Mark Curry’s novel, Dancing with the Devil: How Puff Burned the Bad Boys of Hip Hop, describes why the majority of former Bad Boy artists crashed and burned after signing recording contracts with Diddy. Music fans have been wondering for years why Bad Boy artists ultimately don’t prosper while under Diddy’s thumb. Some say that the Bad Boy Entertainment label is cursed…and the fate of Diddy’s former artists stems from a coincidental bouts bad luck. Diddy responded via a radio promo tour stating that he did not intentionally set out to bankrupt his artist even though they all are f#*cked up financially right now, including Shyne who is being deported. But Curry writes that Diddy (who he still refers to as Puffy or Puff Daddy) was instrumental in all of the unfortunate fates of former Bad Boy artist. Here’s what he had to say….

Lisa: Knowing what you know now, what would you have done differently regarding your relationship with Bad Boy?

Mark Curry: I wouldn’t have signed a 3rd-party deal. I really didn’t need Bad Boy or Sean Combs to be so much involved in my career as far as marketing and things of that nature. I don’t really feel that there’s a person who can market a star. If you are destined to be great and you’re going to get that attention anyhow. Other than that, I’m happy with what I’ve done and with the decisions I’ve made

Lisa: Puffy said on one of his Making The Band episodes, “I'ma keep it real, I'm telling this to the whole world, I DON'T LET NOBODY OUTTA THEIR CONTRACT. OKAY, THIS IS A BUSINESS." Does that statement make you mad all over again?

Mark: No but it reminds me of how ignorant a person can be. I was always taught that only a fool doesn’t change. Change is something that comes with life but basically he’s saying that he’s not willing to change.

Lisa: In spite of all of the things you mentioned in your book regarding how Puff screwed the Bad Boy artists, do you think Puff is a good business man…why or why not?

Mark: No, I don’t think he’s a good business man…because if he was a good business man then he would be doing good business. I judge good business by good turn-outs. He may have all of these MTV shows but look at the first Making the Band show, for example…the artists who helped launched that show such as, Choppa, Sara, and Fred. They too, aren’t doing anything now. And it’s hard to then go back and explain to your parents and family how at one point, you were on top, and then now, you’re nothing.

Lisa: And it’s sad because the music business is one of the industries where struggling talented African Americans could possibly grow and prosper…and it appears as if he may have took advantage of the that system.

Mark: I listened to his interview (in particular, his radio interview with Angela Yee late September), and Puff stated, “I started with nothing and no one ever gave me anything.” But now that he does have something, he shouldn’t put the fact that ‘no one gave him anything’ over everybody else’s head and expect them to go through the same things he went through. That defeats the purpose of him going through it.

Lisa: Upon reading the book, it seems as if you feel that rap artist, Shyne, took one of the worst hits in being affiliated with Puffy. Are you still friends with him?

Mark: I still keep in touch with all the artists and I don’t have anything against any of the artist at Bad Boy because we’ve all been through the same war. As far as Shyne, I have a genuine love for Shyne. We lived in New York together in Puff’s old house on 35^th (between 2^nd and 3^rd streets). His mother and grandmother use to be concerned about him and I’d promised to look out for him. I was more concerned with him becoming a strong young man…and fortunately his experience made him stronger. I am proud that Shyne was able to go through what he went through and soon he’s coming home. And I’m sure he will have an interesting story to tell.

Lisa: It’s messed up how Biggie died broke when he was Puff’s #1 artist…Do you think Puffy would be as successful as he is if Biggie were alive?

Mark: I think he would be more successful because it was Big’s legacy that made Puff a star. Big’s albums bring in income for Bad Boy.

Lisa: Do you believe that Puff put enough money into the research or has done enough to find Big’s killer? And why do you think no one has found Big’s killer?

Mark: Not enough investigation has been done to find Big’s killer but in the book, it tells you where it all stems from. It’s not hard to put it together who Big’s killer might be.

Lisa: Puff has escaped jail time and retaliation. What do you want to see happen as a result of his actions towards you and the other members of Bad Boy Entertainment?

Mark: I think Puff should look at how much people have helped him to become who he is, and give them what they rightfully deserve. Puff is a combination of a lot of producers, a lot of artists, etc. You’re not looking at an individual who became rich from working hard. You’re looking at an individual who became rich off of everybody else’s hard work. And I want him to say I’m sorry. I want him to realize that what he’s done not only affected his artist, but their families and their children. He destroyed dreams.

Lisa: What do you think the biggest enemies to Hip Hop are right now?

Mark: The enemies are the higher executives in the industry. Sex, money, and drugs sell albums so they want artists to promote that. But this brings us down as a people and makes us look stupid. And it makes us look like that the only things we know how to do is sell drugs and degrade women. We are smarter people than that and our culture is smarter than that. And they are not giving us credit. So I won’t fault the messenger. It’s the execs who determine what kinds of songs get played on the radio for our kids to listen to.

P-Diddy and His Posse in SOUTH PARK'S "Douche and Turd" [pic from Comedy Central]