Diddy is giving back to the artists on his Bad Boy Records label by returning their lucrative publishing rights… after turning down an offer from hundreds of MILLIONS to buy the song rights

It’s now common for big musicians to sell their publishing rights or master recordings to corporations and pay high wages in return.

But Diddy surprisingly bucked the sell-out trend by instead helping the artists signed to his Bad Boy Records label.

The 53-year-old rapper and rapper (real name: Sean Combs) is now returning the publishing rights the label previously held to the original artists TMZ.

The move to help artists who have worked for him comes shortly after Diddy donated $2 million to black initiatives at Invest Fest and the Jackson State University Development Fund late last month.

Sources familiar with the matter report that Diddy is not only returning the rights, but is turning down offers potentially worth hundreds of millions of dollars for it.

Giving back: Diddy, 53, has returned Bad Boy Records publishing rights to rapper Ma$e, and sources tell TMZ he will be returning publishing rights to more of the label’s artists; seen in Virginia in 2019

Cam’ron appeared to give away part of the agreement in an Instagram post last week.

He wrote that his girlfriend Ma$e, a former Bad Boy artist, “got his release back from Puff” and “just finished the paperwork for it yesterday.”

“Congratulations @rsvpmase as he fixes his music,” he added.

However, sources claim that Ma$e is just one of several former Bad Boy artists who can reclaim their publishing rights.

Bad Boy Records’ most famous artist was undoubtedly the Notorious BIG, who died in a 1997 shootout from a passing car.

Biggie (real name: Christopher Wallace) was good friends with Diddy, who paid tribute to him after his death.

The late rapper’s estate is now reportedly able to reclaim some of his publishing rights after signing a deal with the label.

Others reportedly benefiting from the agreement include Faith Evans, The Lox, 112 and others.

Owning all the publishing rights, Diddy could have stuck it out after reportedly being asked for a huge nine-figure deal, but now he appears to be letting the original artists take control of their music again.

Of course, some of them have their own hits and other popular songs, so they may not be able to pull off smaller deals to sell their rights for lump sums.

Sources claim that Diddy wants to “revolutionize” the music industry, which has been moving towards consolidation in recent years, with big corporations and hedge funds taking control of artists and smaller record labels.

Big news: Cam’ron announced last week that Ma$e had signed a deal to get his publishing rights back

Turned Down a Payday: Diddy reportedly turned down an offer worth hundreds of millions to sell the publishing rights for Bad Boy Records’ artists, but instead he’s returning them to many of his previous acts; seen in LA in 2019

Better Late Than Never: The estate of the late Notorious BIG are among the companies that have reportedly signed a deal to regain its publishing rights; Seen in NYC in 1995

Taking control: Faith Evans (pictured 2019) has also reportedly gotten her releases back. The move comes as hedge funds try to buy up as many songwriting catalogs as possible

This trend is partly responsible for the declining earnings of many professional musicians, even seemingly successful artists, although the changing nature of music buying and consumption habits has also made music less lucrative over time.

However, Diddy’s move to return the publishing rights to his former artists could significantly increase their bottom line.

Sources compared the move to his recent string of charitable donations.

They added that he hopes other executives and record labels will follow suit. However, the trend is for labels and companies to take more money and control away from artists over time, so countering this inertia can be difficult.