Who wouldn’t want to wake up one morning and be P Diddy? Seriously, what does this guy not have. He’s black, he’s done it with J Lo and Cassie, he runs his own empire, he blows stuff up in his music videos, and he gets cheesecake whenever the f*ck he wants.
Lets start by taking a quick peek at the facts. He’s sold over 50 million records, won 3 grammy’s and has a net worth of around 475 million. His liquor company Ciroc, has become one of the most successful companies in the vodka industry. To put it in perspective, his stake in the company is valued in the nine figure range. B*tches love nine figure ranges. Sean John, his clothing company, although not as relevant as it once was has made the transition from baggy sweatsuits to upscale business attire. And his record empire “Bad Boy” is still going strong, recently signing one of the hottest emerging solo artists in the game, Mr. MGK. Oh, by the way, he’s on pace to become hip hop’s first billionaire. “I thought I told you that we won’t stop, 10 years from now we’ll still be on top”. Diddy didn’t lie did he?
Now lets take a private jet journey throughout all of the things he’s done exclusively for hip hop. “Its the N O, T O, R I, O, U S, you just, lay down, slow”. Remember that guy? Yeah, well its pretty safe to say that there would be no B.I.G. without all the hard work Diddy did to break him as an artist. Did you forget who invented the Remix? Remixing other peoples music has slowly become its own genre, how many of your favorite rappers created an entire genre? Oh, can’t forget about sampling, you love it when Kanye does it, but would he have ever dove head first into the crates if Diddy hadn’t been “Taking hits from the 80’s” for years prior? It’s not my call, but I’m not even going to list all the artists he’s put on the map. Although one you may have overlooked is Usher. Ursher was just a good looking kid making songs about being a “Mack” before Poppa Diddy Puff got his manicured hands on him and helped mold him into the super star he is today, but what Puffy gave us that is more overlooked than anything is the ad lib–“take that, take that”. We all know at least five Diddy ad libs, for todays artist it is almost required to have a great ad lib game (Rick Ross, 2 Chainz, Waka Flocka) well…. at least for my kind of artist it is.
More than anything you have to ask yourself what you are looking for in a rapper? Is Diddy a teacher? lyrically no, but who else has capitalized off of every inch of money and fame he was given. It’s not like he wasn’t comfortable at 30 million, what he’s done is a blueprint for expansion in any aspect of life. Is he a poet? well no, but its hard to deny grammy’s and the ability to bring the right people together to create a santa sized list of classic records. Is he a great rapper, producer, or dancer? well, no not really at all but who else has been on hip hop’s Mt. Everest for a longer period of time? Plus he did bang J Lo in her prime, which is worth being noted multiple times.
Man my Grandpa knows who P Diddy is. He’s freaking 90 bro, he needs help going to the bathroom. But he knows. Does he know Kanye, Jay Z and Nas? Hell naw mayne. Diddy is my favorite, because no matter what he is going to find a way to stay relevant. When he’s too busy to be creative he employs someone to be creative for him. “Don’t worry if I write rhymes, I write checks”, and that ladies and gentlemen is why P Diddy just might be the best rapper alive.
LVOUT