Diddy Clarifies His ‘R&B Is Dead’ Comments: ‘It’s Not Disrespect’

Diddy has doubled down on his opinion that R&B is dead, however the Bad Boy mogul has made it clear that he’s not shading anyone with his comments.

On Wednesday night (August 17), Puff kicked off an online discussion about the current state of R&B. Things quickly got heated when Timbaland joined the conversation, with Diddy yelling at the legendary producer: “R&B is muthafuckin’ dead as of right now.”

“R&B gotta be judged to a certain thing — it’s the feeling … No, no, no. It’s a feeling,” Puff explained. “You gotta be able to sing for R&B and then you gotta tell the truth. R&B is not a hustle. This shit is about feeling your vulnerability.

“You gotta muthafuckin make a n-gga dick hard or a woman’s vagina wet. You gotta cry. You gotta be able to get your girl back. I don’t wanna hear all this bullshit […] It’s our fault for accepting anything less for anybody getting on a mic. I feel like there was a death of R&B singing, and I’m a part of bringing that shit back! I ain’t feelin’ no emotions.”

The R&B debate has continued on throughout the week, with the likes of Brent Faiyaz, Arin Ray, Chris Brown, Mary J. Blige and many more weighing in.

On Saturday (August 20), Diddy took to Twitter to clarify his comments while explaining that starting the conversation has now brought attention to the genre.

“It’s been 3 days of the debate…This is the clarity of the message…It’s not disrespect to anybody,” the “Gotta Move On” hitmaker tweeted.

It’s been 3 days of the debate…This is the clarity of the message…It’s not disrespect to anybody.

— LOVE (@Diddy) August 20, 2022

“This conversation was out of love and me purposely wanting to bring attention to R&B! It was something that I saw the effect of the Hip hop and R&B balance. That balance is honesty and realness when it comes together, melodies, vulnerability and most importantly LOVE!!!”

He added: “This message is that R&B game needs more love, vulnerability, support!!”

This message is that R&B game needs more love, vulnerability, support!!

— LOVE (@Diddy) August 20, 2022

Elsewhere during his recent online conversation about R&B, Diddy agreed to having a Verzuz-like battle with Jermaine Dupri after almost a year of going back-and-forth over a potential face off.

Feeling confident about his chances in a head-to-head, Diddy said: “JD, if you want that smoke, you can get that smoke anytime.”

Jermaine Dupri, who was sat beside his production partner Bryan-Michael Cox, told Diddy to “relax” before agreeing to set up an event in Atlanta. But instead of battling, they want to showcase the history of their respective labels, Bad Boy Records and So So Def Recordings, by simply playing all of their hits with no drama.

“Since we ain’t fucking with Verzuz no more since ’cause they fucking around with our boys, we don’t need to be going against each other,” Diddy said. “Let’s come together and do that Bad Boy, So So Def in Atlanta. It ain’t no Verzuz, it’s just hit for hit.”

Diddy later clarified what he meant when he said “since we ain’t fucking with Verzuz no more” in a separate post, explaining that he meant to say “Triller” in light of an ongoing lawsuit between Timbaland and Swizz Beatz and the video-sharing social networking service.

“When me and [Jermaine Dupri] were talking about Verzuz, I mistakenly said Verzuz instead of Triller,” he clarified, speaking about an earlier IG Live with the So So Def producer. “So to clarify it, we’re not fucking with Triller until they take care of Swizz and Tim for Verzuz.”

He repeated: “Nobody fucks with Triller until they take care of Tim and Swizz because Tim and Swizz is Verzuz. Am I being clear?”