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.
Bad Boy on the Rise: Sean Combs Makes His Mark
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