Bad Boy: The Influence of Sean Puffy Combs on the Music Industry
- Book Review,
by Ro Ronin
From Library Journal
Ro is an expert on gangsta rap whose two previous works on the subject, Gangsta: Merchandising the Rhymes of Violence (LJ 6/1/96) and Have Gun Will Travel: The Spectacular Rise and Violent Fall of Death Row Records (LJ 4/15/98), were both informed and informative. This time around, Ro examines the triumphs and tribulations of actor/producer/singer/rap mogul Sean Combs (estimated worth: $400 million), previously known as "Puff Daddy" and currently sporting the nom de rap "P-Diddy." Bad Boy is primarily a dish-the-dirt biography, but for optimal comprehension, readers must be thoroughly familiar not only with rap music but also with its subgenres and proponents, both major and minor. Despite his indisputable command of rap philosophy and history, Ro's unfamiliarity with the pop music matrix itself is disconcertingly obvious: for example, he chronically refers to The Police's 1983 megahit "Every Breath You Take" (sampled by Combs on numerous productions) as "I'll Be Watching You." Also, while he clearly understands popular music as a business and can explain it clearly and thoroughly, his impressive discussions of the knotty contractual complications that impoverish even successful artists are too brief, too few, and too randomly scattered. Finally, even Ro concedes that Combs has exhausted his impact upon popular music. Still, Combs remains popular among youth, and for public libraries with a high demand in this area, Bad Boy is preferable to Cassie Murphy's Puff Daddy (Andrews McMeel, 1999) or Elizabeth Bowman's Sean "Puffy" Combs (Chelsea House, 2000). Bill Piekarski, Angelicus Webdesign, Lackawanna, NY Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From Booklist
Rap analysis is hot, it seems, what with Michael Eric Dyson's Holler If You Hear Me [BKL Ag 01] on Tupac Shakur and Hip Hop Divas [BKL O 15 01] from VIBE magazine (now there's a rap sheet for you). But the rapper landscape changes so fast that the subtitle of Ro's take on rapper-fashionista-(exonerated) miscreant Combs was superannuated long ago: Puffy, who used to be Puff Daddy, is now P. Diddy. Still, if anyone can penetrate Combs' high-profile, low-concept world, Ro can. Dripping street cred, Ro tells us how Combs built Bad Boy Entertainment and how his "bad decisions, his hubris, and his legendary temper" created a situation in which that conglomerate "can no longer work the way it used to." Reportage on recording projects, rap feuds, and da trial comes amid a flurry of colorful street names, and the always enjoyable aura of danger that the gangsta milieu exudes makes this a crucial read for fans and detractors, and an excellent piece of hip-hop history to boot. Mike Tribby
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
Book Description
This is a tale of friendship, greed, and betrayal in the music industry -- and a definitive history of America's biggest rap mogul. No one knows more about creating hits than Sean "Puffy" Combs. For years he virtually ran hip-hop. It seemed the perfect arrangement: "Puffy" provided the sounds and obsessive attention to detail while the Notorious B.I.G. promoted an image that kept rap fans happy. It should have lasted forever, but "Biggie" was murdered at the height of his career -- and "Puffy"'s ascension to superstardom ushered in an age of disloyalty and deception that exploded into one of the greatest debacles in the history of the music industry. Through interviews with label insiders, grand jury testimony, and other sources, America's preeminent rap journalist Ronin Ro reveals the true story of "Puffy" addresses the larger issues that shaped the man and the industry explains how Bad Boy both helped and destroyed hip-hop and R&B music details why some artists "Puffy" created ultimately left his Bad Boy family in disgust. At once an intimate history and a portrait of an era, Bad Boy shows readers exactly how Combs lost his strangle-hold over the multibillion-dollar rap music industry. The story of Bad Boy Entertainment is the story of the American Dream, an up-close and personal account of the people, the money, the creative process that made it all come true, and the young mogul who caused the dream to fall apart. In this hip-hop tragedy of Shakespearean dimensions, readers finally learn the story that Sean "Puffy" Combs does not want them to know.
Download Description
This is a tale of friendship, greed, and betrayal in the music industry -- and a definitive history of America's biggest rap mogul. No one knows more about creating hits than Sean "Puffy" Combs. For years he virtually ran hip-hop. It seemed the perfect arrangement: "Puffy" provided the sounds and obsessive attention to detail while the Notorious B.I.G. promoted an image that kept rap fans happy. It should have lasted forever, but "Biggie" was murdered at the height of his career -- and "Puffy"'s ascension to superstardom ushered in an age of disloyalty and deception that exploded into one of the greatest debacles in the history of the music industry. Through interviews with label insiders, grand jury testimony, and other sources, America's preeminent rap journalist Ronin Ro reveals the true story of "Puffy" addresses the larger issues that shaped the man and the industry explains how Bad Boy both helped and destroyed hip-hop and R&B music details why some artists "Puffy" created ultimately left his Bad Boy family in disgust. At once an intimate history and a portrait of an era, Bad Boy shows readers exactly how Combs lost his strangle-hold over the multibillion-dollar rap music industry. The story of Bad Boy Entertainment is the story of the American Dream, an up-close and personal account of the people, the money, the creative process that made it all come true, and the young mogul who caused the dream to fall apart. In this hip-hop tragedy of Shakespearean dimensions, readers finally learn the story that Sean "Puffy" Combs does not want them to know.
About the Author
Ronin Ro is a journalist as well as the author of Gangsta: Merchandising the Rhymes of Violence; Have Gun Will Travel: The Spectacular Rise and Violent Fall of Death Row Records; and the novel Street Sweeper. A former rapper, he has written for such publications as Vanity Fair, The Source, SPIN, Rolling Stone, USA Today, Playboy, and Vibe. He has appeared on CNNfn, Bloomberg Network, National Public Radio, ABC Radio Network, BET, VH1, and the Fox News Network. He lives with his wife and daughter in New York City.
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