Diddy's been in the game for over 20 years and during his time, he's built an empire. The REVOLT CEO is constantly in the top five of Forbes Richest Hip Hop Acts. Diddy's seen pretty much everything in the music industry and entertainment business throughout his career. He's expanded his business resume into fashion, liquor, television and more. Despite being one of the most successful Black entrepreneurs in America, he has his own share of criticism towards the entertainment industry and it's lack of investment into Black executives.
In a recent profile with Variety, Diddy took shots at the entertainment industry for the lack of black executives in the business. In terms of music, Diddy said that record labels are raking in cash from hip hop but aren't as willing to invest in Black executives or even give them a chance.
"You have these record companies that are making so much money off our culture, our art form, but they’re not investing or even believing in us," He said. "For all the billions of dollars that these black executives have been able to make them, [there’s still hesitation] to put them in the top-level positions. They’ll go and they’ll recruit cats from overseas."
He added, “It makes sense to give [executives of color] a chance and embrace the evolution, instead of it being that we can only make it to president, senior VP. … There’s no black CEO of a major record company. That’s just as bad as the fact that there are no [black] majority owners in the NFL. That’s what really motivates me.”
Diddy went onto explain further the success companies see after investing in black-owned businesses.
"When Adidas invests in Kanye and it’s done properly, you have the right results. When Live Nation invests in artists and puts them in arenas the same way U2 would be, you have the right results." He said,"‘Black Panther,’ ‘Black-ish,’ fashion; it’s all about access. If you’re blocked out of the resources, you can’t compete. And that’s my whole thing — to be able to come and compete.”
