After years of speculation regarding Biggie Smalls and Diddy’s relationship, Former Bad Boy rapper and Ghostwriter Mark Curry is spilling the beans on both Diddy’s business habits as well as his alleged “estranged” relationship with Biggie.
For those of you who aren’t familiar with Mark Curry, he is an Atlanta-based performer who was signed to Bad Boy from 1997 until 2005. He was previously Diddy’s Ghostwriter, writing most of Diddy’s first hit singles including “Come With Me.” Well now, Mr. Curry isn’t so pleased with Diddy and has made several claims against Diddy.
Curry claims that Biggie was not best friends with Diddy and was actually trying his best to depart from Bad Boy and create his own label/record company before being murdered back in 1997. In Curry’s interview he also discusses his book “Dancing With The Devil” which is a tell all book about Diddy and his heinous business practices. Gyant Unplugged reports:
“Biggie was already on his way out the door,” Curry said in an interview. “And I just remember the stories of when Biggie would want money from Puff — and they would be doing a show and Biggie wouldn’t show up to the show until ten minutes before the show and Puff would be like ‘Where is he at, where is he at?’ and that’s where he would be his leverage. Like, Biggie knew that Puff needed him… If you break it down and look at the situation for what it truly is, Biggie Smalls made Bad Boy. Bad Boy is Biggie Smalls… A person like Mase that come to Puff and wants a record deal, automatically is willing to do anything he’s gotta do to have that deal because he automatically — he asked him for a record deal. So you gotta look at it like, you willing to sell your soul for this sh*t right here.”
Hmmm interesting, that’s nothing like the movie depicted. Oh yeah, I forgot that movie was produced by Diddy right? Curry makes other claims, one being that the artists on Bad Boy were not financially stable. Almost implying that Diddy is stealing money right? According to Daily Motion:
“I think the only person, man, that came away and walked off with a little bit of money is Mase and that’s praise God for the church, because you know on Sundays, when they be taking that offer, that’s good money,” Curry said in an interview last winter. “So we can’t say he’s not doing nothing. As far as any other artists, if you can tell me another Bad Boy artist that’s doing good, I’ll listen to you, other than that, I can’t waste my time trying to think ’cause I don’t think there’s one that exists.”
Curry doesn’t stop there. Check out this excerpt from his book.
“Even worse, Puff charged the artists for his appearances on their records and in the videos, usually without their realizing it until they received their royalty statements,” the first chapter reads. “That’s when they discovered that a large sum of their money had gone to fees which were doubled, tripled and even quadrupled because of Puff “special guest appearance. He charged artists, for example, for having his Bentley in their videos — which he insisted upon — then took a tax credit for business use of the car.”
Oh Wow Diddy, If that’s true then this is definitely not a good look for you. First you have potentials walking to get you cheesecake and now this? Once people get ahold of this book, I’m guessing it’s gonna hit the fan. Well we all know Diddy as the ruthless business man with mad precision, but is it possible that all of this is true? Maybe. His roster of acts has dropped over the years. You be the judge! Check out Mark Curry’s Interview below:
Method Man Arrested On Tax Evasion
Finally the law has caught up with Method Man regarding his extensive tax debt. Early Monday morning in Staten Island, Method man turned himself in on two counts of tax-evasion. He was arrested after having failed to pay nearly $33,000 in taxes, which is not even including added fees and penalties. It looks like Meth could serve a substantial amount of jail time because if he is found guilty of the felony, he could spend up to four years in prison simply on Repeated Failure to File Personal Income and Earnings Tax alone.
Many sources have speculated as to exactly how much money Meth owes. According to The New York Post:
“Grammy Award-winning hip-hop star Method Man turned himself in to authorities this morning after failing to pay nearly $33,000 in back personal taxes, officials said. The Wu Tang member — whose real name is Clifford Smith — walked into the Staten Island DA’s office at about 8 a.m. to face felony charges in connection with neglecting to pay $32,799 dating back to 2004.”
TMZ adds:
“The Wu Tang rapper reportedly surrendered to cops on Staten Island this morning on charges of failing to pay four years worth of income taxes. According to WABC in New York, Meth owes $32,799 to Uncle Sam — not including fees and penalties.”
The arrest was initially announced by District Attorney Daniel Donovan however the New York State Department of Taxation and Finance Acting Commissioner Jamie Woodward was not too pleased with Meth either. SI Live News reports:
“The arrest was announced by District Attorney Daniel Donovan and New York State Department of Taxation and Finance Acting Commissioner Jamie Woodward this morning. “Taxes are the burden that all citizens share in a civil society, whether you are an ‘average Joe’ on the street or a high-profile rap artist,” said Donovan in a press release. “Because of the alleged action of people like Mr. Smith, law abiding citizens face higher taxes and reduced government services. Failure to properly report and pay your taxes is a crime against all citizens and will be aggressively investigated and prosecuted.”
HipHopDX reports:
“Staten Island’s District Attorney Daniel Donovan, who is ensuring that the rapper be “aggressively investigated and prosecuted” said in a statement, “Taxes are a burden all citizens share in a civil society, whether you’re an average Joe on the street or a high-profile rap artist. Because of the alleged action of people like Mr. Smith, law abiding citizens face higher taxes and reduced government services.”
Well Meth, at least you turned yourself in. I’m guessing you were high! Nonetheless it’s always better to just get it all over with. Good Luck with that!
Method Man is scheduled to be arraigned Monday, October 5, 2009. However there is not a lot of news regarding the scheduling of his court date. We will keep you posted on this issue.
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