In an excerpt from an upcoming Q&A in Complex, Petty reflects on a career full of charting singles, business hustles, and cultural takeovers as the Tank Colonel begins to close the book on a chapter and lace up for another. Master P, the No Limit Records mogul and one of hip-hop’s most tireless forebears, has announced his official retirement from music. But don’t fret; it is not quite goodbye. In other words, he’s simply swapping the stage for the sidelines.
Master P announced with a heavy message that he’d end his performing career, which had all begun in New Orleans during the 2025 Essence Festival, which took place from July 4 through 6th. It’s a bit of a full-circle moment for the man who largely defined Southern rap in the late ‘90s and early 2000s and who, in turn, sold over 100 million records.
But this is less a goodbye than a hello to something deeply personal. “Say goodbye to Master P and say hello to Coach P,” he said, marking a change from platinum plaques to playbooks on WDSU.
Master P, whose real name is Percy Miller, is taking over a significant new position as the President of Basketball Operations for the University of New Orleans men’s basketball team. And there’s no witty publicity pivot involved here, no sudden embrace of the platform, just a passion project some 30 years in the making. A college player and former NBA pro, P has spent the past two decades mentoring young athletes through his P. Miller’s Ballers program, which has helped develop players like DeMar DeRozan and Jalen Suggs.
“Being a coach here and being able to save these kids’ life. Take them off the street. Help them earn a college degree from a D1 school. It is so important to me,” he said.
His drive and hustle were honed growing up in the Calliope Projects and watching his hardworking father and grandparents. Now, he’s prepared to pay it forward on a different court. As Coach P, he’s not just trying to win games; he’s building a pipeline for the youth in his city to lead sports and education.
Also, P’s music-industry departure is not without a racket. His last bow will be epic: the Essence Festival, the cultural juggernaut that’s united multiple generations of Black excellence in one place. It will be the end of an era that saw Master P turn No Limit Records into a juggernaut that launched the careers of names like Mystikal, Mia X, Silkk the Shocker, and many others and fundamentally changed the perception of what an independent artist could be.
His legacy has already been sealed: June 11, 2025, is officially “Master P Day” in Louisiana, and his name was recently added to the NOLA Walk of Fame. Yet his next legacy is built on something even greater.
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