Diddy
Sean John Combs has assumed many pseudonyms during his career, including Puff Daddy, P. Diddy, and now just plain old Diddy. It has even been reported that Combs is now calling himself Ciroc Obama, presumably in reference to the current US President. A born entrepreneur worth approximately $346 million before the financial downturn, his business interests are almost as numerous as his name changes. Although predominantly a rapper and producer, Combs also owns his own record label, clothing line, movie production company, and two restaurants. Despite his success, a level of infamy also follows Combs wherever he goes. He was heavily involved in the notorious East Coast – West Coast rap rivalry of the early 1990s, has been criticised for over-commercialising hip hop, and has also fought a number of legal battles over the years.
Combs began his career at Uptown Records under the guidance of label head Andre Harrell, initially starting as an intern while simultaneously studying at Howard University in Washington, DC. Moving onto promotion, A&R and production, Combs eventually dropped out of Howard after Uptown made him an executive. However, after an over-booked gig that he had organised ended in the death of nine people, the young executive was eventually fired by Uptown.
Undaunted, Combs moved to start his own label, Bad Boy Records in 1993. Headlined by The Notorious B.I.G., the label quickly went from strength to strength, and Combs began producing for the likes of Usher, Mary J. Blige and Mariah Carey. However, with success came notoriety, as the label became embroiled in a feud with East Coast label Death Row Records. Combs and B.I.G. were mocked by label chief Suge Knight and his principle star, Tupac Shakur, in interviews and songs during the mid-90s, causing tension between the two factions.
Unfazed, Combs launched his own career as a rap artist under the name ‘Puff Daddy’, with instant success. His debut single shot straight to number one in January 1997, and the accompanying album, ‘No Way Out’, topped the US Album charts and won the 1998 Grammy for best rap album. However, his success was tinged with sadness, when The Notorious B.I.G. was murdered in March 1997. To commemorate his friend, Combs released ‘I’ll Be Missing You’ in May that year, sampling the melody from the 1983 Police hit, ‘Every Breath You Take’.
At the turn of the millennium, Combs began to broaden his horizons, and changed his stage name to ‘P. Diddy’ after escaping conviction on charges of bribery and possession of a firearm. As well as continuing to release albums he branched out into acting, appearing in the Oscar-winning ‘Monsters Ball’. Ever changing, in 2005 he decided to alter his stage name again, dropping the ‘P’ to become ‘Diddy’. Since then, Combs has continued to expand his empire, and has a new album due in 2010 called ‘Last Train to Paris’. However, whether he will change his name once more before the album’s release is not apparently confirmed!
