Diddy once revealed that he pays Sting $5,000 a day for sampling one of The Police frontman’s songs without permission.
The 53-year-old rapper – whose real name is Sean Combs – sampled the 71-year-old rocker’s 1983 single ‘Every Breath You Take’, in his 1997 hit song ‘I’ll Be Missing You’.
He commented on the hefty amount he pays after Sting’s interview with The Breakfast Club began circulating on the internet. In the clip, radio host Charlamagne the God asked him: “Is it true that Diddy has to pay you $2,000 because he didn’t ask permission to sample ‘Every Breath You Take’.”
The ‘Desert Rose’ musician – whose full name is Gordon Matthew Thomas Sumner CBE – responded: “Yep, for the rest of his life,” to which the interviewer added if the rapper asked him for permission to sample his song “after the fact,” Sting then responded: “Yes, he did.”
Read Diddy’s tweet below:
However, it seems there’s no bad blood between these two musical stars, as the ‘Shape of My Heart’ hitmaker made sure to add: “We’re very good friends now.” Diddy came across Sting’s interview on Twitter and actually corrected the amount of money he owes, writing: “Nope. 5K a day. Love to my brother @OfficialSting!” If the ‘Coming Home’ rapper’s $5,000 payment is issued every 24 hours, the rockstar would make a staggering $1.8 million every year, according to the Daily Mail.
Listen to ‘I’ll Be Missing You’ by Diddy below:
‘I’ll Be Missing You’ served as a tribute to the late Notorious B.I.G. – full name Christopher George Latore Wallace – who was tragically killed at the age of 24. Faith Evans, the late’s rapper former wife, and mother to his 26-year-old son C.J. Wallace, accompanied Diddy on the track alongside the R&B group 112. After its release, the song went on to top the Billboard Hot 100 chart and earned Diddy awards at the 1997 Billboard Music Awards ceremony for top rap artists and songs. The ‘Last Night’ rapper recently reflected on his friendship with the late star in an emotional tweet shared on the 26th anniversary of his death in March.
“There will NEVER be another. The GREATEST RAPPER OF ALL TIME,” Diddy wrote. “Today we celebrate and honor you king. Love and miss you!!”
Evans, 49, also spoke about her former husband’s legacy in hip-hop during an interview with People magazine and shared: “The person behind these rhymes, which could be so gritty and sometimes harsh and sometimes explicit – he was occasionally all of those things.”
“But for the most part, he was just a really cool, lovable, funny person that most people loved being around,” she said, adding that if he was here today, he “definitely would’ve done more albums” and “had a couple more artists”.