In the new issue of Variety, industry icon Diddy chides the industry for seats not occupied by black executives in label leadership positions.
The music industry is the last to discuss racism and the lack of leadership opportunities for blacks at the top levels even though black culture over delivers when it comes to contributions and revenue for the industry the mogul points out.
Black industry executives are well aware that there is a universal lets-not-rock-the-boat-I’m-just-trying-to-keep-my-job mentality and some of us have even been accused of I-got-mines-you-get-yours thinking that has permeated the industry and the African American culture in many industries for decades.
While the self-made and well-respected industry entrepreneur talks about his many ventures over the years including, Bad Boy, Music, Fashion, Liquor, Revolt TV and more, he puts the industry on blast by saying what MANY black industry people have been saying (and continue to say) behind closed doors for decades …
“For all the billions of dollars that these black executives have been able to make them [the record labels], [there’s still hesitation] to put them [black executives] in the top-level positions. They’ll go and they’ll recruit cats from overseas,” he continues. “It makes sense to give [executives of color] a chance and embrace the evolution, instead of it being that we can only make it to [the positions of] president, senior VP. … There’s no black CEO of a major record company. That’s just as bad as the fact that there are no [black] majority owners in the NFL. That’s what really motivates me.”
