Sean Combs is a rapper from the United States who performed under the pseudonyms Puff Daddy and P. Diddy. At the moment, he is considered one of the richest, most influential and famous figures in the global hip-hop industry.
Early years and first successes as a producer
Sean Combs was born in 1969 in Harlem. When he was only two years old, his father Melvin Earl Combs was killed in a street shootout, after which the family moved to another area of New York.
In the late 1980s, Sean was hired by Uptown Records. Here he was responsible for finding promising rap artists and concluding contracts with them. It was he who was involved in the promotion of the R'n'B-band Jodeci and vocalist Mary J. Blige.
In 1993, the talented young producer was fired from Uptown Records. The company's management considered him unnecessarily arrogant. After that, Sean Combs founded his own label - Bad Boy Records. The first performer Combs managed to make famous on his own was The Notorious B. I. G. Also, with his support, stars such as Asher, Mariah Carey, Lil 'Kim, Aretha Franklin began their careers in American show business.
Combs' further career
In 1997, Sean released his first single "Can't Nobody Hold Me Down" under the pseudonym Puff Daddy. The success was deafening - this song topped the Billboard Hot 100 charts for 28 weeks.
The first single was followed by the first album. He became a real event in the world of hip-hop, in 1998 he was even awarded a Grammy in the corresponding category.
Separately, it should be said about the track "I'll Be Missing You", which was also included in Combs's debut disc. It was recorded with Faith Evans and is dedicated to the murdered rapper The Notorious B. I. G. This track received another Grammy for Best Duo Performance.
And one more interesting fact: for the song "Victory" from the album "No Way Out" one of the most expensive videos in general in history was shot. On it, according to available information, was spent $ 2.7 million.
In 1999, the rapper released his second album, Forever. It managed to hit the top three of the Billboard 200 and went platinum in the United States. However, critics, unlike ordinary listeners, did not rate this disc too highly. A few years later, in 2006, "Q" magazine even included "Forever" in the "50 worst albums of all time" rating.
In 2001, Combs's third album, "The Saga Continues …", was released, which was also rather coolly received by critics and music journalists.
The next album appeared only five years later - in 2006. It was named "Press Play" and featured Christina Aguilera (track "Tell Me") and Nicole Scherzinger (track "Come to Me"). The album immediately managed to top the Billboard 200 after its release. In addition, it sold 173,000 copies in the first seven days.
In 2010, Combs' fifth album, Last Train to Paris, went on sale. This album differed from all the others in a rather clear internal structure and concept: it described the journey of a lyric hero from London to Paris in order to regain his lost love. The R'n'B band Dirty Money, consisting of two vocalists, Calenna Harper and Dawn Richard, took part in the creation of "Last Train to Paris". Many critics considered that the duo harmoniously complemented Combs' music and lyrics.
In the fall of 2015, Sean Combs released the sixteen-track MMM (Money Making Mitch) mixtape for free download. It was later reissued on iTunes as a full-length album.
A year later, in 2016, Sean Combs announced that he intends to suspend his musical career and focus on other projects.
In recent years, he has made several guest appearances in Hollywood films. For example, he can be seen in episodes in the family movie "The Muppets 2" (2014), in the TV series "Bad Fame" (2016), in the comedy "Soul Girls" (2017).
It is worth adding that in 2017, Forbes magazine placed Sean Combs on the first line in its ranking of the world's highest paid stars. According to the information published by the magazine, the rapper's annual income was about $ 130 million. Among other things, Combs' business empire includes the Justin's restaurant chain, as well as his own clothing brand, Sean John, which continues to produce fashion collections to this day.
Personal facts
Rapper Sean Combs is the father of five children. The first child, boy Justin, was born in 1993. His mother was the school love of musician Misa Hilton-Brim.
After that, Combs had a long-term relationship with model and actress Kimberly Porter. From 1994 to 2007, they broke off relations several times and converged again. Kimberly has three children from Sean - a son, Christian (born in 1998), and two twin girls, D'Lila Star and Jesse James (born in 2006).
Five days before the birth of the twins, another beloved Combs Sarah Chapman gave birth to a girl named Chains. At first, Combs did not want to recognize her as his daughter, but a DNA test unequivocally confirmed his paternity.
In 2008, the media also reported that the rapper was dating aspiring singer Casey Ventura.
On top of that, at different times, the press published candid photos of Combs with Jennifer Lopez, Rihanna, Naomi Campbell. However, none of these stars ever became the rapper's legal wife. And now he is still single.
