Sean John Combs (born November 4, 1969) is a record producer and entertainment mogul who presides over a media empire that includes the record label Bad Boy Entertainment, the clothing lines Sean John and Sean by Sean Combs, a movie production company, and a restaurant chain. He has taken the roles of recording executive, producer, writer, arranger, clothing designer, actor, singer and rapper. His current nickname and recording name is Diddy, and he has recorded as or credited in recordings as P. Diddy, Puff Daddy and Puffy.
As the founder and CEO of Bad Boy, he was one of the driving forces in moving hip hop music mainstream which resulted in him becoming one of the wealthiest people in the entertainment industry. Combs first skyrocketed to fame as a label executive, first for Uptown Records and later for his own label, signing and developing acts such as Father MC, Jodeci, Mary J. Blige, Craig Mack, Notorious B.I.G., Faith Evans, 112, Ma$e, and Carl Thomas. In his own music career, he has been criticized for watering-down and overtly commercializing hip-hop for a mainstream market, as well as overusing samples and interpolations of past hits for the majority of his own hit songs. Regardless, he has been enormously successful with a current estimated worth of nearly $315 million and growing.
Born in Harlem, New York City, Combs grew up in the Westchester County suburb, Mount Vernon, New York (His father was killed when he was only 2 years old, then his mother decided to move to Mount Vernon with Combs & his siblings). A devoted member of the Boy Scouts of America for several years, Combs eventually achieved the rank of life scout before he gave up scouting in high school. After completing his private secondary education at Mount Saint Michael Academy in the Bronx, Combs attended Howard University in Washington, D.C. before becoming an intern at Uptown Records. Only a few months later, Combs was an A&R executive, and helped produce Father's Day ( Father MC; 1990), What's the 411? ( Mary J. Blige; 1992), and Blue Funk ( Heavy D & the Boyz; 1992) before being fired in 1993. Combs set up his own label, Bad Boy Records, and soon signed Craig Mack and the Notorious B.I.G..