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Sean Combs Growing up
Sean Combs was born on November 4th, 1969 in Harlem, New York and grew up in Mount Vernon, New York. He is a successful rap artist, record producer, actor and entrepreneur. He uses the stage names Puff Daddy, P. Diddy and Diddy.
Sean Combs Family Life
Sean Combs grew up in New York with his mother, Janice and father, Melvin. Janice worked as a model and as a teacher's assistant and Milton was associated with big-time drug dealer Frank Lucas. Melvin Combs was shot while he was sitting in his car at Central Park West, New York at the age of 33.
Sean Combs was just a child when his father died. When he was growing up, he was given the name "Puff" because when he was angry, he would huff and puff.
Sean Combs Education
In 1987, Sean Combs graduated from Mount St. Michael Academy, a Roman Catholic school. He played football for his high school who won a division championship in 1986.
After he graduated from the Academy, he enrolled in Howard University. He quickly developed a reputation for throwing large parties that had as many as 1000 people. He declared his major in business; however, he dropped out the following year in 1989.
Sean Combs Internship
Sean Combs was able to work as an intern at Uptown Records in New York after he dropped out of college. During his time there, he played a part in the development of future stars Mary J Blige and Jodeci. This was where he was able to get his foot in the door with the music industry.
Sean Combs Tragedy
In 1991, Sean Combs was involved in promoting an AIDS fundraiser with artist Heavy D. The fundraiser was held in a New York gymnasium which followed a basketball game for charity. The fundraiser was overbooked and a stampede resulted in nine deaths at the event.
P Diddy Starts Bad Boy Records
Sean Combs was fired from Uptown Records in 1993 and he went on to establish Bad Boy Records in a partnership with Arista Records. During the creation of Bad Boy Records, he was able to bring a new artist known as The Notorious B.I.G.
Both Craig Mack and The Notorious B.I.G. saw instant success with the releases of their singles and LP's. This allowed Sean Combs to sign more talent including Faith Evans, 112, Father MC, Total and Carl Thomas. His production team also worked with talents such as Mary J. Bleige, Usher, Aretha Franklin, TLC, Mariah Carey and Mase. These artists also signed with Bad Boy Records later on.
Bad Boy Records vs. Death Row Records
In the 1990s, there was a heated rivalry between East Coast hip-hop and West Coast hip-hop. The main figureheads in this rivalry where the east coast's Notorious B.I.G. and Bad Boy Records and the west coast's Tupac and Death Row Records. Tupac publicly accused Sean Combs and Notorious B.I.G. for initiating an attack which resulted in a robbery and shooting in New York. Both Combs and The Notorious B.I.G. denied having any involvement in the attack.
Death Row records responded by criticizing Sean Combs' role within the label. Tupac then went on to release several tracks which targeted The Notorious B.I.G, Sean Combs and Bad Boy Records.
In 1996, Tupac was shot multiple times and killed by an unknown shooter. Six months later, The Notorious B.I.G. was shot down in California. Neither killer is known to this day.
Sean Combs Creates a Clothing Line
Sean Combs start the clothing line Sean John in 1998. He was nominated for the men's designer of the year in 2001 and won the award in 2004. In 2003, Sean John was involved in a controversy when it was discovered that the company was mistreating their employees in Honduras. Since the investigation, Sean Combs took measures to improve the conditions in his factories. He fired the managers that mistreated their employees and discontinued any clothing that required fur.
P Diddy and his Many Albums
No Way Out
Sean Combs released his first album entitled No Way Out in 1997. This was his first attempt at rapping. The album was considered to be a success. His first single "Can't Nobody Hold Me Down" made it to the Billboard hot 100 chart and remained there for 28 weeks.
Forever
Forever was released in 1999. It was also a huge success, reaching number one on the top R&B and hip-hop albums charts.
The Saga Continues and Press Play
Sean Combs went on to release two more albums in 2001 and 2005 entitled "The Saga Continues" and "Press Play". They were reasonably successful; however, they did not reach the status that his previous albums were able to.
Dirty Money
In 2010, Sean Combs put together a rap super group that consisted of DJ Khaled, Rick Ross, Red Café, Fabolous, Busta Rhymes and Fat Joe. They referred to themselves as "The Dream Team". All of the artists have been very successful individually before and since they joined forces.
Other than music
Restaurants
Sean Combs owned two restaurants in New York called Justin's, which was named after his son. Both of the restaurants closed in 2007 and 2012, however.
Assault Charge
Sean Combs was charged with assault 1999. The assault was on Steve Stoute, who was the manager for Nas. Sean Combs was given a second degree assault charge. The judge sentenced him to anger management classes.
Gun Fire and Jennifer Lopez
In December, 1999, Sean Combs and his girlfriend Jennifer Lopez were at a club in New York when gunshots were fired. After an investigation was held, Sean Combs and rapper shine were charged with weapon violations and arrested. Sean Combs was involved in a lengthy trial and was eventually found not guilty on all charges. Shyne was sentenced to 10 years in jail. Sean Combs and Jennifer Lopez broke up soon after the trial was over.
Acting
Sean Combs has played several small roles in the past decade. He has appeared in shows such as Hawaii five-0, CSI: Miami and It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia. He has appeared in movies such as Get Him to the Greek and Carlito's Way.
Business
In 2002, Fortune magazine ranked Sean Combs in at number 12 in their list of top entrepreneurs under 40. In 2012, Forbes magazine estimated that Sean Combs has a total net worth of $550 million, which makes him the wealthiest person in the hip-hop industry.
Style
Sean Combs is known for his fashion sense. He holds an annual "White Party" in which participants are required to adhere to an all-white dress code.
Cars
Sean Combs owns many top-of-the-line automobiles. His cars include the Lamborghini Gallardo Spyder, the Rolls-Royce Phantom Drophead Coupe and the Maybach 57 which are worth a combined $1,100,000.
Personal life
Sean Combs has five children and a step child. He actively contributes to charities, such as Daddy's House Programs, which he formed in 1995.
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