Tim Patterson

He's got Andre Harrell here. He's got everybody else in the industry saying, who's this little young gunner? He's the youngest executive in the music business as a Black man. That's the position he was in at 17.

He's got Andre Harrell here. He's got everybody else in the industry saying, who's this little young gunner? He's the youngest executive in the music business as a Black man. That's the position he was in at 17.

Sean was just like he told you. He was the little bad boy. He was the industry's little brother that was the pest. You know, Sean told me one time before he was 20 years old, he's like, yo, I need to speak to Michael Jackson. Now, mind you, I'm Sean's intern at this time. I'm working for him.

Sean was just like he told you. He was the little bad boy. He was the industry's little brother that was the pest. You know, Sean told me one time before he was 20 years old, he's like, yo, I need to speak to Michael Jackson. Now, mind you, I'm Sean's intern at this time. I'm working for him.

And I don't know the first thing about finding Michael Jackson, but if you know anything about Sean or Uptown Records or Andre, you have to figure it out on your own. You just have to figure it out. Come to me with the results. Don't come to me with complaints. So yeah, he was a mess in the office. He didn't come to the meetings on time. He'd come late.

And I don't know the first thing about finding Michael Jackson, but if you know anything about Sean or Uptown Records or Andre, you have to figure it out on your own. You just have to figure it out. Come to me with the results. Don't come to me with complaints. So yeah, he was a mess in the office. He didn't come to the meetings on time. He'd come late.

He'd come with his pants hanging off his butt, his shoes untied. He'd have a turkey sandwich in his hand, an orange and cranberry juice, come into office, make noise, disrupt everything in the meeting. But he was the little pest. He was the little brother. And people just tolerated him. That's just Sean. That's just Puff. Even Andre tolerated it to an extent.

He'd come with his pants hanging off his butt, his shoes untied. He'd have a turkey sandwich in his hand, an orange and cranberry juice, come into office, make noise, disrupt everything in the meeting. But he was the little pest. He was the little brother. And people just tolerated him. That's just Sean. That's just Puff. Even Andre tolerated it to an extent.

Andre got to a point at the company where we had a genre called hip hop and R&B. That was kind of a genre Andre and Buff sliced out and it was our own for a minute. And it was unknown to other executives what hip hop R&B was. We were bringing something new into the game, into the business. So Uptown was a subsidiary of MCA Records at the time.

Andre got to a point at the company where we had a genre called hip hop and R&B. That was kind of a genre Andre and Buff sliced out and it was our own for a minute. And it was unknown to other executives what hip hop R&B was. We were bringing something new into the game, into the business. So Uptown was a subsidiary of MCA Records at the time.

MCA Records wasn't putting out sounds like Uptown, artists like Uptown. So they didn't understand when Andre would say, hey, I need a million dollars for a Mary J. Blige video. They would say, are you kidding me? They wouldn't understand when they said, I need to get a half a million dollars for Devante Swing's court case because he crashed a car.

MCA Records wasn't putting out sounds like Uptown, artists like Uptown. So they didn't understand when Andre would say, hey, I need a million dollars for a Mary J. Blige video. They would say, are you kidding me? They wouldn't understand when they said, I need to get a half a million dollars for Devante Swing's court case because he crashed a car.

They didn't understand these issues and problems that came with these young black artists. So Andre was protecting a brand. He was protecting Uptown Records from the executives, from the suits. He had a deal he had to live up to. So in order to keep his deal intact, in order to keep his money coming, he had to please the mother company.

They didn't understand these issues and problems that came with these young black artists. So Andre was protecting a brand. He was protecting Uptown Records from the executives, from the suits. He had a deal he had to live up to. So in order to keep his deal intact, in order to keep his money coming, he had to please the mother company.

And the mother company suggested to him that this kid Sean Combs is expensive. He's costing us a lot of money. He's shooting videos for this amount of money. He's producing records for this amount of money. And this is all new to the MCA people. Andre understood what it was, but he has to explain that to corporate and corporate doesn't want to hear that.

And the mother company suggested to him that this kid Sean Combs is expensive. He's costing us a lot of money. He's shooting videos for this amount of money. He's producing records for this amount of money. And this is all new to the MCA people. Andre understood what it was, but he has to explain that to corporate and corporate doesn't want to hear that.

So to the point where corporate told Andre, they said, listen, man, um, You got to get rid of him. And we also suggest that you put kind of a cop patroller, a money person in the company. John was like, yo, the white man's trying to take your shit. It's a black company. They trying to put another white man in here to oversee you. And they did.

So to the point where corporate told Andre, they said, listen, man, um, You got to get rid of him. And we also suggest that you put kind of a cop patroller, a money person in the company. John was like, yo, the white man's trying to take your shit. It's a black company. They trying to put another white man in here to oversee you. And they did.

They put another white guy in there and it was a general manager of Uptown. And Sean and him never really got along. They always bumped heads. And Andre stuck in the middle of all of that. So he's got corporate now telling him to bring the money down. I know you guys are making tons of money, but we're spending tons of money.

They put another white guy in there and it was a general manager of Uptown. And Sean and him never really got along. They always bumped heads. And Andre stuck in the middle of all of that. So he's got corporate now telling him to bring the money down. I know you guys are making tons of money, but we're spending tons of money.