Diddy

Sean Combs — known variously as Puff Daddy, P. Diddy and Diddy — is an American rapper, producer, entrepreneur and record executive from Harlem, New York, raised in Mount Vernon. He entered the music industry at Uptown Records under Andre Harrell before founding Bad Boy Entertainment in 1993, which he built into one of the defining hip-hop and R&B labels of the era.

As a producer, Combs shaped the sound of 1990s and 2000s hip-hop with a glossy, sample-heavy, radio-ready style, guiding the careers of The Notorious B.I.G., Faith Evans, Ma$e and Total, and producing for artists like Mary J. Blige, Usher and Jay-Z. As a performer, he scored major hits including «I'll Be Missing You», a tribute to The Notorious B.I.G., along with «It's All About the Benjamins», «Bad Boy for Life» and «I Need a Girl».

Combs's career extends well beyond music into fashion, television and business ventures, and Bad Boy's roster and sound left a lasting imprint on mainstream hip-hop and R&B, blending street credibility with pop crossover appeal.