Diddy once had a chance to sign 50 Cent, but he declined.
In the early 2000s, 50 Cent signed a deal with Eminem & Dr. Dre and went on to become a hip-hop powerhouse, but he could’ve been at Diddy’s Bad Boy Records. Former G-Unit member Tony Yayo sat down with VladTV, where he reveals that 50 Cent had a meeting with Diddy, but he passed on signing the POWER mogul.
“A lot of people don’t know this story,” he began. “50 went to Diddy for Bad Boy. A lot of people don’t know that. We had the meeting. And it was so crazy that Diddy didn’t sign him… I know that was one of the biggest mistakes of Bad Boy. And you know, the [Kenneth “Supreme” McGriff”] situation… a lot of people were scared of Preme, 50 wasn’t.”
“I remember Diddy said this, he don’t even remember. He said, ‘The three things people hate about rappers.’ He was like, ‘Yeah, we can’t sign you, playboy. It’s too much. It’s too much drama with the Biggie stuff and all that.’”
The discussion took place after 50’s 1999 breakthrough hit, “How to Rob,” and not long after his May 2000 nine-shot shooting. Diddy has previously stated that he did not want to be a part of the turmoil that he believed would result from signing 50.
He continued, “We had a meeting with Diddy, it was me and 50, and he took the meeting out of respect. He had deals all over the table. I wasn’t saying he was gonna take the deal, he might have not. But Diddy didn’t wanna take the deal ’cause of all the drama, but 50 was the hottest ni**a on the planet.”
Tony Yayo also mentioned 50 Cent penning for Diddy and remembered the phrases from their encounter that resonated with him. “50 wrote for Diddy before, way back, it might have been [G-Dep’s ‘Let’s Get It’], one of those joints,” he said. “What I’m saying is, out that meeting, [Diddy] said, ‘Three things about rappers: bank accounts, bi**hes and Bentleys.’ We didn’t have any money at that point, but it stayed in my head.
Check out the interview below.
