Diddy had a rare candid sitdown in his home with Variety to talk about everything pressing in his life, his show ‘The Four’, record label ‘Bad Boy’, and his many varying business ventures.

But according to Variety, at the forefront of his mind and fueling his passion, are the “hot-button topics of race and the central paradox of modern African-American enterprise” — in which black popular culture is as ubiquitous as ever, yet so many old obstacles to black financial autonomy remain in place.

Sean Combs photographed by Robbie Fimmano for Variety on June 5, 2018 in Los Angeles, CA

Diddy on Hip-Hop’s dominance and the lack of Black Executive representation

“You have these record companies that are making so much money off our culture, our art form, but they’re not investing or even believing in us. For all the billions of dollars that these black executives have been able to make them, [there’s still hesitation] to put them in the top-level positions. They’ll go and they’ll recruit cats from overseas,” he continues. “It makes sense to give [executives of color] a chance and embrace the evolution, instead of it being that we can only make it to president, senior VP. … There’s no black CEO of a major record company. That’s just as bad as the fact that there are no [black] majority owners in the NFL. That’s what really motivates me.”

Diddy on the importance of Black Business streamlining production

“We only get 5% of the venture capital invested in things that are black-owned — black-owned businesses, black-owned ideas, black-owned IP,” he says. “You can’t do anything without that money, without resources. But when we do get the resources, we over-deliver. When Adidas invests in Kanye and it’s done properly, you have the right results. When Live Nation invests in artists and puts them in arenas the same way U2 would be, you have the right results. ‘Black Panther,’ ‘Black-ish,’ fashion; it’s all about access. If you’re blocked out of the resources, you can’t compete. And that’s my whole thing — to be able to come and compete.”

Newly appointed CEO of Combs Enterprises Dia Simms who now oversees some 200+ employees had this to say about the mogul, “As long as I’ve been here, he’s been enormously focused in being the best man he can be and also the best brand, forgive my rhyme. But it’s not accidental, and it’s not a cliché.”

Fergie, ‘The Four’ co-host on Diddy’s style on set: “He comes to you like a coach. And I’m not saying he’s sweet as pie — he commands your attention, and he’s a presence. And sometimes that’s not all saccharine and sweetener. You’ve gotta be tough, and you’ve also gotta be tough love, and it’s interesting to watch as he switches from one to the next.”

Longtime Hip-Hop producer and viral social star DJ Khaled: “Me and Puff said there wouldn’t be a show unless there was hip-hop involved,” says Khaled. “We’re on the same page with that. One thing I know with Diddy is it’s gonna be right. If he wasn’t with me here, I’d make sure it’s right, but since he is here, it’s really right.”

Music legend Jimmy Iovine on Diddy’s willingness to embrace multiple ventures outside of music: “In my early days, we would’ve never sold anything except music. If not for guys [like Combs], I never would’ve even thought about doing something like Beats.”

Sean Combs photographed by Robbie Fimmano for Variety on June 5, 2018 in Los Angeles, CA

Diddy talks Black Enterprise and gentrification

“I think a lot about Black Wall Street,” he says, referring to the Tulsa neighborhood of Greenwood, where black entrepreneurs once built a robust local economy, only to have it all destroyed by a white mob. “The black people in this community were thriving, and others were having to look at them thriving because they had their own banks and supermarkets. Income was being cultivated, and they were having a lot of success. And so the white mob burned the town, lynched people to send a psychological message. And it worked. The message was, if y’all come together, if you thrive, this is what’s gonna happen.”

Riding in a town car through Culver City, one of the many once-affordable L.A. neighborhoods to recently fall victim to rapid development and rent increases, Combs thinks back on the changes that have taken place in his home neighborhood of Harlem. “Gentrification is heartbreaking,” says Combs. “When I go back to New York, the energy doesn’t feel the same — the nightlife, the excitement, the provocativeness. In Harlem you still feel that, even though the community has gotten displaced and shrunk. Like, where are the black people at?”

Diddy insists he doesn’t sleep in the trophy room, wants to create the platforms in which new content can be created and wealth can be distributed

“I feel like we’re in a new disruptive time, and when I announce what I’m doing with music it’ll be equally as disruptive as Bad Boy was,” he promises. “My focus now is more on Revolt and on supporting other labels, other musicians. I want to go from being on the stage to actually being the stage — from being the entrepreneur to supporting other entrepreneurs, but still with that same Bad Boy attitude. Right now, I look for executive talent, creative talent, just like I used to look for rap artists and singers. It’s about me going to a new level and empowering the next generations of Bad Boy and Diddy.”

Read the rest of the expansive cover story with Variety here.