The struggle and pain coming from poverty is real: Master P on new docuseries, BLM movement

Master P teamed up with BET on a five-part docuseries, “No Limit Chronicles". Master P joins Yahoo Finance’s On The Move panel to discuss the story behind the docuseries, his thoughts on Black ownership in the music industry as well as discuss the Black Lives Matter movement.

Video Transcript

JULIE HYMAN: Well, tied to the Black Lives Matter movement, there has been a lot of reflection and reckoning in the music industry about whether Black creatives have gotten their due and, like in many industries as well, about minority representation at the executive level.

Master P was one of the first Black music-industry moguls, and a new series on BET called the "No Limit Chronicles" looks at how he built his record label in the early '90s. Master P, Percy Miller, is joining us now. It's good to see you again. And so this docuseries looked at-- looks at how you built "No Limit."

MASTER P: Yes.

JULIE HYMAN: And I guess you've been reflecting upon your experience as a result of that. What sort of stands out to you about how you built it and maybe how things have or have not changed in the industry?

MASTER P: Well, the struggle and the pain coming from poverty and not giving up, that's the message I want for this docuseries. I also want people to understand that the devil is real, and the only way you can stop the devil is keep going. We're losing so many kids not just from COVID-19 and the pandemic but just senseless killings and murders, and I want to reflect on that. Black Lives Matter, but also our kids matter, which is OKM.

We just lost a kid in Compton that was 6' 7". Could have been the next LeBron James. Could have been the next James Harden. James Harden played for that program. And my thing is like we have to stop killing us. These senseless killings is hurting our community, our culture, our futures.

This kid's name was Semaj Miller. This kid could have been the next big superstar. And you're going to see throughout my documentary all the different things I had to duck and dodge just to survive.

We have to make sure education for these kids, they have the proper education. As parents, we've got to spend time with these kids. And coaches, we have to hold ourselves accountable. I mean, in the community, they call me Coach P because of, you know, me loving and being there for the kids in the community.

And I think it's not about money. We have to have compassion for the next generation. And so that's my message to the world that Black Lives Matter but also our kids matter. They are our future. And that's what I want people to get out of this because if I died at a young age, you would never be able to see me greatness and how I was able to change. None of us are perfect.

Same thing like these kids. This kid died at 14 years old. We'll never be able to see his greatness. 6' 7" at 14 with a 16 shoes. I mean, this should be in every community we should be screaming our kids matter. This kid deserved to have a full life because these kids are the ones that are going to come back and take care of community.

My heart and love go out to his family, the people in the community in Compton. I mean, DeMar DeRozan, I've raised him in that same community. I've been back there 22 years. And to just watch kids just constantly keep dying like this, I feel like this documentary is so necessary so we can send that message to the world that we need to preserve our future.

JULIE HYMAN: Adam, I believe you're muted, my friend.

ADAM SHAPIRO: Mr. Miller, isn't this message, though, crucially connected to the other message of Black ownership and in greater-- just music. It has to be greater than just that. So how do you get-- how do we get more Black ownership of companies-- not representation on boards but actual ownership and power, control?

MASTER P: Well, we have to give African American business people opportunity, the same opportunities that were given to white business owners. When you look at putting products on shelves, like in the Walmarts, the Targets, the Krogers, we have product-- packaged food products. Me and my partner James Lindsay, we have the Icon noodle. We have the wrap snacks. We have the Uncle P rice, Uncle P pancake syrup.

So you're taking those products that was mockery off the shelves. Now we have to replace it with somebody that's going to help, that's going to give back to the community. The more we make, the more we give. Those shelving spaces, when that open up, we have to put people that look like us that want to give back to the community. This is the only way we're going to change the injustice that's going on. We want equality. We have some of the greatest products and brains, but we don't own them.

So when you look at even the CEOs, it's only a half of 1% of African American CEOs. So we're not even just talking about owners. We're talking about Fortune 500 companies. We have to change that narrative. The only way we can change that and save our kids and our community, buy our blocks back, and stop burning them down is through ownership and creating that equal opportunity for African American company owners, the same as other cultures.

RICK NEWMAN: Hey, Master P, Rick Newman here. I have a 21-year-old son, huge hip-hop fan, does a little rapping on his own, and every couple of months he's telling me about the death of another young rapper. Juice Wrld obviously a big loss. And my question is whether there is not a kind of fatalism in the music itself that might contribute to the loss of all of these musicians. It's almost as if they don't expect to make it to 30 years old.

MASTER P: Yeah, well, I think we have to look at the music industry and music because you even got guys getting convicted for their lyrics and people are dying young, but it's all entertainment. It's the same way we watch "Scarface" the movie. We know that Al Pacino is going to go home with his family. Same thing in the music business. I think we stereotyping that.

But we got to look at the big picture because now as we protest as whites, Black, Asian, Latino, we're coming together as unity. Same thing in entertainment and music. We all coming together. So I think, you know, as parents, we just got to spend time with our kids and tell them what's right or wrong, and I think that's where the change is going to come.

And even when we look at the kids that we lost in Compton, we have to hold the parents accountable for spending time with their kids. When you look at my documentary, my grandfather used to walk me through the hood. That's because he wanted to preserve me, make sure that I went to a good school. So those type of things we're going to have to do for our kids if we want a better America.

And when you look at African American business-- like my thing is all cops are not bad. All people in the hood is not bad either. So we're going to have to take the bad cops, and they need to be incarcerated for the Breonna Taylors, the George Floyds. The good ones we need to be celebrating.

Same thing with bad people. If bad people do something in the community, they need to go to-- they need to go to prison. And I just think the good ones, we need to celebrate, and I think that's the changes that we're going to make.

When you look at in office, we need to start hiring some African American judges. We need-- when we look at politicians, we need to put the right African American politicians in there, and we need to vote. We need to take our power and vote the right people in there that are going to make a difference for us.

JULIE HYMAN: It's good to see you again, Master P, a.k.a. Percy Miller. That new docuseries on BET is called "No Limit Chronicles" about the building of No Limit. Thank you so much. Good to see you. We'll be right back.

MASTER P: Thank you guys for having me.