Chris Brown opens up about how Diddy turned him down when he was just 12 years old and how that rejection motivated him to become the artist he is today Shannon: Did Diddy turn you down? Chris: Yeah. Shannon: Yeah. So how did that meeting go? So what… how did the meeting go and then what did Diddy say? Why did he turn you down? Chris: And this was probably maybe two or three years prior. So I was like 11 or 12 at this time. The same kid that showed me the ropes in New York… me and him had songs. It was like a group. So me and him had different songs that we would do together, or I would do solo songs. So we both got the audition. He’s like, “Alright cool, let’s go and meet him and let’s go sing.” So we went in there together. He was like, “Cool.” We did the song that we have together and I’m singing on the chorus. And so he was just like, “Cool. Cool. Yeah, I’ll talk to y’all.” Then he was like, “Uh, can you go outside for a second? We’re going to just talk.” They was like, “Nah, we don’t want him.” Shannon: They didn’t want you? Chris: Nah, they didn’t want me. So I was like, as a 12-13 year old, I was in the elevator probably crying like a mug.