Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs helped catapult Notorious B.I.G. to superstardom while claiming he formed a familial bond with the rapper before his death. However, after Biggie Smalls died, the rapper’s mother didn’t appreciate how Diddy treated her son’s legacy. So much so she was a bit relieved Smalls never got to see the real Diddy.
How Voletta Wallace felt about Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs
Although Diddy helped Biggie Smalls break into the music industry, some questioned how the music mogul treated his protégé. Rap artist Mark Curry claimed Smalls was essentially broke after signing to Bad Boy Records because of Diddy’s business tactics. But Smalls’ mom Wallace seemed to think the disrespect came after her son’s death. Wallace felt Diddy excessively used the rapper’s name to profit off him instead of genuinely honoring his legacy.
“I’m glad my son does not have to witness that the very people that he thought he could ride and die with wouldn’t think twice about using his mother,” Wallace wrote in her memoir Voletta Wallace Remembers Her Son. “I am glad that he’s not here to see how they have used his image and his name.”
She also felt Diddy’s disappointing treatment of her son echoed back to what she used to tell Smalls when he was alive.
“I believe Sean loved my son — after he was dead. I used to tell Christopher all the time not to trust Sean,” she said.
Wallace didn’t just aim her words at Diddy, however. She also took issue with how rapper Lil’ Kim used Smalls’ legacy, with who Smalls had a close relationship.
“The first picture I saw was Kim wearing my son’s mink coat, holding his chain, and wearing his hat. I was in shock; I felt violated. I read the entire article and learned that not only was Kim wearing things belonging to my son, but she claimed that the home belonged to her as well. This experience helped me draw my own opinions about Kim. And they weren’t good,” Wallace wrote.
In light of the recent scandals surrounding Diddy, her opinion of the music mogul might’ve gotten even lower.
“I hope that I see Sean one day and the only thing I want to do is slap the daylights out of him. And you can quote me on that,” Wallace recently told Rolling Stone. “Because I liked him. I didn’t want to believe all the awful things, but I’m so ashamed and embarrassed.”
50 Cent tried to prevent Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs from profiting off of Biggie Smalls’ death
Wallace wasn’t the only one who felt Diddy unfairly used Smalls. 50 Cent, who’s maintained a long feud with Diddy, also accused the music mogul of exploiting the Brooklyn emcee. In a passionate and explicit rant on Twitter (via The Guardian), 50 Cent seemed to have reached his limit with Diddy when it came to Smalls.
“He will suck the life out of everyone he is around,” he said about the CEO.
“Enough is enough,” 50 Cent added. “Biggie’s name should never have become Diddy’s Black Card … When was the last time Diddy really was biggin’ up his brother, not biggin’ up his bank?”
It was noted that 50 Cent took offense to a music video Diddy put out with rapper Jay Electronica for a song called “Ghost of Christopher Wallace.” However, the Power creator felt the video was more disrespectful, which inspired 50 Cent’s tweets.
“This [song] doesn’t really remind me of Biggie in any way, except for having the Puffy background-dancing and ad-libs/intro that almost destroy a good song,” he said. “Remember less than a month ago when [Diddy] said: ‘[That’s] something I’m not going to talk about anymore?’”
To remedy this, 50 Cent formed a petition that asked for Diddy to let Smalls rest in peace. The publication noted that the petition had 900 signatures after the first day of its release.