Puff Daddy Biography

Sean John Combs

Sean John Combs, Rapper, record producer, actor

Birthdate: November 4, 1969

Birthplace: New York, NY

Sign: Scorpio

Combs was born and raised in Harlem in New York City by his mother Janice and father Melvin Combs. Melvin Combs was shot and murdered after a party he attended when Combs was three. Nine years later the family moved to suburban Mount Vernon, N.Y., where Combs attended a private Catholic all boys' prep school. He supposedly received the nickname "Puffy" when he would huff and puff when he got angry. After graduating high school, he attended the prestigious Howard University in Washington, D.C. and studied business. In 1987, he left college after a year to become an intern at Uptown Records in New York City where he worked under Andre Harrell. Harrell was impressed with Combs and started to give him more responsibilities. Within a year, he had moved up to vice president and by 1989 he was the youngest executive in the music industry. Combs' hard work and Harrell's support paid off, as Combs' work in shaping the sound and image of artists such as Mary J. Blige and Jodeci would make the label millions and jumpstart impressive careers. In late 1992, Combs was fired from Uptown due to internal struggles, but Harrell assisted him with forming his own company, Bad Boy Entertainment. He soon discovered Christopher Wallace, who rapped as Biggie Smalls and recorded as the Notorious B.I.G. By 1994, Biggie Smalls was a rising rap star and best friend to Combs. Combs negotiated a $15 million deal which would have Arista sponsor 50% of the company and allow Bad Boy to continue to have full creative control. It was a deal that would gain Combs the reputation as a rap impresario and entrepreneur industry wide. Combs and Biggie were criticized and parodied by Tupac Shakur and Suge Knight in their songs and interviews in the mid 90s, which led to a widely publicized rivalry between the rappers of the West coast and the rappers of the East coast. In March of 1997, on the way back to his Los Angeles hotel from the Soul Train Music Awards, Biggie Smalls was gunned down and died later at a hospital. Combs's first album, No Way Out was released that summer under the name Puff Daddy. It included the single "I'll Be Missing You" which was a musical eulogy featuring the voice of Wallace's widow, singer Faith Evans and the melody from the Police's "Every Breath You Take." Several more singles from No Way Out dominated the pop charts in 1997. In 1997, Combs opened his first restaurant called Justin's in New York, a Caribbean and soul food restaurant named after his oldest son. It soon followed with another opening in Atlanta, Georgia. In 1998, Combs went on tour for No Way Out and took home two Grammy Awards for rap album, rap performance of "I'll Be Missing You" along with launching his Sean John clothing line and formed Bad Boy films. After a highly publicized shooting in 1999 in Club New York where he was partying with girlfriend Jennifer Lopez and protégé Shyne, he was charged with several crimes including illegal gun possession. He was acquitted on all counts in 2001. Combs tried to make a break from his past and start fresh by changing his name to P. Diddy. He released his second album, The Saga Continues in 2001. Combs also made his big screen debut, co-starring in Jon Favreau's comedy "Made" and went on to star in the prison drama "Monster's Ball" alongside Halle Berry and Billy Bob Thornton. In 2002, Combs stepped in as the new executive producer of the MTV reality series "Making the Band" in its second season. The show took unknowns and attempted to make a new singing group out of them and showed Combs as the figurehead that shelled out advice. In 2004, he received another Grammy for his collaboration with the rapper Nelly on "Shake Ya Tailfeather" and was honored later that year by the Council of Fashion Designers of America as their menswear designer of the year. In 2005, he changed his name again, publicly dropping the "P." from his name and released his third album, Press Play, the following year as Diddy. Combs never been married, but has five children and one that Combs basically adopted. Combs' first biological son, Justin Dior Combs, is from his relationship with high school sweetheart, designer Misa Hylton-Brim. His second child is son Christian Casey Combs with Kim Porter, along with twin daughters, D'Lila Star Combs and Jessie James Combs. In July 2007 Combs' rep confirmed that he and Porter ended their relationship. He also has a daughter named Chance with Sarah Chapman. Diddy says that he first neglected Chance as his daughter because he wasn't sure she was his and wanted to wait for the DNA results to come in.