Master P Talks The Power Of Possession: 'Ownership Is One Thing, But Control Is The Most Important Thing'

Depending on the generation you fall within, you may recognize Master P as an artist, businessman, or even a professional NBA player. Out of all those things, one thing that has always reigned supreme is his role as not just a visionary, but a visionary with integrity. 

“If a deal is too big, where you can’t walk away from it, you’re going to feel how you feel, and my thing is, I don’t ever want to walk out of a room feeling like that. I want to feel like, maybe there’s room for me to grow, for me to feel better and that maybe that just wasn’t the deal for me,” he told AfroTech. “I feel like if you put your trust and faith in God, without getting caught up in what it is and what the money or whatever that portion is, then you won’t get used.” 

He continued: “In the end, if you look at a lot of these athletes after their careers are over, they feel like they’ve been used because they couldn’t walk away from whatever the deal was. Sometimes, you just have to have your happiness in the end. So, you’ve got to love doing what you do.”

Never one to sell his soul for any kind of deal, Master P explains his stance on ownership within his many business ventures.

“Ownership is one thing, but control is the most important thing because you can’t own everything. Maybe you need partners or you need people to participate to make it work, but having control is so important. It’s the way we build economic empowerment,” Master P told AfroTech. “When you look at our culture, we don’t own anything and we don’t control anything. So, we can’t build economic empowerment. Then, we wait on other cultures and other people to help us and we’re not able to put money back into the community. We don’t control where the money goes. For me, that control is so important. That’s the only way that we can grow as a culture and we can build generational wealth for us.”

As a father of nine, Master P wears many hats, but his function as a father is one that he takes a lot of pride in. Master P’s love for his family stems from his upbringing in New Orleans, LA, where he got early lessons from his grandfather, affectionately known as “Big Daddy.” And of course, it comes as no surprise that his latest business venture, Soldier Snacks, pays homage. 

“We got these soldier snacks in honor of my grandfather, Claude Miller, or ‘Big Daddy’ and we’re the first to make camouflage packaging for chips, and to be able to do that in honor of him is just so important,” Master P said.

He further explained that continuously educating and feeding yourself with knowledge is another important lesson that he learned early on and passes down to his children.

“If you prepare the next generation with the right mindset, you don’t have to worry about changing things yourself,” he said. “My kids don’t have to make the same mistakes that I made, and they are able to get a great education right off top.”

Master P continued: “You can get money back, but you can’t get time — time is so valuable. Spending that time with your kids is what’s going to program or prepare them for the future. That’s why I love teaching them about economics, teaching them about banking. Even though my kids are younger and into sports, I’m like, ‘No, what are you going to do after this? Have that education to fall back on.’”

Each purchase of Soldier Snacks goes back to helping military kids that lost their mothers and fathers, making it much more than just a product to be marketed and sold.

“It’s about not only having a great tasting product, but making a difference when you purchase our products at convenience stores, mom and pop stores, and supermarkets, and that’s the difference,” said Master P. “I mean we got the flavor, but we also want to make a difference and I definitely want to keep my grandfather’s legacy going because he was all about feeding the people in the community and feeding the soldiers.”

A lot of Master P’s success goes well beyond just him. The people that he has put on are also just as successful.

One of those people is the legendary Snoop Dogg, who has credited his deal with No Limit Records as being something that saved his life.

As previously reported by AfroTech, Snoop Dogg has taken a page from Master P’s book with several business ventures up his sleeve and has even recently gone back to acquire Death Row Records — a full-circle moment. 

“I just love everything that Snoop stands for, and he’s constantly growing as a man. I’m constantly growing as a man,” Master P recounted. “But just being able to have somebody that you call your brother or your friend that has the same integrity that you have as far as giving back — I love that. None of us are perfect, we all make mistakes, but what I love about Snoop Dogg, more than anything else, is what he’s doing on that football field with the kids and giving back through the league he’s created. That’s so important because it’s changing and saving lives.”

It’s bigger than just the business deals for Master P, everything goes back to the aforementioned economic empowerment of our people. 

“We’ve got to stop a lot of the self-hate that we do as a culture because it’s all about celebrating one another. That’s the only way we’re going to build economic empowerment by having great businesses, but also being able to give back,” he said. “So, again, that’s what I love about Snoop. He was able to overcome adversity and go back and buy the company that he had a lot of adversity with. It’s a blessing.”

Watch Master P’s “UNCENSORED” episode Sunday, March 20, 2022, on TV One at 10 p.m. EST.

Also, stay tuned for an extended version of this sit-down airing on Blavity TV, March 24, 2022, at 3 p.m. EST.