Sean Combs also known as “Diddy”, “Puff Daddy” and “P. Diddy” is a record producer, rapper, actor and entrepreneur. His business ventures apart from music have made him very rich. Combs is one of the wealthiest people in hip hop. According to Forbes, his net worth is approximately $555 million.
Sean Combs was born on 4th November 1969 in Harlem, New York City. He graduated in 1987 from the Roman Catholic Mount Saint Michael Academy and later he enrolled in Howard University. However, he dropped out in 1989 and started interning at Uptown Records in New York. There he assisted Mary J. Blige and Jodeci as their talent director. Unfortunately he was fired from this job after which he created Bad Boy Records with Arista Records. They took on The Notorious B.I.G who was new in the game at that time. Soon Combs was signing on several more acts such as Faith Evans, Carl Thomas, 112, Father MC and Total. In 1994 and 1995 Combs produces many songs including “CrazySexyCool” which was on number 25 on the list of Billboard of top pop albums of the decade.
In 1997, Combs recorded his very first song as a rapper which was called “Can’t Nobody Hold Me Down” which remained number one on the Billboard Hot 100 list for 28 weeks. He also released his album “No Way Out” the same year. This too was a success making it to number one on the Billboard 200 with a sale of 561,000 copies and maintaining its position for 11 weeks. It also topped other charts internationally. “No Way Out” got Combs 5 nominations at the Grammys held in 1998. He won a Grammy for Best Rap Album. Sean Combs released “Forever” in 1999 which ranked on number 2 on the Billboard 200 and topped the Top R&B/Hip Hop Albums chart. He decided to alter his stage name from “Puff Daddy” to “P.Diddy” in 2001. In the same year he gained control over Bad Boy and all the artists it signed. Four years later “P. Diddy” became just “Diddy”. In 2010, Sean Combs started a rap group called ‘Dream Team’ which had artists like Rick Ross, Fat Joe, DJ Khaled, Busta Rhymes, Fabolous and Red Café.
Combs has also acted in several films such as ‘Monsters Ball’ (2001), ‘Get Him to the Greek’ (2010) and his upcoming movies include ‘Draft Day’ (2014) and ‘The Muppets…Again!’ (2014). He has received many accolades such as the 2012 ‘Best Documentary Feature, Undefeated’, the ‘NAACP Image Award in 2009 and the Viewer’s Choice Award in 2008. “Diddy” faced his share of tragedies and controversies however he has still achieved a lot in the music industry. Some other business ventures he has invested in are fashion, perfume and restaurant chain called Justin which is named after his son. Sean Combs also began a clothing line in 1998 by the name of “Sean John” which got a nomination in the Council of Fashion Designers of America for Menswear Designer of the Year (2000). In 2012 he was on number 12 of Fortune magazine’s list of ‘Top 40 of entrepreneurs under 40.
