Bad Boy Records CEO Sean “Diddy” Combs has disputed recent speculation that Day26 has left his imprint.
In a radio interview, Diddy explained the situation he is in since leaving Atlantic Records for Interscope.
“I don’t know why that’s on the blogs like that,” Diddy said about Day26 no longer on Bad Boy. “I still have my label deal with Atlantic. I didn’t sell my label, like, I still have my artists that are over there. From Day26 to Janelle Monae, etc. You know what I’m saying? They’re still part of Bad Boy. They’re still part of Bad Boy, the Bad Boy imprint will still be on there. Unless, Day26 could just wake up and say ‘We just want the label to say Atlantic’ and that would be cool with me. But right now, it’s Bad Boy-Atlantic, I’m there for them. I’m not abandoning any of the artists that are over there. I’ve been hearing that a lot on the blogs but I really don’t pay attention to the blogs.”
According to Day26’s Willie, the group is dealing solely with Atlantic Records. “Bad Boy is always our family, but we’re with Atlantic right now…we really want to get people focused on the artistry, on the music. I think a lot of people lost it with the entertainment of the show. So now, we really want to show people what we’re all about, that we do our thing whether it’s on stage, in the studio, writing and producing — we do it all.”
Speculation on the group’s Bad Boy status began to grow when Diddy signed to Interscope Records earlier this year.
“I had started some previous business relationships with Jimmy Iovine,” Diddy said in an interview. “We had a great chemistry with each other. When I sat down with Julie [Greenwald, Atlantic COO] and told them that I had an interest to go sign with Jimmy and they didn’t make it rough for me. Lyor [Cohen, WMG Chairman] and Julie were nice enough to let me get my [Bad Boy] name. I was able to take the name over to Interscope and to still in stay in business with them. I am not abandoning any of my artists over there, I still have that imprint. But all my future recordings, including my recording contract, that will be at Interscope Records…We are going to take our time with the amount of acts that we sign…We want to find those very unique artists. We want to build something very special that’s not already out there.”
Diddy, himself, left Atlantic Records in part to further advance his recording career.
“Now that the term of the Warner deal has ended, I have elected to accept an opportunity to move my recording career and future label venture to another company,” Diddy said in a statement.
