Kanye has managed to stay out of the public eye as of late but decided to make an appearance at last night’s BET awards. During the tribute to Diddy, R&B legend, Babyface, spoke on the legendary producer and Bad Boy founder, and then gave the mic over to Kanye.
He was introduced as Ye, and the crowd cheered, however, the crowd intensified when he actually walked on stage.
“How do we crown our kings? How do we appreciate our kings?” Ye said. “To think how far we could just make if off of inspiration, to hear the way somebody chopped a sample in… rushing to see who could get the Bad Boy mixtape and play back the original version of “Benjamins,” over and over, thinking I was one of the Hit Men. To see Puff in real life at the ‘Missing You’ video, just like me tapping free like a little kid… I just need to meet this man. This is my favorite artist. You see I’m saying favorite artist, everything, not specifically production, the trip. Back then there was so many rules to hip-hop and he broke all of them.”
Ye continued, “Understood contracts in a way a lot of us still don’t. Understood money in a way a lot of us still don’t. I go to him for advice to this day. He inspired so many of my choices. So many of my life choices. My wife choices. And here we are. Thanks for that, Puff… I was signed to Puff without him knowing… That statement is not legally binding!”
During his acceptance speech, Diddy paid tribute to Kim Porter, who passed away in 2018, and pledged $1 million to Howard University and $1 million to Dieon Sanders and Jackson State University.
You can watch Ye and Diddy’s speeches below.
