The first Diddy party I ever went to was at Prince’s house. Yeah, you heard that right—Prince’s place. So, picture this: you’re at a Diddy party, and on the other side of the wall, Tyrese is performing while Demi Moore and Ashton Kutcher are literally swinging on swings. That’s the kind of wild stuff that was going down.
But here’s what made Diddy’s parties different from a typical celebrity event—like a Jamie Foxx party or any other Hollywood bash full of young women, industry people, and whoever else. Diddy had one strict rule: no security allowed inside. That created a certain kind of atmosphere, and let’s just say, a lot of people who you wouldn’t expect to have dirt on Diddy actually do.
Take Prince, for example. He reportedly saw a lot of what Diddy was up to and even warned Michael Jackson about him.
Now, I know a lot of people think Prince and Michael were straight-up enemies, so the idea of Prince advising MJ seems crazy. And I get it—their feud has been well-documented.
But was it really a rivalry?
Prince never saw it that way.
Things between them got a little weird back in 1983 at a James Brown concert. Michael was already a global icon, fresh off the release of Thriller, while Prince was still rising, with Purple Rain yet to drop.
During the concert, James Brown invited Michael on stage, and MJ, being MJ, lit the place up with his signature moves. Then, Michael told James to bring Prince up too.
Prince took the stage with his guitar, but something seemed… off. He wasn’t feeling it. Then, he took off his shirt. And at one point, he mistook a stage prop for a lamppost and ended up falling straight into the audience.
That moment? One of the most embarrassing of his career. And apparently, Prince walked away convinced that Michael had set him up.
From there, the tension only grew. Michael later admitted he didn’t like Prince’s attitude, saying, “He feels like he’s my opponent. I hope he changes because, boy, he’s going to get hurt. He’s the type that might do something drastic.”
He also accused Prince of being rude to his family, calling him “one of the rudest people I have ever met.” He felt Prince was competitive to the point of being mean.
Michael even brought up the James Brown concert in his Moonwalk recordings, saying, “He made a fool of himself. He was a joke. People were running and screaming. I was so embarrassed. It was all on video.”
But here’s the thing—despite all of that, Prince and Michael were actually friends.
Prince’s former bodyguards have confirmed that they had a private friendship outside of all the media hype. Michael visited Paisley Park multiple times, they played games together, and they even hung out backstage at each other’s concerts.
Michael also played the final version of Dangerous for Prince before it was released, and Prince told him he loved it.
So, that whole “rivalry” narrative? Mostly pushed by the media and the industry.
In fact, when Michael passed, Prince took it hard. He even started performing Don’t Stop ‘Til You Get Enough as a tribute during his concerts.
Tavis Smiley, who was close to Prince, once shared that MJ’s death really affected him. But Prince was private—he wasn’t the type to show that kind of emotion publicly.
I’ve never talked about this publicly before, but when the news broke that Michael Jackson had died, Prince was in the middle of rehearsals at Paisley Park. The moment he found out, he canceled everything, sent the band home, and locked himself in his bedroom for days. He barely spoke to anyone and refused to come out.
There were reports that Prince and Michael actually had some deep conversations over the years. Michael once called Prince to give him some serious career advice, calling him a legend. Prince, in turn, warned Michael about the darker side of the music industry—the machine, the elites, the people who controlled everything behind the scenes. He specifically warned him about figures like Diddy and Jay-Z.
Prince knew exactly what he was talking about because he had already fought that battle himself.
He signed with Warner Music in 1977 when he was just 18. His early albums from 1978 to 1981 didn’t exactly set the world on fire, but Warner saw him as a long-term investment—something rare in the industry. At the time, the label still seemed willing to nurture real talent.
Then, in 1982—just a year after MTV launched—everything changed. Prince started making waves, broke into the U.S. Top 10 for the first time, and became one of the artists who truly understood how music videos could turn a musician into a myth.
And then Purple Rain happened. Suddenly, Prince was everywhere.
But success brought problems. As he gained more power, he wanted more control over his own music. Warner, of course, wasn’t having it. The situation got so bad that he started making his fight public, even writing the word “Slave” on his face during performances.
His biggest issue? Warner owned his name and all the music he released under it. So, in a bold move, he changed his name to an unpronounceable symbol. That forced everyone—fans, media, even Warner—to refer to him as “The Artist Formerly Known as Prince.” It was his way of breaking free.
Prince talked about this struggle often. In an interview with Paper Magazine, he put it plainly:
“I wanted to buy my masters back from Warner Brothers. They said, ‘No way.’ So I’m going to re-record them—all of them. Now, you will have two catalogs with pretty much exactly the same music, except mine will be better. And you can either give your money to WB, the big company, or to NPG. You choose.”
And it wasn’t just one interview—Prince spoke out about the music industry’s control over artists at award shows, in speeches, and in countless conversations. He knew the game all too well and wanted others to understand it, too.
“Well, the truth is, this isn’t your game. You didn’t make the rules, so nothing’s going to come easily. And as long as you’re tied to a contract, you’re only going to get a small slice of the pie. A few of us will make it big; most of us won’t.
As a community, we’ll always be seen as the minority.
But hold on—let’s stop for a moment and think about this: You’re not minor. You are a blessed people. You’re the most talented on this planet, and you remain grateful. And that’s why, when you win in their game, you always thank God.
Tonight, I want to ask you to imagine what we could do if we had our own game—one where we share peace and love with each other.
Yes, Prince did manage to regain control of his music, but not long after, he passed away. Before he died, he’d openly said that the elites wanted him gone. Just before his death, he posted a picture with a message that was later deleted, something like, “just when you thought you were safe.”
At a party at Paisley Park, just before his death and after a round of reported treatment, Prince told the crowd, “Wait a few days before you waste any prayers.” He’d warned Michael Jackson about the dangers of the industry—specifically about people like Diddy, who he felt was closely connected to the ones in control.
You might remember that Diddy and Warner Music Group teamed up in a deal that gave Warner a 50% stake in Bad Boy Records. This agreement meant Warner would be handling everything from marketing to the global distribution of Bad Boy’s catalog, including artists like Mase, Mario Winans, The Notorious B.I.G., and, of course, Diddy.
Diddy made it sound like a great success, saying, “Boutique labels come and go, but we’re still here. This deal makes sure we have the right financial backing and the right partners to stay a force in the music industry.”
The problem, though, is that much like Warner Brothers, Diddy had a history of exploiting his artists, denying them the rights to their own music. A number of former Bad Boy artists have spoken out about it. In fact, just before facing his first lawsuit, Diddy started returning publishing rights to his former artists, including Biggie, who had helped launch Bad Boy in the ‘80s. But by then, many felt that those rights were meaningless—Diddy had already taken everything from them.
It’s funny how people still joke about Diddy on TikTok and act like he’s just a funny guy, when in reality, many of the artists who worked for him didn’t see a dime from the millions he made. They spent years performing in thongs and five-inch heels on stage, but not a penny of that money made its way to them.
And what about the little bit MTV paid us? We don’t even get to reap the rewards from that because the show’s not on anymore, and it’s not even one of those cult classics that people remember and get excited about. None of us get hired for nostalgia like some of the others.
Remember when Prince had his problems with Warner? At one point, he trusted Diddy’s friend Jay-Z to look out for him. Prince believed Jay-Z cared about his artists, so he worked out a deal with Tidal, the streaming service owned by Roc Nation.
But in 2016, Prince’s estate filed a lawsuit against Roc Nation for putting 15 of his albums on Tidal without permission. They argued that Tidal was only authorized to stream his Hit n Run album, and putting the other 15 albums up was a clear violation of copyright.
Tidal insisted they had a written and verbal agreement to distribute many of Prince’s albums, but NPG, Prince’s estate, claimed that deal was fabricated and backdated. They said there was no proof Prince had authorized anything beyond Hit n Run, and Roc Nation refused to provide any documentation to back up their claims.
It’s not really surprising, right? People have always said that Jay-Z and Diddy are cut from the same cloth—at least, that’s the rumor.
But aside from warning Michael about working with Diddy, Prince actually told him to steer clear of him altogether because he knew what kind of wild, freaky stuff Diddy was into—and Prince wanted no part of it.
Honestly, Prince probably had a good reason for that. Jason Lee once mentioned that the first party Diddy threw that he went to was at Prince’s house. The weird part? No one was allowed to bring their own security. After that night, Diddy never had another party at Prince’s place, and we didn’t really see Prince hanging out with him anymore. It makes you wonder if something went down that night.
So, yeah, when I say Prince knew about Diddy’s vibe, trust, he definitely knew.
And don’t be shocked if Prince actually warned Michael about him. Rumor has it that, behind the scenes, Prince and Michael were really close. I’ve even heard whispers that Diddy might’ve even made threats toward them at some point.
But who knows, right? Do you think Diddy would actually go that far? And what’s your take on Prince supposedly trying to protect Michael from people like Diddy?
