Tony Yayo Says Diddy Passed On Signing 50 Cent To Bad Boy Records

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50 Cent, Tony Yayo
Tony Yayo recently recalled how Diddy once turned down signing 50 Cent to Bad Boy Records.

Tony Yayo says that Diddy once had the opportunity to sign 50 Cent to Bad Boy Records but passed. The former G-Unit rapper recalled how the decision was made during a recent interview with VladTV.

“A lot of people don’t know this story,” Yayo 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."

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He continued: “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 meeting came after the release of 50's 1999 debut single, “How to Rob," and shortly after the time when he was shot nine times in May 2000.  Diddy had said that he didn't want to be involved in the drama he perceived would come with signing 50.

“We had a meeting with Diddy, it was me and 50, and he took the meeting out of respect,” Yayo explained. “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 n***a on the planet."

Elsewhere in the interview, Yayo recalled introducing J. Cole to 50 Cent.

Check out Yayo's full comments with VladTV below.

[Via]


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Cole Blake is currently an Editor at HotNewHipHop based out of Brooklyn, New York. He began working at the site as an intern back in 2018 while studying journalism at St. John’s University. In the time since, he’s graduated with a bachelor's degree and written extensively about a wide range of topics including pop culture, film & television, politics, video games, sports, and much more. He’s also covered music festivals such as Gov. Ball and Rolling Loud. You can find him publishing work for HNHH from Monday to Wednesday or on weekends. On the sports front, Cole’s a passionate NBA and NFL fan with his favorite teams being the Indianapolis Colts and Los Angeles Lakers. He also roots for the Yankees whenever he finds himself at Yankee Stadium or the Red Storm when in the company of other SJU alumni. His favorite hip-hop artists are billy woods, Earl Sweatshirt, Cam’ron, MIKE, and Mach-Hommy.