At the center of Diddy’s empire is the label Bad Boy Records, which he founded in 1993 and has attracted various artists like Notorious B.I.G., Faith Evans, and Mase. Diddy often touts himself as a mentor who fosters talent, but not everyone on his roster would agree — Mase being a prime example.

Their feud surfaced in 2020 when Diddy accepted an “Industry Icons” award at a 2020 pre-Grammys gala, where he asserted that “Black music has never been respected by the Grammys.” Mase used it as an opportunity to call out Diddy’s purported hypocrisy, revealing in a since-deleted Instagram post that Diddy has a history of exploiting his artists and trapping them in bad deals. “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,” he said (via Rap Up), adding that he was paid a mere “peanuts.” Diddy fired back, claiming that Mase owed him $3 million, but Mase, not one to back down, revealed in another deleted post that the witnesses to these shady deals, including Biggie, Craig Mack, and Black Rob, were no longer alive to back his claims. “And everybody else you made sign paperwork so they can’t talk about what I’m talking about. I’m the only one with guts!” he said (via XXL).

It wasn’t until 2023 that Mase and Diddy finally struck a deal allowing Mase to reclaim his publishing rights. That year, in an attempt to “lead by example,” or perhaps perform penance, Diddy returned the music rights to his artists. “It’s just doing the right thing,” he told Variety. “It’s not a publicity stunt or anything like that.”