In September 2023 Sean Combs looked like the king of New York. Leaning out of the window of a black limousine, he cruised across Times Square, gold Rolex on one wrist, diamond bracelet on the other, holding the Key to the City above his head, an honorary award presented to him by the mayor, Eric Adams. This was a victory lap for Combs — also known as Puff Daddy, or Puffy, or P Diddy, or Diddy, or Love — who had dominated the hip-hop and R&B music scenes for three decades.
His label, Bad Boy Records, which he founded in 1993 at 24 years old, launched some of the biggest artists in the field, including the Notorious BIG and Faith Evans. Combs was a hip-hop Midas who turned the artists he signed into gold and platinum-selling megastars. He made himself a star, too, embarking on his own music career. He became the ultimate A-lister, a caricature of celebrity, throwing exclusive “white parties” — named after their dress code — in the Hamptons and St Tropez and rolling through Manhattan in fur coats and convertible Ferraris. He had a clothing line, perfumes, drinks brands — partnering with Diageo for Cîroc vodka — a TV network and he set up several schools in the Bronx, Harlem and Connecticut. By 2022 he was a billionaire.
