Being humble isn’t an attribute many rappers openly possess. However, there have been several times over the years where artists have had to break down and admit fault.
In 2001, Jay-Z famously went on New York City’s Hot 97 and apologized for his Nas diss song “Super Ugly,” which found Hov making scandalous claims about Esco’s child’s mother Carmen. Another famous apology that often gets lost in history is Ye saying sorry for infamously interrupting Taylor Swift at the 2009 MTV Video Music Awards.
“I’M SOOOOO SORRY TO TAYLOR SWIFT AND HER FANS AND HER MOM,” Ye tweeted the same night as the incident. “I SPOKE TO HER MOTHER RIGHT AFTER AND SHE SAID THE SAME THING MY MOTHER WOULD’VE SAID. SHE IS VERY TALENTED! I LIKE THE LYRICS ABOUT BEING A CHEERLEADER AND SHE’S IN THE BLEACHERS! …………………… I’M IN THE WRONG FOR GOING ON STAGE AND TAKING AWAY FROM HER MOMENT!”
Apologies on video tend to hit different, though. In the past, a bunch of artists have taken the extra step to record their apology statements. After Lil Nas X ruffled feathers with his “J Christ” song and video in January of 2024, he shared a video saying sorry to the Christian community. In April of 2024, J. Cole issued a public apology to Kendrick Lamar after retrospectively feeling some type of way about dissing K-Dot on “7 Minute Drill.”
Most recently, Diddy publicly expressed remorse after a video was leaked that shows him viciously assaulting his ex-girlfriend Cassie in a hotel hallway in 2016. After previously denying the incident, which was initially detailed in Cassie’s lawsuit against Puff in November of 2023, the rap mogul had no choice but to come clean when faced with video evidence.
“It’s so difficult to reflect on the darkest times in your life, but sometimes you got to do that,” Diddy began in his video apology.
“I was f**ked up—I hit rock bottom—but I make no excuses. My behavior on that video is inexcusable. I take full responsibility for my actions in that video,” he continued. “I was disgusted then when I did it. I’m disgusted now. I went and I sought out professional help. I got into going to therapy, going to rehab. I had to ask God for his mercy and grace.”
“I’m so sorry. But I’m committed to be a better man each and every day. I’m not asking for forgiveness. I’m truly sorry,” Diddy concluded.
Check out several instances of rappers saying sorry on video below.
