Say goodbye to the guy who once made you believe that you were a future Hip-Hop mogul. Say R.I.P. to the person who danced in Jodeci and Father MC videos in the early nineties. Say peace to the man who put out "It's All About the Benjamins." Say good riddance to the name by which we once knew Sean John Combs.
Puffy / Puff Daddy / P. Diddy is dead. Who knows, Diddy is right there in the bottom right corner of the YouTubery posted above, but if you listen to the man, he's telling you like it is. He's got, no tiiime for fake names. He's officially crossed the glass ceiling of Hip-Hop, which is usually "label head" status (nolo) and negro endorser of white-owned products. My man is a household name, so I guess it makes sense for him to use his very own name, since he can't change faces when he calls himself by various nicknames. I mean have you ever looked up the word "Puffy" in Google Images? As long as you're not at work, try it right now and see what comes up...
Don't worry; I'll wait...
None of us close to 30 years old can lie and say we didn't aspire to having what Puffy had back in the 90's. He was big, but he was still something of a hood secret. Now, he's executive producing the ABC version of A Raisin in the Sun, and playing the starring role alongside some heavy hitters. It'll be better than the Broadway version, I'm sure, because a TV production has editing. Broadway is live.
Sean John Combs wants you to know him as an actor now. He wasn't so pressed back when Oliver Stone first courted him for Any Given Sunday, but now he seems convinced that with his presence, money and power, he can move Hollywood his way. More power to him. But it is sort of depressing that he's showing us that he's too grown for Hip-Hop. Jay-Z is already wearing suits, and he hasn't been in the executive chair that long.
I've always wondered what would happen if Puffy fell off. Would rap music lose it's number one stunner and lose its standing in world culture if the biggest name in the business were no longer commerically viable as an artist? Well, look around, my brothers and sisters; it looks like we're at that moment. Are we as Hip-Hoppers too immature to see that even our heroes are abandoning us? Has the money in music dried up that bad, or is Hollywood poontang just that attractive that video hoes are no longer good enough? Or is Hip-Hop just dead?
Who cares, right? TIME MAGAZINE thinks he's still that dude, and I'm not hating. Unforgivable actually smells pretty damn good, to be honest. Eff it: Long live Sean Combs. He probably deserves to settle into being a thesbian, and we're just too blinded by his DIAMOND IPOD to see that not even precious jewels can sell wack rap music anymore. May the name remain, even if the character is no more.
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7 comments:
okay, first of all, I think my heart skipped a beat when I first read the title......(you got me)
second of all, I'm nosey, so I went ahead and googled "Puffy" and all I have to say is...eeewwww!!!!
but seriously, I wouldn't look at it as them (Diddy & Jay) abandoning us I would look at it as them growing up & maturing & showing the younger guys that there's sooo much more that can be done than just rap.
EVERYBODY wants to be a rapper these days, and for a lot of these young dudes, that's the only way they see themselves making it "out tha hood". They don't know about business, planning and saving, stocks and bonds and investing...
...that's why I respect the acting, the clothing lines, the fragrances, buying basketball teams, and all of the other investments they have...
I mean seriously, both of these dudes ARE knockin' on 40 years old......how long does one think wearing big baggy jeans, hoodies and Tim's skippin' around the stage is gonna last????
If you notice, both Sean and Shawn (Combs and Carter) are using their government names more and more these days.
Will we ever see a day when an artist uses his/her real name from the jump? Obie Trice? Joell Ortiz?
Oh yeah, they don't really sell. Dope MCs, though.
Jay, YES!!!!
Diddy...a dope mc?? uuummmm, I think the jury is still out on that one......
...so do you feel like rappers who don't use their real names in the beginning aren't being real with us...or themselves??
Not really sure. After all, THE UNDERWRITER isn't my real name, but nobody believes it's really Michael Jordan either...
I think that they should stick to the original though, since it takes more street cred to be a rapper than a blogger.
The Fresh Prince >>> Will Smith.
not sure why my last comment came up as anonymous, but that was me 'Snickers', guess I was typing too fast..........
Michael Jordan huh?? uuuummmm k!
just kidding :)
but I do think the names that alot of these rappers come up with are a reflection of who they are or what they're inspired by or how they feel...so I guess it is somewhat real to them...
I'm sure UNDERWRITER was a reflection of how you were feeling at one point.......
Raisin in the Sun was aired this evening, so I just had to come back and leave a comment.
...I thought Diddy did a good job, I wouldn't call his performance earth-shattering, but overall, I thought he did good...although, I thought he looked kinda awkward during the intimate parts with his wife...don't know what that was about...?
Even though this wasn't his first movie (he was good in Monster's Ball too, and that was a smaller role) for some reason, I just don't see him abandoning music...to act..........
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