The Life and Career of Sean Diddy Combs

The Life and Career of Sean Diddy Combs This successful rapper and entrepreneur has had multiple stage names throughout his career. Welcome to WatchMojo.com and today we’re taking a look at the life and career of Sean Diddy Combs. Sean John Combs was born November 4, 1969 in Harlem, New York. While attending Howard University in Washington D.C., Combs became an intern at Uptown Records in New York. Eventually dropping out of school after he was promoted to Vice-President of NR at the label, Combs helped to develop and produce acts such as Jodeci and Mary J. Blige. After Combs aspired from Uptown, he created Bad Boy entertainment in 1993. He gained early success with the release of the Notorious B.I.G’s Ready to Die. He also signed acts such as Faith Evans and 112 and produced for Usher, Mariah Carey, and TLC whose album Crazy Sexy Cool became the best selling RNB album of the 1990’s. It was also around this time that the rivalry between Bad Boy Records and Death Throw Records surfaced. These are the West Coast labels 2Pac Shakur and Suge Knight publicly making fun of Combs and on Notorious B.I.G. in songs and media appearances. It was in 1997 that the Puff Daddy and the Family album ‘No Way Out’ was released. These records, the singles Can’t Nobody Hold Me Down and I’ll be Missing You which was recorded in memory of the Notorious B.I.G. Forever, his first album solely under the Puff Daddy name came out two years later. Despite its success, hip-hop fans criticized Combs for over commercializing the genre, not using enough original material and collaborating too much with guests. At the end of 1999, Combs was arrested for weapons violations after gunfire broke out at a Manhattan nightclub he attended with then girlfriend Jennifer Lopez. Then both Combs and fellow rapper Shyne were sent to trial. Combs was found not guilty on all charges while Shyne was convicted and sentenced to prison for 10 years. Hoping to distance himself from the negative press that had built up, in 2001 Combs changed his stage name to P. Diddy. He made acting appearances in the films Made and Monsters Ball but also got into trouble with the login when he was accused of assault and reckless driving. The same year, he released The Saga Continues, an album that featured the tracks Bad Boy for Life and I Need a Girl. Combs then switched it up a bit and started working with pop artists such as Britney Spears and N’Sync. He also signed the girl group Dream to Bad Boy Records and to go over the second run of the MTV series Making The Band in 2002. 2005 was the year Combs announced yet another name change to simply Diddy. A court order from DJ Richard “Diddy” Dearlove however forced him to continue using P. Diddy as a stage name in the UK. Showing now signs of slowing down, Combs then sold Bad Boy Records to the Warner Music Group. His fourth album entitled Press Play was then released in 2006. In the next few years, Combs continued to add to his acting and television credits. In 2008, he premiered his VH1 series ‘I want to work for Diddy’. He also reprised the role he had played on stage in ‘A Raisin in the Sun’ in its 2008 television adaptation. 2010, Combs stared and the comedy film ‘Get Him to the Greek. [Movie Clip] He didn’t forget about his musical career though, it was during this time he left Warner Music and ultimately signed the deal with Interscope Records in 2009. With two clothing lines, a line of men’s fragrances, a movie production company and an up scale restaurant chain, it is without a doubt that Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs has made a solid name for himself in both the worlds of music and business.