Hey Puffheads!
In the midst of all the time and effort I'm spending trying to gather information on our favorite rap guy, here are the bits of info I've been able to retrieve so far:
Sean Combs was born in Harlem, New York in 1970. He then moved on up to Westchester County, in Mount Vernon, New York, where he attended high school. It was here at this time that he received the nickname "Puffy," for "puffing" up his chest during sporting event to make himself look bigger, somewhat intimidating his opponents. It was also during his high school years that he got his first car, a maroon Golf (a la Seinfeld), and played the stereo really loud so that everyone in Westchester County could hear "Kimmy Got a Big Old Butt" (or whatever that song is) play from the maroon Golf. Thus spurred his idea of sampling songs. After high school, he went to Howard University, graduated from there, and went on to persue a career in the entertainment industry.
After college, his career had a rough start. He worked as a mailboy in the offices of Uptown Records. In 1991 (I think), he hosted a promotional charity basketball game at City College of New York. Unfortuneately, an uprising was ignited, causing more than a few injuries (I don't know if anyone died). Eventually, though, he got over the trauma and tragedy that was the beginning of his career and he put his producing skills to the test. He saw success when he produced tracks for Mary J. Blige, Jodeci, Usher, and some other artists. In 1994, he established his own label, Bad Boy Entertainment, under Arista Records. Thus began his sampling spree. In 1996, what was first a friendship between compadre Notorious B.I.G. and rap star 2Pac, was turned into a war between east-coast and west-coast rap artists (mostly by media hype). In September of 1996, rap legend 2Pac was gunned down in Las Vegas following a Tyson fight. Without second thought, many people blamed Puffy and Biggie for 2Pac's murder. Seven months later, in the March of 1997, Puffy's best friend Biggie was gunned down almost in the same exact manner that 2Pac was killed, sitting in the passenger seat of a car during a night out into town. Coincidence?
After Biggie's death, though, Bad Boy Entertainment was blessed with explosive record sales, partly to the cause of incredible music video production (which in this biz, is definitely important), but mostly due to these three albums released in 1997: "Life After Death," Biggie's double-CD; "No Way Out," Puffy's debut CD; and "Harlem World," Ma$e's debut CD. After sampling songs from the decades past, Puffy decided to take rap music one step farther by creating collaborations with alternative rock artists such as the Foo Fighters to create the "All About the Benjamins" Shot-Callers Rock Remix, and another collaboration with Jimmy Page for the song "Come With Me" on the "Godzilla" Soundtrack. Despite his tremendous success, Puff Daddy is criticized by rap fans for his materialisticness, alternative rock collaborations "over-sampling" music from the 70s and 80s. But in my opinion, these critics are just player-haters, and they should just go on and get a life. Here are some of the songs he has sampled and revived into hip-hop hit productions of the 90s:
"Between the Sheets" ------> "Big Poppa"
"Don't Look Any Further" -----> "Gettin' Money"
"Break My Stride"; "The Message" -----> "Can't Nobody Hold Me Down"
"I'm Comin' Out" -----> "Mo' Money, Mo' Problems"
"Every Breath You Take" -----> "I'll Be Missing You"
"Roxanne" -----> "Roxanne" (1998)
"Let's Dance"; "All Around the World" -----> "Been Around the World"
"Hollywood Swinging" -----> "Feel So Good"
"Right on for the Darkness" -----> "What You Want"
"Kashmir" -----> "Come With Me"
lyrics & midi files: almost as good as listening to the actual songs
Mo' Money, Mo Problems
I'll be Missing You
It's All About the Benjamins
Roxanne
Been Around the World
Come With Me
Big Poppa
Gettin' Money
Can't You See
Coming Soon:
Feel So Good
Can't Nobody Hold Me Down
Bad Boy Entertainment - Puffy's Record Label
Member Of Mr. Blunt's Hip Hop Banner Exchange
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