Tweet

Bad Boy on the Rise: Sean Combs Makes His Mark

Article Overview: With help from Arista Records founder Clive Davis, Combs was able to create his own music label, Bad Boy Entertainment. A few of the acts he had previously signed to Uptown, including Christopher Wallace (a.k.a. The Notorious B.I.G.) and Craig Mack, signed on to Combs’ new company, allowing Combs to hit the ground running. In its first year, the young label released Mack’s Flava In Ya Ear, which proved to be a huge success. This was followed with albums by B.I.G., which also went on to become multi-platinum.

Bad Boy on the Rise: Sean Combs Makes His Mark

With help from Arista Records founder Clive Davis, Combs was able to create his own music label, Bad Boy Entertainment. A few of the acts he had previously signed to Uptown, including Christopher Wallace (a.k.a. The Notorious B.I.G.) and Craig Mack, signed on to Combs’ new company, allowing Combs to hit the ground running. In its first year, the young label released Mack’s Flava In Ya Ear, which proved to be a huge success. This was followed with albums by B.I.G., which also went on to become multi-platinum.

Over the next few years, Combs would continue to sign successful acts to his label, including 112, Mase, Total and Faith Evans, and began producing for Mariah Carey, Jennifer Lopez, TLC, Method Man, LL Cool J, New Edition, Babyface and Boyz II Men, among others. His reputation not only as someone who had a natural ability to spot and develop talent, but also as an astute entrepreneur and music producer was beginning to grow. Bad Boy’s artists would become some of the biggest, most popular and chart-dominating in the industry.

In 1997, Combs began to branch out and created his own rapping persona of Puff Daddy. With the release of Can’t Nobody Hold Me Down and I’ll Be Missing You, Combs had solidified his career as a performer. He continued to collaborate with other performers to produce the 1997 album, No Way Out, and Forever in 1999. He is currently working on another album to be released in October 2006 and featuring the likes of Kanye West, Christina Aguilera and Nas.

Despite numerous lawsuits, run-ins with the police, and a widely publicized feud between east and west coast rappers that is blamed for the death of B.I.G., one of Bad Boy’s most successful artists, Combs continued to dedicate himself to his music career. He pursued unusual collaborations with the likes of David Bowie and Britney Spears in an attempt to innovate and find a new sound.

In addition to his music career, Combs gained a reputation as a savvy businessman for his other endeavours, including a clothing line, his Blue Flame advertising company, his MTV reality show Making the Band, a restaurant chain, and branches of Bad Boy Entertainment into technology, books and films. His clothing line, Sean Jean, has been nominated for the Council of Fashion Designers of America Award for Menswear Designer of the Year for the past six consecutive years. Justin’s, Combs’ upscale restaurant chain named after his son, has locations in both New York and Atlanta. Combs is also eager to pursue an acting career, having already worked in the 2004 Broadway musical A Raisin in the Sun, and with Halle Berry in Monster’s Ball.

In 2002, Combs was named one of the 40 Richest People Under 40 by Fortune magazine. With a current estimated net worth of over $300 million, Combs has become something of an American icon and, against all odds, one of the country’s most successful entrepreneurs.

Related Articles
  Sean by Sean Combs
  Lesson #3: Create a Lifestyle
  Lesson #1: Defy The Odds
  Sean Combs Godzilla
  The Birth of Diddy: Sean Combs Makes His World Debut

Article Tags: arista records, babyface, bad boy entertainment, boyz ii men, christina aguilera, christopher wallace, clive davis, craig mack, faith evans, flava in ya, flava in ya ear, mase, method man, music career, music label, music producer, natural ability, own music, puff daddy, west coast rappers



Related Forum Posts
Hi all from Australia!! - Hi all, My name is Mark. I've been involved in the direct selling industry for the last 10 years since I was introduced to amway way back then, in one or another venture.. I'm here to mix and mingle with other people like myself, like minded entrepreneurs if you will and contribute a little from what knowledge I do have about marketing. I look forward to chatting with everyone out there. Regards, Mark
Re: Hello, Just Joined - Hey Sean, welcome to the forum!
Re: Hello, Just Joined - Hello Sean Welcome to the forum its Really nice to have you here , have a great day
Re: Should you hire ambitious workers or employees with no goals - [quote="TheRainmaker":4eq894a4]Thanks Shri, I really hate the word GRUNT. I had a client once who called his staff 'minions'. he didnt last long as a client...I just hate the negative perspective in anything. realist yes, pessimist, no.[/quote:4eq894a4] Hi Jude and Shri, I'm not saying that it's good to call anyone a "grunt", but the truth is many people are treated like one everyday. I was recently watching the reality show "Making the Band 4" and P. Diddy (aka Puff Daddy or Sean Combs) was telling one of his employees, Aubrey (from the group Danity Kane) that he was the CEO and he didn't have to communicate his plans or vision for his company to her. More importantly, if Aubrey didn't like the way he does business, she has the choice to walk away/quit. At the end of that show, Diddy ended up firing Aubrey for always causing trouble and feeling she was ENTITLED to certain things. In addition, owner of Sky Sport Gym (and star of Bravo's "Work Out"), Jackie Warner undermined one of her trainers by stepping in midway through a boot camp to take over. Jackie's trainer was very upset, but rather than apologizing Jackie simply said something along the lines of "I'm the owner and I can do whatever I want. If you don't like it, you can work for someone else." The problem is that most employees claim ownership over their "jobs" because they put a lot of hard work and time into them... but the reality is that the owners can treat them as kindly or disrespectful as they want. And the only option for the employees is to stay or leave.
Re: Hello, Just Joined - Hi Sean Welcome to the forum. There is a lot of information here and I am sure you will benefit from it. MichelleJ


Share this article with your friends. Fund someone's dream.

Leave a comment below or share on the left and you'll help support entrepreneurs in Africa through our partnership with Kiva. Over $50,000 raised and counting - Please keep sharing! Learn more.

Tweet

Newsletter

Get advice & tips from famous business
owners, new articles by entrepreneur
experts, my latest website updates, &
special sneak peaks at what's to come!

Name:
Email:

Popular Articles

Let's Skip the Offshore Horror Stories

Unspoken Yet Important Rules for Book Proposals

Effective Leadership

Suggestions

Email us your ideas on how to make our
website more valuable! Thank you Sharon
from Toronto Salsa Lessons / Classes for
your suggestions to make the newsletter
look like the website and profile younger
entrepreneurs like Jennifer Lopez.