Master P would like a word with Google after the search giant recently mistook him for Luther Vandross.
The “Burbons and Lacs” rapper made headlines last week when Questlove and others noticed that a photo of Master P — also known as Percy Miller — showed up on Google in searches for “Never Too Much” crooner Vandross.
“I know everybody tripping. Google thought it was funny, mixing me up. I get it,” Master P told TMZ on Sunday.
“Hey, Google,” he added. “Y’all need to get it right.”
Ever the businessman, Master P also leveraged the increased media attention to promote his cereal brand with fellow rapper Snoop Dogg, Snoop Cereal (formerly Snoop Loopz). While speaking with TMZ in a grocery store parking lot, the “Ghetto D” artist proudly displayed a box of Fruity Hoopz with Marshmallows featuring Snoop Cereal mascot Captain Ace.
“Ditch the picture [of Vandross], Google,” Master P said. “Stop letting AI run your company. There should have been a picture of Captain Ace. I look more like Captain Ace.”
“They made a whole big frenzy, and it made this go viral,” he continued. “But I’m saying, ‘Here, make this go viral because we gotta put money back into our community and our culture.’ … They tried to distract the people, but we’re disrupting the cereal game.”
Despite the Vandross mixup, Master P did mention one Google search result he could get behind.
“When you Google, ‘Who is the first Black-owned cereal company, what you think come up?’” he said. “[Snoop Cereal parent company] Broadus Foods.”
For the record, Snoop Cereal has been billed as the first Black-owned cereal brand with a national distribution deal. But according to Forbes, Black entrepreneur Nic King had previously created Proud Puffs — a vegan, gluten-free, chocolate-flavored cereal.
Asked if he ever met Vandross, who died in 2005, Master P said he hadn’t, but added, “A house is not a home if Snoop Cereal is not in there” — alluding to Vandross’ famous cover of Dionne Warwick’s “A House Is Not a Home.”
The hip-hop musician also told TMZ he has no plans to sue Google, but he encouraged the conglomerate to help promote his cereal ventures to make up for the Vandross gaffe.
In a statement provided last week to The Times, a spokesperson for Google said, “We source images for Knowledge Panels from a range of sources, including licensed image providers. In this case, the image we received was unfortunately mislabeled. The provider has updated the image metadata, and our systems now reflect that update.”
