Diddy Was ‘Joking’ About Paying Sting $5K A Day In Royalties

Diddy clarified the remark he made earlier this week that he pays Sting $5,000 a day for using his "Every Breath You Take" for "I'll Be Missing You."

"I want y'all to understand I was joking! It's called being facetious! Me and @OfficialSting have been friends for a long time! He never charged me $3K or $5K a day for 'Missing You.' He probably makes more than $5K a day from one of the biggest songs in history," Diddy tweeted on Friday (April 7).

"I’ll Be Missing You" was created as a tribute to the Notorious B.I.G. after his sudden death in 1997. The song was released two months after his murder. Faith Evans, Notorious B.I.G.'s widow, was featured on the track. The record ended up becoming a staple song in Diddy's catalog. The song spent 11 weeks atop the Billboard Hot 100.

Why is there confusion about how much Diddy paid Sting for the sample? It stems from a resurfaced clip from the rocker's 2018 interview. The Police frontman said that he gets paid $2,000 a day for Diddy's mishap. The Bad Boy Records founder retweeted the viral tweet, seemingly correcting him, "Nope. 5K a day. Love to my brother @OfficialSting!"

Although it looks like the U.K. musician doesn't get paid $5,000 per day from the rapper, he still has done well off of Diddy's sampling.

"Those guys just take your s---, put it on a record, and deal with the legality later," Sting said in an interview with Rolling Stone in 2003. "Elton John told me, 'You gotta hear ["I’ll Be Missing You"], you’re gonna be a millionaire!' I said, 'I am a millionaire!' He said, 'You’re gonna be a millionaire twice over!' I put a couple of my kids through college with the proceeds, and me and P. Diddy are good pals still."

In March, a lot of hip-hop and R&B artists came out with hits that we've had on repeat ever since it dropped. Nicki Minaj dropped her first solo single of the year as well as Janelle Monáe on the R&B side. Several projects such as Tyler, The Creator's Call Me If You Get Lost: Estate Sale and Chlöe Bailey's solo debut were highlights of rap and R&B last month. Take a look at 10 of the best songs below:

Nicki Minaj dropped "Red Ruby Da Sleeze" last month which interpolates the 2003 hit "Never Leave You" by Lumidee. Nicki seemingly called out Megan Thee Stallion with the lines "700 on them horses when we fixin’ to leave/ But I don’t fuck with horses since Christopher Reeve" and "That .40 cal a make ’em dance like a go-go," which could be in reference to Tory Lanez allegedly shooting Megan in the foot while shouting, "Dance, bitch, dance!" "Red Ruby Da Sleeze" debuted at No. 1 on Billboard's Hot Rap Songs chart.

Tyler, The Creator dropped his deluxe version of Call Me If You Get Lost titled the Estate Sale last month. Prior to the release of the album, he dropped "Dogtooth." Tyler wrote on Twitter that "Dogtooth" was one of the songs that "didn't make the cut" when finalizing his Grammy-winning LP. Tyler has three guest features on the deluxe LP with a Vince Staples-assisted "Stuntman," "Boyfriend, Girlfriend" with YG, while A$AP Rocky joins the Odd Future rapper "Wharf Talk."

Kali dropped "Area Codes" last month and had the song trending all over TikTok. In the record she raps about having a different guy providing for her in various places around the world. "Area Codes" follows the Georgia rapper's "Dangerous" freestyle she dropped in January.

Following Janelle Monáe's stunning performance in Glass Onion, the Kansas City native has gone back to music with her release of "Float." She teased the song in a video using photos from her island vacation. The song catches Monáe being open about a transitional period where a newfound confidence has emerged.

NLE Choppa and Lil Wayne linked up for "Ain't Gonna Answer" last month. The song will be featured on Choppa's next project titled Cottonwood II. This was the first time the two rappers collaborated. Cottonwood II is set to be dropped on April 14.

Doechii enlisted Kodak Black for "What It Is (Block Boy)." The song samples the 2004 "Some Cut" by Trillville feat. Cutty and interlopes TLC's 1999 classic "No Scrubs." This is Doechii's first single of 2023. Kodak has been featured in quite a few songs in 2023 including "I Remember" with Roddy Ricch, "Colors" with Trippie Redd, "King Snipe" with Gucci Mane, and "Can’t Stop Won’t Stop Remix" with King Combs.

Mello Buckzz enlisted Latto for "Boom Pt. 2." The original song titled "Boom" featured Amari Blaze, Moni Da G, and Kashh Mir. For the music video, Latto used her feature to clap back at haters while she twerked in her cheetah print thong that made headlines back in January. After a fan called her out for seemingly wearing the same pair, the Atlanta native claried that she has a drawer full of them on Instagram Live.

Metro Boomin brought out Diddy to help out with the remix to "Creepin'" which also features The Weeknd and 21 Savage. The original song is found on Metro's 2022 project titled Heroes & Villains. "Creepin'" however has remained a standalone hit from the album spent over 10 weeks on the Billboard Hot 100. A remix with Diddy makes sense since Metro sampled the Bad Boy Records founder's 2004 hit "I Don't Wanna Know" with Mario Winans featuring Enya and himself.

Lola Brooke took her 2021 hit and got Latto and City Girls' Yung Miami to hop on for a verse. The original "Dont Play With It" features Billy B. This is Lola's second single of 2023 as she also dropped "So Disrespectful."

Chlöe Bailey put Future on "Cheatback" which is off her debut solo album In Pieces. The song details Chlöe being fed up about having to deal with her boyfriend cheating so she decides to do the same thing. In Pieces also features contributions from Chris Brown and Missy Elliott.