions on any topic, so he didn’t shy away from exposing Mase when appearing on RapRadar’s “Cigar Talk”. Fif argued that Mase was in no place to publicly shame Diddy for holding his publishing hostage when Mase is apparently doing the same thing with up-and-coming Brooklyn rapper, Fivio Foreign. 

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“This is just personal shit between the two of them and those feelings are there because they have dealt with each other for years and years and years,” 50 started before going in on Mase. “When he’s pointing out the publishing shit, he’s doing the same shit to young boys now. Fivio [Foreign]. He’s doing the same thing that they did to you, boy. What the fuck you crying about some shit that somebody did to you and you doing it to someone else? Get the fuck out of here man.”

Putting aside judgments on the morality of these sorts of publishing deals, 50 believes artists need to accept their past decisions rather than getting salty. “You can’t cry over spilled milk after the fact, look at it and go ‘Oh, I should have never did this’… Things you go through make you who you are… At that point, when he did the deal, that’s the right deal. If you ask me if Fivio did the right deal, I’d say yeah.”

Hip hop and R&B fans were floored on Tuesday (February 18) when a flyer for an upcoming concert began to circulate on social media. The Lovers & Friends Festival popped up on Instagram and for their first post, they uploaded a flyer that has caused quite a bit of controversy in less than 24 hours. According to the information provided, the Goldenvoice presented show will take place on May 9 in Los Angeles at "the grounds at Dignity Health Sports Park." However, there have been a few hiccups as both artists and fans have called out the alleged promoters for misinformation.

Artists reportedly performing at the one-day event include Lauryn Hill, Usher, Ludacris, Lil Jon, TLC, Jhené Aiko, Summer Walker, Megna Thee Stallion, Nelly, Sean Paul, T-Pain, Brandy, Monica, Ja Rule, Fat Joe, SWV, Saweetie, Lil Kim, Foxy Brown, Ginuwine, Dru Hill, Next, 112, Mario, Twista, Eve, Trina, Tweet, Amerie, Mase, Cam'ron, Mike Jones, Montell Jordan, Umi, Jon B, Baby Bash, Frankie J, and Nina Sky.

This lineup is every 1990s and 2000s hip hop and R&B fans' dream, but all may not be what it seems. Initially, Twista insinuated that he hadn't been paid for the show, but later he confirmed that he'd be playing all of his hits. Lil Kim reposted the flyer on her Instagram Story with a message written over it that read, “This is SO FAKE! I am not a part of this.” Mase simply commented, “Best of wishes on this show but pls take my name off this flyer.”

Fans have been voicing their confusion in the comment section as they've stated that although T-Pain is scheduled for Lovers & Friends Festival, he's reportedly also supposed to perform at Rolling Loud the same day. Some also stated that Megan Thee Stallion is supposed to be performing at another event in Washington, D.C. that day, as well, but Broccolli Festival shared that she's scheduled for both events.

Some people have expressed that they're feeling "Fyre Fest vibes," but all id legit, according to Snoop Dogg. The rapper made a brief video where he shared that he was one of the booking agents for the concert and verified that everyone is confirmed. He stated that he thought he was speaking with Lil Kim's representatives when booking her, but if not, he told the Queen Bee to DM him so they could officially add her to the roster.

Once upon a time, The Lox was signed to Bad Boy Records. Jadakiss, Sheek Louch, and Styles P would grow disenchanted with their deal because their style wasn’t meshing well with Bad Boy’s sound, but parting ways was easier said than done. Jadakiss recently revealed that Diddy decided to let them go after a heated exchange resulted in Styles P throwing a chair at the mogul, but the group was still at odds with Puff over their publishing. 

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Back in 2005, The Lox visited Hot 97 and chatted with Angie Martinez about their gripes with Diddy. The group talked about signing over most of their publishing to the Bad Boy founder when they inked their contracts, and things took a turn when Diddy called the station to discuss their concerns. An angry Jadakiss told Diddy he’d throw a refrigerator at him, but thankfully, no one has had furniture tossed their way.

Recently, former Bad Boy rapper Mase took to Instagram to publicly call out Diddy for not selling him his publishing. He said that Diddy talks about “black excellence,” but when Mase approached Diddy with $2 million, Diddy allegedly rejected the offer because someone else was interested. Diddy has yet to respond to the allegations, but MRECK TV caught up with Jadakiss to get the rapper’s thoughts on Mase’s beef with Diddy.

“I think Mase got a good enough relationship, he can go talk to Diddy,” Jadakiss said. “The way we did it on the radio with Angie [Martinez], that was different. We was young kids. We ain’t understand business the way we do now, being business owners and fathers and grown men about it. Mase gotta better relationship with Diddy than we actually had, so he can go talk to him.”

“In his defense, I don’t know how it was going down so he’s doing what he gotta do,” the rapper added. “I just know I would handle it different at this point in life. When we did the whole ‘Let The Lox Go’ campaign we was still teenagers. Twenty-years-old, early twenties. Everybody’s grown men known and they know right from wrong… You can go talk to a man as a man and handle your differences, settle your differences without this foolishness or without social media.” Check it out below.

The divide between Mase and Diddy continues. The former friends and collaborators haven’t worked together in years, but their relationship was recently revisited when Mason Betha aired out alleged dirty laundry. According to a lengthy Instagram post made by the Harlem World rapper, he was disheartened by Diddy’s comments about “black love” and “black excellence” because the music mogul wouldn’t even sell him his publishing.

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Mase wrote that he approached Diddy with $2 million in hopes of purchasing his publishing, but the Bad Boy Records founder rejected him. “Your response was if I can match what the EUROPEAN GUY OFFER him that would be the only way I can get it back,” Mase said. “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.” 

Later, Joe Budden came forward to say he agreed with Mase, and now, former 112 member Q Parker, too, says he sides with the Grammy-nominated rapper. TMZ caught up with Q and asked him about the disagreement, and the singer said that all artists should be keenly aware of their contracts. “I get where Mason’s coming from ’cause I’m in the same situation,” he said. “I want the other half of my publishing back, too.”

It’s not an easy feat. “However, there’s a contract that we signed when we were teenagers and legally he did nothing wrong,” Q added. He said they received the “industry standards for back in the ’90s. He’s asking Puffy to make a personal and emotional decision, and I don’t’ know if he’s gon’ do that.”

A Clive Davis’s pre-Grammy gala, Diddy gave a speech scolding the academy for its rejection of hip hop music throughout the years. “Now, where I do think he was wrong was asking the academy to do something that he’s not willing to do,” Q said, adding that you can’t celebrate black greatness and be a shrewd businessman because “they’re in conflict.” Watch his clip below.

Over the weekend, many were left grappling with a disturbing open letter from Mase to Diddy. Essentially, the former Bad Boy lyricist called hypocrisy on Diddy‘s pledge for black ownership in music, detailing his own experience being signed in an unfair publishing deal. Given the increasing distrust of major labels and their practices, it wasn’t surprising to see a debate on the topic explored. Naturally, the guys over at the Joe Budden Podcast had some interesting and engaging takes on the subject. 

Mal gives a riveting rendition of Mase‘s open letter to Puffy, which details a two-million-dollar offer spurned by the Bad Boy CEO. After laughing that Mase is “snitching,” Budden declares himself to be on Diddy’s side. “Even if they did this correctly, how much publishing do you think he was giving Mase?” asks Joe. “If me and [Parks] do a song, before the song is released, we have to get on the phone and go back and forth about publishing. Who owns what percentage of what record. Those are the conversations that should be shared more.”

Mal interjects that Mase wrote the majority of Puffy’s music, but Joe feels that business is business. “Let’s say that Mase at nineteen knew everything there was to know about publishing. He would have to have the conversation, the back and forth. If the conversation were to be hard, how much do you think he’s coming away with…I’m Puff, coming off all these successful albums, and I have a sound and a formula and a look that’s going to work. I also have the relationships, I have everything. With that said, yes you can rap but I’m going to come in there and construct everything with you and change your life.”

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“What happened here is wrong,” he continues. “20k for fifty years, I don’t know nothin’ about that. But if everything happened correctly, I don’t think Mase is walking away with a lot of his pub at all.” After Parks maintains that he’s on Mase’s side, Budden interjects. “I think all of us with a heart will read this and say something isn’t right. But whatever is done got done. We’re in 2020 and let’s assume the Harlem World publishing is worth what…I have it at eight figures, that’s my guess. In 2020, you come to me and offer two mill for something worth eight-figures. How many people do you know today that’s honoring that and giving it back?”

Mal feels that if someone did some “fucked up shit back in the day,” they should make it right when given the chance. “[He] still gave a new artist a shitty deal,” says Mal. “Someone who didn’t know about the industry. [He] took advantage of somebody. Even back then, [20 grand] was chump change compared to what they were selling. It was bullshit money. Now you’re at a point where you’re going to stand on stage and speak this thing, which is dope, cool. But make shit right with the artist you have wrong shit with…The bottom line is, the deal happened over twenty years ago. We know what we know about business, Mase was nineteen back then, happy to make some money, be driving a nice car. Now, when you learn the business, it’s like damn, you gave me a fucked up deal.”

Joe claims that it’s still going on, further Mal’s point. “You can’t preach this if we enslaving each other,” he continues. “You speaking all this ownership this, ownership that but it’s like, you still signing these young cats off the streets who don’t know about the business, and ya’ll raping them. Ya’ll taking advantage. If it was a white label owner, we’d be going crazy.” Check it out below, with the discussion sparking up around the seventy-minute mark. 

Diddy‘s efforts in the music industry over the past few years were honored this weekend at Clive Davis’ pre-Grammy Gala. Diddy’s obviously had a major role in some of the biggest hip-hop acts and records of all time but he’s not always been regarded as a fair individual. Diddy used his moment on stage to address how Black artists have consistently been overlooked by the Grammy committee and gave the Recording Academy 365 to get their shit together. 

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Sauce Money’s previously called out Diddy and Jay-Z for their alleged hypocrisy. He claimed that Hov and Diddy have practiced “the same backdoor politics against his own people.” Mase, one of Bad Boy’s biggest artist, has also called out Diddy for not practicing what he preaches. “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. For example, u still got my publishing from 24 years ago in which u gave me $20k,” he said.

As his career progressed, his popularity declined but Mase explained that if he continued to work for Diddy, he would’ve had to perform while “getting peanuts and the robbery would continue.”

“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,” he continued. “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.”

He concluded, “No More Hiding Behind “Love”. U CHANGED? GIVE THE ARTIST BACK THEIR $$$. So they can take care of their families.”