03/20: On Tour with Diddy and Snoop
Someone from The Independent spent a couple of nights on the Diddy/Snoop tour. The result is
this article which is a great read.
All the same, it must feel strange to them to be playing to so many white, middle-class people on this tour.
"I'll be honest," says Diddy. "It's always been young white kids. People in hip-hop never wanted to accept that, but it's true. Young white kids have been rebelling, sneaking out of the suburbs, and coming to the shows for years. And they're going home right now to turn up our music in their bedrooms. Hip-hop is something you can't stop - it ain't got no colour lines." ...
What's the point of Diddy's growing business empire: the fragrance, the clothes, the TV shows? Is it all about the money?
"It's not about making money," says Diddy. "If money was my only motivation, I'd be a billionaire right now. It's about appreciating and respecting the hip-hop culture. The other big conglomerates - the Fortune 500 companies - they don't respect hip-hop. They don't, like I do, make things especially for hip-hop."
But the money's still good? "Oh, the money's great," says Diddy, while Snoop laughs. "But I'm showing young people that they can empower themselves in a legal way. The money I make is legal. You got to understand that where we come from, that's a blessing." ...
"I'm not going to say that, compared to everyone else, I'm the best," he says. "I see myself more as PT Barnum. I'm the ringleader of the circus: the producer; the entertainer; the dancer; the vibe motivator. I don't really compete with the other guys who say, 'I'm going to lyrically massacre you.' I just like to get people moving and grooving.
"But look at my career in black and white. It's undisputable. Look on Billboard at the three pages of hits I've had. I'm not being braggadocious - it's just important that you state the facts when you talking about someone, and what they mean, and who they are."
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