December 12, 2005 @ 12:27 pm

Diddy and The Lox Settle Publishing Dispute

by: Alyssa Rashbaum

Lox members Styles P and Sheek returned to Angie Martinez's Hot 97 radio show Monday [December 12], after an on-air battle last month in which Jadakiss called the Bad Boy mogul a "coward" and Styles labeled him a "thief," according to AllHipHop.com.

right On Monday, Styles told Martinez: "What [Diddy] did was sweet. He came back [with his offer] and I almost jumped out of my seat. Basically, he gave us all our publishing back. He didn't have to do what he did. In the business world, what he did, was like a four-leaf clover. The results were great."

Back in November, Jada and Styles went on air seeking their publishing from Diddy, who they claim owns half of their collective publishing. The group had released its debut, Money, Power & Respect in 1998, but left Bad Boy Records to join Ruff Ryders via Interscope (which they say they will no longer record for, due to what they are calling issues with 50 Cent's power within the company).

During the November broadcast, in which Styles said "imagine working for years, hard work and somebody that has nothing to do with that is getting the bulk of it," Diddy called from his office to stand up for himself.

"If somebody is getting in the way of you expressing yourself," he said, "You can come at me directly. We're businessmen. We're all mature adults here. Y'all sit in on this interview and talk as long as you want to talk or you can take the invitation I extended before. Its not even getting there -You getting on the radio, whatever tactic – I’m not your enemy. Don’t sit here and portray that Puff took something from y’all."

By the end of the broadcast, Jada and Styles said they would be willing to sit down with Diddy to see if they could work something out. That's basically what happened today, when, Styles said, both parties met with their lawyers for 45 minutes and made a decision that was acceptable to everyone. Styles also said he had spoken to Diddy on the phone following the initial on-air clash, and said today that the whole thing was just a miscommunication.

"Before the [legal] meeting I spoke to him over the phone," Styles said on Hot 97. "He said, ‘I want to meet up, look y’all in the eye and speak as men. The bottom line is we can fix it.'"

"What he was saying was true," Styles added, "but what we were saying was true. Its an argument where you could say both sides were right. It was grown man, eye to eye."