Diddy taped a quick interview from Spain, where he is on a party tour promoting Ciroc. He called MGK "one of the best live performers to come out in a minute" and spoke about how he believes in artists more than he used to and part of that is letting them have some space. "Whether they succeed or fail, I think it's important to support the artist," he said."
"He will not be changing for Bad Boy," Diddy added. "He's gonna be him and true to his self."
MGK came on for a live, in person interview in the studio with Sway Calloway. He spit a short verse in honor of the day and talked about his journey. He revealed that his deal with Bad Boy is a 2 album deal and that the first album will come in the first quarter of 2012.
AllHipHop.com and Rap-Up.com have some press release quotes from Diddy, Bad Boy President Harve Pierre and Machine Gun Kelly, regarding the rapper's newly announced signing to Bad Boy.
Diddy: "MGK is a breath of fresh air. He's not just a star, he's a movement."
Pierre: "MGK is a great addition to the Bad Boy team. He speaks for a generation of kids who are just like him. Fans relate immediately to his lyrics, his flow and his energetic live performances."
MGK: "The moment we started the EST 19XX movement during the recording of the 'Lace Up' mixtape, I made a pledge to my fans to protect our brand and become the honest voice of our generation. We represent the underdogs, the outcast, the uncool. We are a true cult with a loud voice."
"We decided to partner with Bad Boy/Interscope because they understood our idea and the importance of keeping our integrity. They want to give us their resources to help share our vision with the rest of the world. This is not about mainstream success. EST 19XX represents a cultural shift, a worldwide revolution. Lace the F*@* Up!"
Following months of speculation, Machine Gun Kelly has now confirmed that he is signed to Bad Boy Records.
The deal appears to create a sublabel, EST 19XX, under Bad Boy/Interscope. "For those who haven't heard: my entire team (EST 19XX) has signed as a LABEL to Bad Boy/Interscope," he said on Twitter.
In the clip below, where MGK made the announcement and gives a little bit of a back story on his journey thus far, there is a picture of him and his crew, taken in 2008, outside of the Bad Boy offices.
YouKnowIGotSoul has an interview with producer Jeffrey "J-Dub" Walker. Their first question relates to Walker's signing with The Hitmen, Bad Boy's in-house production team.
Back in 1995, I came down here straight out of school. My homeboy was doing music in Detroit, he hooked up with some cats down in Atlanta and he was like “Come on man, let’s go down here and do this album,” so I came down and did the album. And then I hooked up with Noontime who had a group called Absolute (signed to Def Soul). I did their demo. Noontime shopped that demo to everybody: Def Jam, Sony and of course Bad Boy. When Diddy heard the demo, he immediately flew to Atlanta on a Friday and that Sunday I was in New York, and like Monday or Tuesday I was signed. So my career took off literally overnight, like I was sleeping on floors and doing demos to producing everybody’s music from Biggie to Total. The rest is history.
You can listen to the audio from the interview below.
According to MTV.com's Rob Markman, Diddy will appear on "RapFix Live" to make some sort of announcement on Wednesday. The show starts at 4 PM ET and you can watch it on MTV.com.
