P Diddy for Tobago Jazz Festival

While at Uptown, Puffy established the careers of rappers Craig Mack and Christopher Wallace, aka the Notorious B.I.G. And in 1997 alone, he masterminded an astonishing three number one records. But as successful and influential as he’s grown, Combs’ life has been plagued by its fair share of controversy. From his ongoing feud with his West Coast counterpart, Death Row Records founder Suge Knight, to the slaying of his friend Notorious B.I.G., to the contempt he has elicited from those within the hip-hop underground, Puffy has frequently been the subject of debate. What is less open to debate is that Puffy Combs is indeed the man of the moment.

Sean Combs was born in 1970 in Harlem, the first of Melvin and Janice Combs’ two children. Janice was an aspiring model, while Melvin was a notorious street hustler whose lifestyle caught up with him when he was shot dead in Central Park—Sean was only three at the time. For the next ten years, the family continued to live in Harlem, where Sean witnessed firsthand the prime years of hip-hop’s explosive evolution.

When he was 12, his mother relocated the family to the suburbs of Mount Vernon, New York, where Sean attended an all-male private school called Mount St Michael’s Academy.

In 1988, Puffy entered Howard University. He started promoting house parties and campus concerts; he also reportedly nurtured a lucrative side business selling term papers and old exams. Two years at Howard were enough for Puffy to realise that it was time to move on to something bigger and better. He dropped out, but quickly succeeded in convincing Andre Harrell, the head of Uptown Records in New York, to give him an internship. Harrell was himself an aspiring musician—he was the Mr Jeckyll half of the mid-eighties rap duo Dr Jeckyll and Mr Hyde—and he saw in Puffy the same burning desire to get ahead that he had when he was a young man.

In time, Puffy’s promotional skills had eclipsed whole Uptown departments. Within a year, Harrell had crowned his intern vice-president of promotion. Puffy had complete confidence in his own production talents and business acumen. So confident was he, in fact, that he was thought to be extremely arrogant by many people, including his one-time mentor, Harrell, who in 1993 fired his prot?g?.

In Puffy’s next power move he negotiated a US$15 million deal to relocate Bad Boy Entertainment to Arista Records. Puffy was given complete creative control and full support by the major label; in return, he more than earned his keep by producing several number one hits with the Notorious B.I.G. and Craig Mack. With his involvement in his artistes’ videos, and on their songs and remixes, Puffy’s profile grew ever higher—it seemed he was getting more and more successful with each passing month.

P Diddy will join Toni Braxton, Nagee, Patti La Belle, Natalie Cole, Johnny Gill, Najee and Sting along with several top TT artistes at the Plymouth Jazz Festival April 21 - 23.

You can win a VIP ticket to the Tobago Jazz Festival by answering the question below. Complete the entry form and send to Music Radio 97 / 104FM, Level 4, Long Circular Mall, St James.