Sean Combs

Sean John Combs (born November 4, 1969) is an American record producer, mogul, CEO, clothing designer, a rapper and occasional actor.

As of October 2006, his nickname and recording name is Diddy. Previously, he had been known as Puff Daddy and later as P. Diddy (Puff being often used as a nickname, but never as recording names). He is still called P. Diddy in New Zealand and the UK, the latter after a legal battle with another artist, Richard "Diddy" Dearlove.

Bad Boy Records, the clothing lines Sean John and Sean by Sean Combs, a movie production company, and two restaurants. He has taken the roles of recording executive, back up singer, performer, producer of MTV's Making the Band, writer, arranger, clothing designer, and Broadway actor. Diddy is the richest hip-hop entertainer as of 2007, having a net worth estimate of US $346 Million.

Career

Born in New York to Melvin and Janice Combs, Combs grew up in Mount Vernon, just to the north of the New York City borough of the Bronx. When Puff Daddy was two, his father Melvin was shot dead in his car on January 26, 1972 at age thirty-three in a Manhattan park following a party he attended. After completing his private secondary education at the Roman Catholic Mount Saint Michael Academy in the Bronx in 1987, Combs attended Howard University in Washington, DC but dropped out, and eventually became an intern at Uptown Records.

Diddy has recently finished recording his latest LP, entitled Press Play, featuring collaborations with, among others, Christina Aguilera, Nas, Big Boi, Twista, Just Blaze, Pharrell, Brandy, Mary J. Blige and Keyshia Cole which was released on October 17th, 2006.

It was reported that Diddy would be singing on all the tracks of this album, but that was proven false as, on the album's first single, "Come To Me" (featuring Nicole Scherzinger of the Pussycat Dolls), he did not sing at all, but rather did his traditional rapping. He does sing on the third single, "Last Night" (featuring Keyshia Cole). "Tell Me" (featuring Christina Aguilera) was released as the second single. An interesting fact about this song is that it was a demo song for his Making the Band 3 girl group, Danity Kane, as seen in the second season of the MTV show. He was asking fans on his MySpace page to help him choose the fourth single. "Through the Pain (She Told Me)" (featuring Mario Winans) was chosen as the fourth single.