From the Baltimore Sun
Diddy: more a brand than a musician
But, on his new album, the hip-hop mogul does want to show he's grown
By Rashod D. Ollison , Sun Pop Music Critic
Originally published October 15, 2006
As he slouched in his chair - yawning, eyes bloodshot, looking as if he could fall asleep at any moment - Sean "Diddy" Combs didn't appear to be the super-polished international man of taste, the persona he has cultivated for nearly a decade. Swimming in an oversized black jacket and baggy jeans, the hip-hop impresario looked like a tired workaholic. He had skipped precious hours of sleep to build buzz around his return to pop music.
It was midafternoon barely a month ago, and the entertainment mogul, who looks much slighter in person than he appears in promo shots, sat at a gleaming table inside a dimly lit conference room at downtown Baltimore's Hyatt Regency hotel. He had spoken to pupils at Winston Middle School a few hours earlier. Now he was answering questions about Press Play, his first album in five years, which hits stores Tuesday.
Advance copies of the album were unavailable. But, as with anything Diddy does, it isn't necessarily about the product. It's all about selling. Selling a slice of his high-living image, the packaging for a personality that's an attractive combination of street-corner arrogance and boyish vulnerability. Now, Combs wants to rap about "grown things."
It was midafternoon barely a month ago, and the entertainment mogul, who looks much slighter in person than he appears in promo shots, sat at a gleaming table inside a dimly lit conference room at downtown Baltimore's Hyatt Regency hotel. He had spoken to pupils at Winston Middle School a few hours earlier. Now he was answering questions about Press Play, his first album in five years, which hits stores Tuesday.
Advance copies of the album were unavailable. But, as with anything Diddy does, it isn't necessarily about the product. It's all about selling. Selling a slice of his high-living image, the packaging for a personality that's an attractive combination of street-corner arrogance and boyish vulnerability. Now, Combs wants to rap about "grown things."
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