Sean `Puffy' Combs

Jet, Sept 13, 1999 by Margena A. Christian

DISCUSSES:

* The Love He's Never Been able To Shake

* His Impact As A Black Performer

* And Why He's A Role Model

Sean "Puffy" Combs is still as busy as ever.

Forever, his follow-up album to last year's smash debut album No Way Out, was just released and is already heating up the record charts. The album's first single, P.E. 2000, is a fiery remake of the Public Enemy song Public Enemy #1.

Combs describes Forever as "a sequel to the first album, but you can't compare the two."

Highlights on the project include the songs Satisfy You, featuring R. Kelly, On, featuring Jay-Z, and My Best Friend, a song he dedicates to God, his best friend."

During a recent promotional tour in the Windy City for Forever, Combs managed to take time out of his hectic schedule to visit the Johnson Publishing headquarters. The millionaire hip-hop performer-producer-entrepreneur discussed the love he's never been able to shake, his impact as a Black performer and why he's a role model.

The hardworking Combs, also called Puff Daddy, is a man of vision. He recalled that he always knew he would become involved in the entertainment industry because it's a love that he's never been able to shake.

"I'm in love with what I do. It's like if you're in love, you can't sleep at night. You wake up excited to wake up early and you're skipping around," said the 29-year-old performer. "I'm not saying it's like that every day, but that is just the basis of how I feel."

Combs' love for entertaining dates back to his days as an intern with Uptown Records in 1990. Within a year, he worked his way to vice president of Uptown's talent and marketing division where he helped to guide the careers of such artists as Mary J. Blige and Jodeci. In 1993, he was offered a $15 million-distribution deal with Arista Records to form his own label, Bad Boy.

"I was so infatuated by the industry. I had so much love for it from day one. It was like I was in love with it," Combs explained. "It's almost like when you see this girl and you're just so in love with her from the first time you put your eyes on her. You can't get her out of your head. I couldn't get it out of my head. When I went to bed, I went to bed feeling good because I knew I would have a chance to be married to this. I knew I had the chance when I woke up to be involved in this."

That deeply rooted love for his work helped him to carry on a couple of years ago after he witnessed the murder of his close friend, Bad Boy rap star Christopher "Notorious B.I.G." Wallace.

In tribute he recorded No Way Out, which sold 7 million copies. The album featured the songs Can't Nobody Hold Me Down and Been Around The World. It also featured the heart-wrenching ballad to Wallace, Ill Be Missing You, which along with the album earned Combs a Grammy Award.

Combs spreads his love not only as a recording artist and producer but also through his many business ventures.

In addition to his record label, he has a management company, Bad Boy Management, an upscale soul food restaurant named after his 5-year-old son, Justin's Restaurant, a music publishing company, Justin Combs Publishing (also named for his son), and a music studio, Daddy's House.

So Sean John Combs doesn't mind staying busy because he knows that he's making one heck of an impact as a Black performer.

"I've tried to show that you can do anything no matter what your age is," he pointed out. "When you're Black and you want to be an entrepreneur and you're born into the world, you're not supposed to be able to be successful. The impact I have is that because you're young and Black, you can do anything."

A man who believes in practicing what he preaches, Combs continues to do any and everything. He has opened another Justin's in Atlanta, started a magazine, Notorious, and formed Bad Boy Film and Television and Bad Boy Technologies.

He's also started his own clothing line, Sean John. In the company's first year alone, it generated $30 million in sales. Talk about making an impact.

"I show kids that every new venture that I do employs more Black people. Every new venture that I do shows other Black entrepreneurs that you can have a restaurant, your own magazine and clothing line.

"This is the dream that I dreamed. I never knew how long it would take or I never knew how big it would get. I can't say that this is exactly what I saw. I dreamed that the sky is the limit. I haven't even reached the dream that I saw, but I saw some of this being involved," revealed Combs, who was among the Forbes' List of Top 50 Highest-Paid Entertainers for a second year, earning $53.5 million.

A highlight of his career, he says, happened this year when he received the Howard University Alumni Award for Distinguished Postgraduate Achievement in the field of entertainment. Combs, who left the university before his junior year, established a scholarship fund, the Sean "Puffy" Combs and Janice Combs Endowed Scholarship Fund, in his name and in his mother's name. He donated $500,000 to be used in the College of Arts and Sciences or Business for those students interested in pursuing careers in the entertainment industry.