Famous Entrepreneur

Sean John Combs (born November 4, 1969, known by his stage names Puff Daddy, P. Diddy and now Diddy, is an American record producer, rapper, actor, men’s fashion designer, entrepreneur and dancer. He won three Grammy Awards and two MTV Video Music Awards, and his clothing line earned a Council of Fashion Designers of America award.

He was originally known as Puff Daddy and then as P. Diddy (Puff and Puffy being often used as a nickname, but never as recording names). In August 2005, he changed his stage name to simply “Diddy”. He continues to use the name P. Diddy in New Zealand and the United Kingdom, the latter after a legal battle with another artist, Richard “Diddy” Dearlove. In June 2008 Combs’ representative denied rumors of another name change.

His business interests under the umbrella of Bad Boy Entertainment Worldwide include Bad Boy Records, the clothing lines Sean John, Sean by Sean Combs, a movie production company, and two restaurants. He has taken the roles of recording executive, performer, producer of MTV’s Making the Band, writer, arranger, clothing designer, and Broadway actor. Combs is one of the richest hip-hop performers, having a net worth estimated at US $346 million in 2006. He is portrayed by Derek Luke in the biopic of The Notorious B.I.G. called Notorious.

Early years

Combs was born in the public housing projects of Harlem, New York, the son of Janice and Melvin Combs. He grew up in Mount Vernon, just to the north of the New York City borough of The Bronx. When Combs was two, his father was shot to death in his car on January 26, 1972 at age 33 in a Manhattan park following a party he attended. The elder Combs was an associate of Frank Lucas, the New York drug lord. Both Lucas and rival gangster Nicky Barnes publicly state that they were close with Melvin.

Combs played football at the Roman Catholic Mount Saint Michael Academy, where he played defense. When Combs was a senior in 1986, his team won a division title. Combs has “fond memories” of his high school buddies, one of whom (the team quarterback) was reputed Gambino crime family enforcer, Andrew Campos. Combs is not alleged, either in court papers or by law enforcement sources, to have engaged in any wrongdoing in any of his dealings with Campos.

Establishing Bad Boy

With the help of Russell Simmons, he unsuccessfully tried to sign Tupac Shakur whom he considered the best rapper, to jump start the label. Tupac refused. Both Mack and Biggie quickly released hit singles, followed by similarly successful LPs, particularly B.I.G.’s ”Ready to Die”. Puff Daddy, as he was then known, began signing more acts to Bad Boy, including Faith Evans, 112 and Total, as well as producing for Lil’ Kim, TLC, Mariah Carey, Boyz II Men, SWV, Aretha Franklin and others. Mase and The Lox soon joined Bad Boy, just as a widely publicized rivalry with the West Coast’s Death Row Records. Combs and Notorious B.I.G. were allied against Tupac Shakur and Suge Knight, trading insults in songs and interviews during the mid 1990s. Shakur was murdered in 1996. Six months later, in March of 1997, the Notorious B.I.G. was murdered weeks before the release of his successful album, ”Life After Death”.

Combs’ performing career

Puffy Daddy? P. Diddy? Sean John? Whatever you call him, to say Sean “Diddy” Combs wears multiple hats would be an understatement of gargantuan proportions. He is a record producer, label executive, rapper, actor, fashion designer, TV producer, party promoter, entrepreneur and, sometimes, dancer. Amazingly, even as he does business in this Attention Deficit Disorder style, the Renaissance man finds incredible success in every field - making him more than the toast of the hip-hop community, but the business community as well.
Like so many hip-hop entrepreneurs of his ilk, Combs had humble beginnings. He dropped out of Howard University to taken an internship at Andre Harrell’s Uptown Records. But the young upstart exceeded every expectation, and within a matter of months, he had risen from an unpaid internship to become a vice president at the label. He was just twenty-one years old.

That said, Combs’ poor attitude was soon rubbing Uptown’s staff the wrong way, forcing Harrell to fire the young executive. In retrospect, it was probably the best thing to happen to Combs. It taught him humility while forcing him to go out on his own, forming his own record label, Bad Boy Entertainment.

Bad Boy would go on to have huge success with acts like The Notorious B.I.G., Ma$e, 112, Faith Evans and more. Combs himself came out from behind a desk to take a starring spot behind the microphone under the name Puff Daddy. As an artist he has won three Grammy awards and two MTV Video Music Awards.

Like so many young entrepreneurs, Combs wanted to parlay his music industry success and take advantage of opportunities in other arenas. That said, it would be his clothing line, Sean John, which found the greatest success.

Started in 1998, Sean John is a men’s clothing line that merges urban style with mainstream fashion. With annual sales of nearly $500 million, Sean John was nominated for the CFDA Designer of the Year award in 2000 before winning the prestigious honor in 2004.

In 2002, Combs made his entry into television when he began producing Making The Band for MTV. Since then he has added shows like Run’s House, I Want To Work For Diddy and The Bad Boys of Comedy to his production slate. He recently produced a mini-series for CBS based on the award-winning Broadway play he starred in, A Raisin In The Sun.

Sean John Combs’ success has taken him from the block and into the boardroom, but as it takes him into the future, one thing is certain - he’ll be working nonstop and will find success by any means necessary. Did we expect anything else from the original Bad Boy?