Putting together Press Play has been a long process for P. Diddy. After relatively average sales for 2001�s The Saga Continues album, Diddy decided to focus on growing his other businesses (i.e. clothing line Sean John, record label Bad Boy records etc), taking a break, and even working on a dance album called Divided Souls with some of dance music�s hottest producers, which has since been put on the back-burner. ...

�A lot of time when you get somebody�s iPod, you�re shocked because you�re like, �this person listens to Coldplay, Tupac and Garth Brooks?,� he laughs. �People like all types of music and all types of things. You look at what�s going on in the UK in the underground hip hop, grime, garage, and drum�n�bass scenes. I mean my iPod is full of things from dance music to movie scores to James Brown� there are so many things that are in my head. I wanted to be able to express all that without being all over the place, and still make it hip hop � that�s what I tried to do.

Q. Were you surprised when Justin Timberlake came out with a record talking about bringing "sexy" back? Particularly since for years you've been talking about throwing parties for the sexy, being part of the grown and sexy, even mentioning in your Proactiv commercial that you were "preserving your sexy."

(Laughs) I know. Who knew "sexy" had gone away and needed to be brought back? Naaaw, I mean, I was cool with it. I don't get really caught up into stuff like that. I love the record. I like his work ethic.

He says, "There's a couple of songs on the new album about my relationship with Kim: PARTNERS FOR LIFE, a story about how I met her, and this other song called AFTER LOVE.
"I'll be in the studio playing that song for her, like, 'Baby, I made this song for you.' She's like, 'You don't have to make no more songs for me. What you could do for me is start being the best man you can be.'"