The hip-hop icon revealed that he pays the Police frontman $5,000 per day for sampling the group’s 1983 hit “Every Breath You Take” on his 1997 Notorious B.I.G. tribute “I’ll Be Missing You.”
Diddy made the revelation in response to a resurfaced 2018 interview Sting did with “The Breakfast Club.”
In the clip, Charlamagne Tha God asks Sting if it’s true that Diddy pays him $2,000 a day “because he didn’t ask permission” to sample “Every Breath You Take.” Sting responds, “Yeah, for the rest of his life.” He then confirms that Diddy asked permission for the sample after “I’ll Be Missing You” was released.
After the interview resurfaced this week, Diddy reposted it and claimed that he actually pays Sting $5,000 a day for the sample, which amounts to $1.8 million per year.
“Nope. 5K a day. Love to my brother @OfficialSting! 😎 ✊🏿🫶🏿,” he tweeted.
According to Variety, a large percentage of the $5,000 goes to Universal Music Publishing, who acquired most or all of Sting’s catalog last year for a reported $350 million.
Diddy, then credited as Puff Daddy, released “I’ll Be Missing You” as a tribute to The Notorious B.I.G. following his murder in 1997. The No Way Out single, which also features Faith Evans and 112, topped the Billboard Hot 100 for 11 weeks and won a Grammy for Best Rap Performance by a Duo or Group.
Diddy didn’t originally clear the sample, which resulted in a lawsuit from Sting, who was reportedly receiving 100% of the royalties.
Leave a Reply