Sean 'Diddy' Combs Announces New Music Venture, Love Records

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"The Story
Sean Combs, also known by his many monikers throughout his career such as Puff Daddy, P. Diddy, Diddy, and most recently, Love/Brother Love has announced the launch of his new music venture, Love Records. The label will serve as a partnership with Motown Records. Reports on the announcement share that the label “will be dedicated to R&B music and will release singles and collaborative projects from a collective of world-class artists, producers, and songwriters.” The first album that will be released under the new label will be none other than the rapper and business mogul himself, which will mark his official return to music since the release of his last solo studio album, 2006’s Press Play.
 
In his official statement on why he decided to start the label, the 52-year-old said, “Music has always been my first love, Love Records is the next chapter is about getting back to the love and making the best music of my life. For the label, I’m focused on creating timeless R&B music with the next generation of artists and producers. Motown is the perfect partner for my album and I’m excited to add to its legacy.”
 
This isn’t exactly new territory for the I’ll be Missing You hitmaker as he is the founder of Bad Boy Records which was founded in 1993 and launched the careers of artists such as Mase, groups Total and 112, Mario Winans, Day26, Danity Kane, Da Band, and most notably, the late Christopher Wallace, known by his stage name, The Notorious B.I.G. or Biggy Smalls. Diddy will executive produce, curate, and serve as A&R for his upcoming fifth studio album.

Abron’s Hot Take
I want to give credit where credit is due and first state that I believe Sean Combs is a fantastic businessman…for himself.  He not only created his own record label with Bad Boy, but he also launched an impressive list of other business ventures such as his clothing line, Sean John, which won the Council of Fashion Designers of America (CFDA) award for Men’s Designer of the Year in 2004. In addition, he’s released successful fragrances (unforgivable being my favorite) and owns significant shares in businesses such as Cîroc Vodka and Revolt TV. As of 2022, Diddy is reported to have a net worth of $900 million, making him one of the richest rappers in the world.
 
With that said, while Diddy has managed to carve out a successful career for himself, we can’t ignore the elephant in the room which is his poor track record in managing other artists. It’s a bit of an open secret that many artists who’ve signed with Diddy through his label, Bad Boy, have unfortunately not become as successful as they may have hoped or once enjoyed mainstream success and have now disappeared from the public spotlight.  
 
You may argue that it’s unfair to hold Diddy responsible for the failures of his artists but as the owner of the record label, his role in signing artists, helping to develop their sound and brand, as well as how to market them are huge reasons why that argument doesn’t hold weight. If one or two artists fail, then perhaps we can assume those were moments of bad luck. However, if most of your music roster is no longer making music today and you yourself are the only relevant success story, then it bares mention or suggestion that perhaps business practices were poor at the very least. I’m assuming Diddy is aware of this which is why he’s emphasizing that the artists that will sign under his new label, will have equity as he explains in this interview with 2Cool2Blog.
 
I certainly hope this is the case with Love Records. As Jay Z says in the song BOSS, featuring wife Beyoncé, “over here we measure success by how many people successful next to you, here we say you broke if everybody gets broke except for you.” Translation: if you’re the only one making money and everyone else in your circle is not, then you’re not really a boss, nor are you really successful. I am wishing the best of luck to Diddy and all of the new artists that will release music under the imprint.