The video below shows Diddy working on a track in the studio. It sounds like the vocals on the track he's working on feature Dawn Richard of Danity Kane.
At the start of February, former Bad Boy rapper Mark Curry will release his tell all book, "Dancing With the Devil." From the
book's site:
“Welcome to Bad Boy, where dreams come true,” Sean Combs said as we shook hands over lunch in March 1997. The record producer spent the next hour telling me how impressive my rapping skills were, how soon he planned to release my debut album, and that my personal wealth would soon be in the seven-figure range. Talk about smoke and mirror.
Today, after years of writing hit records for Combs, I am no closer to having my first album released by Bad Boy Entertainment than I was when we signed the contract. Combs cajoled, hoodwinked and bamboozled me for nearly a decade. In the end, which for me came in 2005, I realized that I had to leave the label and its illusions of wealth in order to save my career, my marriage, my mind and my soul.
Dancing with the Devil reveals startling new details about key events in the fast-paced, controversial, and sometimes deadly world of hip-hop music. In revealing the dark side of the industry, Curry hopes to provide a road map for reforms needed before more artist end up in poverty, in prison, or in the grave.
The full title is "Dancing With the Devil: How Puff Burned the Bad Boys of Hiphop." I've heard whisperings of this before, but never anything I could actually report on. Now that there is something concrete, I have to mention it, even though there is a serious lack of credibility concerning this book. Let's start with the cover:
The shadow with horns is a nice touch, as is the ball and chain. Seriously? This cover is incredibly tacky and, to me, looks like the type of material that you'd see from a tabloid or a shock jock. You can't judge a book by it's cover... except when you can.
Most people will see this book and won't know who Mark Curry is and maybe that's the point. Here's a formula that has been repeated many times over: 1. Sign to a record label with a highly visible CEO. 2. Become unhappy. 3. Leave. 4. Say bad things about aforementioned visible CEO. 5. People WILL write about you and you WILL get attention. Or, hey, just skip all five steps, pass go, collect $200 and just say something bad about Diddy's business practices - it's the cool thing to do, like peeing your pants! ("Billy Madison" reference, for those that haven't seen that movie). So, if that's the aim, the idea is that people will give him attention through the project. Like I'm doing here. It bugs me that I am participating in it, but I have to because I wouldn't be doing my job, otherwise, and maybe that is what Curry is banking on.
The only reason pretty much anyone knows who Mark Curry is... is because of Diddy. The only reason Mark Curry has any experiences to write a book about is... because of Diddy. The only reason anyone will buy this book is... because of Diddy. Really, Diddy is featured more on
his own website than he is. A story like Curry's, one of not releasing an album, not achieving any solo success, is not unique. It's the norm. Most artists who sign to labels do not achieve solo success. That's just the way it is.
But, what strikes me the most is Curry's
bio, which features a grossly exaggerated statement of the role Curry had in Diddy's success, going so far as complete untruth. It says, "He wrote most of Diddy’s first hit singles... He wrote many of the hits that made Sean “Puffy” Combs one of the richest men alive." No way. Unless Curry is going to claim that he didn't receive proper credit on some songs, these statements are both tremendously inaccurate. I've reviewed the liner notes for all 5 of Diddy's albums. Here are the songs that Curry is credited on as a co-writer (not the only writer, but as a co-writer):
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The
purported The Lox diss can now be heard in our
audio player. Again, I dig the track, but
anyone suggesting it's aimed at The Lox is just speculating. In any case, I am trying to see if I can find out anything else about the track.
Joey Guerra of the Houston Chronicle has an interview with Jamal Woolard (whose stage name, as a rapper, is Gravy), focused mostly on "Notorious." But, he also slips this in:
His debut album, God Willin’, is still in the works and is expected to feature collaborations with Foxy Brown, Mary J. Blige and Diddy. But right now, Woolard has high hopes for his Notorious debut — and future.
The man plays Biggie and now has Diddy on his album? I could see that as being both really cool and eerie.
Check out the promotion video below, for the
National CARES Mentoring Movement. Diddy appears in the clip, at the :20, :25 and :42 second marks.
Via
The Celebrity Truth.
MTV News' Jayson Rodriguez also has a quick quote from Diddy, who was interviewed (jokingly) by Jay-Z, who was doing some reporting for the HOT 97 radio station, based out of New York City.
Usmagazine.com reports that Diddy is featured, among with many others, in a video pledging service to President Obama. The video was put together by
Katalyst Media, which was founded by Ashton Kutcher, a friend of Diddy's. Watch it below. Diddy appears at 2:30, 3:43 and 4:01.
The video is in promotion of
usaservice.org, a website aimed at encourages citizens to participate in community service initiatives.
Via
Jocelyn Vena.
BBB reader Theo mentioned that some websites have been posting an old Diddy track called "F*** Y'all N*****" as a "new" leak and saying that it was supposedly a diss aimed at The Lox, it was produced by Kanye West and written by Shyne. This is all kind of funny to me and it is also news to me.
This is not a new "leak." This track was leaked years ago, on a mixtape and quite possibly elsewhere before that. I first heard it years ago. I like it, it's a cool track. Aimed at The Lox? Eh... not that I would say. Nothing specifically is said to them, so you can only guess. He does mention them in the song, but it is in the context of other people talking about him, where he says:
You wanna see me get notorious without Biggie
See me without The Lox, say I ain't jiggy
See me without Mase, say I ain't pretty
Produced by Kanye West? Written by Shyne? I can only wonder: where did this come from? I'm interested to know the source of this information because this has never been said before, to my knowledge, so I'd like to know who leaked an already leaked track and then claimed this. Right now, I regard this all as untrue rumor. I e-mailed someone at Bad Boy to see what they could find out and I'll report back if there is anything to say.
As an aside, Clinton Sparks took the verses from this track in order to release "Run This City," from his first album,
"Maybe You Been Brainwashed." But, the verses came from "F*** Y'all N*****," and not the other way around.
Adam Tschorn of the Los Angeles Times has a fragrance and fashion centric interview with Diddy.
Were you involved in the design of the bottle as well?
Yeah, I wanted it to be this very sleek, modern, architectural design, a beautiful, regal piece of glass that would sit on a very futuristic king's mantle.
Is this for a different customer than Unforgivable? Or a different occasion?
It's definitely designed for [when you're wearing] your tuxedo and when you're cleaning up well.
News24 reports that Diddy will join Whitney Houston and Jazmine Sullivan on the slate for Clive Davis' pre-Grammy party at The Beverly Hilton Hotel on February 7.
