Puff Daddy is the original stage name of hip hop performer and producer Sean Combs. Combs came up in the national music scene in the early to mid 90s and has stayed relevant to that industry and others ever since.
Puff Daddy’s rise to fame is closely tied to his discovering rap legend Notorious B.I.G. Combs signed Biggie Smalls to his own company, Bad Boy Records, in 1993. He had previous experience producing at Uptown Records, but was fired after an oversold Heavy D event led to 9 deaths in a stampede. Combs is most famous in the mid 90s for his role as B.I.G.’s hype man and promoter.
Puffy shocked the world with his first album No Way Out, which went on to get him a Grammy Award for “best rap album” in 1998. On the record he included the track “I’ll Be Missing You” as a tribute to his murdered friend, Biggie Smalls.
Biggie Smalls’ assassination is often attributed to a feud between Puff Daddy’s and Tupac Shakur’s producer, Suge Knight, from the west coast label Death Row Records.
Since establishing himself in music, Combs has gone on to find success in several other fields including acting, film production, and fashion. He started the clothing brand Sean John in 1998. Puff Daddy is as much of an enthusiast of style as he is of producing, and combined his two loves to produce the infamous White Party with an all-white dress code. He considers this one of the top 3 parties he has ever thrown.
Besides recording as Puff Daddy, Combs has officially switched to the names P. Diddy, Diddy, and Diddy Dirty Money.
Albums
No Way Out – 1997
Forever – 1999
The Saga Continues… – 2001
We Invented the Remix – 2002
Press Play – 2006
Last Train to Paris – 2010
Photos
image courtesy of complex.com