S. Samuel
Bad Boy Records CEO Diddy has stepped up to arbitrate the recent war of words between Lil Kim and Nicki Minaj, as well as offered his input on the two lady emcee's future encounters.
Although Diddy admits he his relationship with Kim hasn’t maintained its former closeness, the rap impresario still has love for her.
“My whole take on the situation is that I love Lil’ Kim no matter what’s going on, no matter what’s being said,” Diddy said in an interview with Funkmaster Flex. “Kim definitely has a responsibility for my success. Me working with Nicki Minaj has nothing to do with going against Kim. When Kim works with other producers, when she raps with other artists, I’m not getting upset. It’s not a problem…I think a lot of us who have been here for a long time including yourself, Flex, we have inspired a lot of people. We have motivated a lot of people, we have touched a lot of people in a certain way. We have been those cats that people aspire to be. I wouldn’t be around Nicki if I ever heard [anything] negative said about Kim. I’ve never heard [anything] like that.” (Hot 97)
Puff also believes both artists should grind out their beef and do music together.
“But then when it comes to just being an emcee, that’s when I gotta stand back,” Diddy added. “Now if they want to do things and be emcees? That’s they business. I’m not with no negativity. I’m not with no beef and I love both of them. And right now, Nicki Minaj, that’s who my artist is, that’s who I console, that’s who I do business with. I no longer do business with Kim on that level but Kim will always have a special place in my heart and it’s like that. Kim is the Queen. Read in-between the lines, it is what it is — and Nicki is a queen in her own right. That’s exactly the way I feel about it so don’t twist my words, don’t make it no way it is or it ain’t, that’s what it is. I think they should be doing records together as a matter of fact instead of doing anything that isn’t showing unification. But yo man, I can’t preach the choir. Everybody’s grown…” (Hot 97)
Earlier this year, Kim expressed her frustrations over Diddy aligning himself with Minaj.
“Puff is my brother, I can’t disown him…he just called me after he called everybody else…brothers and sisters fight to the extreme….Puffy should be ashamed of himself, I want to spank him. When I came home from jail, there was nothing that he couldn’t ask me to do….” (Miss Info)
Following the remarks, Diddy said he didn’t regret the decision to conduct business with Minaj.
“I want to say I love Lil Kim, man,” Diddy said in an interview with BBC’s Tim Westwood on Friday (June 11). “I’m sorry that she’s mad. I never would have thought that by me working with another artist that she would take it the wrong way. But if she’s taking it the wrong way it ain’t meant like that. Nicki never did anything to her…She ain’t trying to swagger-jack or say nothing negative about her. I just think that Kim needs to just understand that Nicki as a whole has always been respectful of her and Nicki’s not trying to be her. I ain’t gonna make no apologies for working with Nicki Minaj. [She is] somebody that’s never said anything negative about Kim and just really has always, in my eyes, has paid homage to Kim. She’s a different MC. They don’t even talk about the same thing. If you’re like a connoisseur of MCs and you a specialist — like what Kim has talked about and what Nicki talks about — they don’t talk about the same things.” (“Tim Westwood TV”)
Check out Diddy speaking on Nicki Minaj & Lil Kim below:
