Rapper Sean “Diddy” Combs has been cashing in big time from The Police frontman Sting ever since the 1997 hit “I’ll Be Missing You” sampled their 1983 classic hit “Every Breath You Take.” Now, fans are speculating that Diddy is paying over $2k a day to Sting. In a resurfaced clip from Sting’s 2018 interview with The Breakfast Club, the singer appeared to confirm that he has been receiving a daily check for the last 25 years.
But the rapper recently pushed back on that claim, revealing that he only pays Sting closer to $5,000 a day. Interestingly, that figure matches up with the songwriting catalogue Sting sold to Universal Music in an estimated $300 million deal last year.
Diddy’s ‘I’ll Be Missing You’ is a classic that debuted on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1997 and spent 11 weeks on top of the chart. It also earned the rapper two awards at that year’s Billboard Music Awards: Best Rap Artist and Best Rap Song for the track.
Despite the fact that the song was a huge success, Sting said in a 2003 interview with Rolling Stone that he doesn’t think Diddy has a legal claim to the sample. “Those guys just take your s–t, put it on a record and deal with the legality later,” he explained.
The singer did ask for permission to use the sample on “I’ll Be Missing You” and has since claimed that they are now very good friends. But that still doesn’t mean that he isn’t cashing in big time with every new listen of the tune.
