Diddy Played Hero And Villain For Far Too Long

Welcome to 49th issue of Backseat Freestyle. This is my weekly hip-hop newsletter I send out every Friday focusing on one big thing that happened over the past seven days. I also include links (15-25 of them) to what I’ve been listening to, reading and watching. You can check out the archive, here, and read more about me, here. If you’re already a BF subscriber, thank you for your continued support. If you’re arriving to this issue by way of a forward, LinkedIn or social media, please subscribe below. And please share this newsletter with your circle so that they can enjoy it, too; personal referrals are my best path to long-term growth. With that said, let’s get into it….

Front Seat

This is what’s driving hip-hop this week….

So, I wanted to get this out 10 days ago, but I just couldn’t get around to finishing it. I had to get a say out on it, because I’ve tracked Puff’s career from the beginning, first as a fan and later as a professional. His star burned bright and what I noticed most about him was what he did with that notoriety. Or, at least what I thought he did. There was an undeniable sense of control he garnered with each subsequent achievement. Things, however, turned toxic. There were enablers, for sure. Puff, though, enabled the entire operation however. The signs were always there, but he was able to control the narrative as if he was behind the board at Daddy’s House. Until someone else took over the tempo.

Back Seat

Respect my mind or die from lead shower.

The moment I thought I really understood Diddy came at nearly 2AM on a late Monday night/early Tuesday morning back in September, 2014. At the time, I was the editorial director at Revolt TV and I’d just finished interviewing him for a news program we were putting together to celebrate the 20th anniversary of Biggie’s Ready To Die album. The interview, though, was originally slated to take place around 6:30PM. 

My crew and I were jammed up for hours waiting on him. Our editorial team specifically chose not to call this project a special, so as to not rely on whether we had our chairman's participation. Still, we put the ask out to his team and he accepted; but by the day off taping, we still didn’t have a set time from him until midday. 

Around 5PM that day I left Revolt’s midtown HQ to head to Nike’s Chelsea office to partake in a captain’s draft for the Nike Football Society. This was a real draft, for actual players in a flag football league I played in. Meaning, there was no autodraft; I had to be there and call out my selections from a pool of participants. 

My plan was to rock the draft for an hour and then make it back to the office at 6pm. I got a call, however, just 15 minutes into my draft that Puff was ready now and we’d instead be doing the interview at 6pm. I frantically called one of my keepers (our QB, Scott; and shout to my brother Sean Malcolm for guarding my draft notebook) and asked if he was nearby so he could sub in for me since he and I previously went over the draft profiles. I then raced to the office. 

After I hopped out of a cab and hustled a couple of blocks, I’m crossing the street to get to our building and I see D.Roc, Biggie’s best friend and an on–again/off-again bodyguard for Puff. He’s decked out in a tux and I call out that he’s looking sharp. He asked me what I was doing and I mentioned the interview. He told me: “Oh, that ain’t happening now, we about to head out.”

My frustration at the moment was with everyone who enabled Puff to operate this way. From those at Revolt and on the Combs Enterprise side. I knew Puff from my time at MTV News where I interviewed and emailed with him often, but I was always straight up with him; tough but fair. But being under his umbrella at Revolt, where he was an absentee overlord, was more illuminating. 

By the time Puff arrived with D.Roc and Naomi Campbell in tow, it was past 1AM. They were coming from a charity event, I believe, and the supermodel helped Diddy become camera-ready. Around 1:30 he sat down opposite of me and I confirmed, ‘We still have you for 20 mins?’ He responded he had closer to 10 minutes. 

During our interview, he was charming, he tried to be revealing and, in general, he was in good spirits. 

When he left, he was on his way to another event. I thought to myself, he doesn’t live in New York anymore, and he was only in town for two or three days with a packed schedule. So him fitting us in, regardless of the time, made sense to him. Then it hit me: When you conquer the world many times over (as he had done in music, fashion, spirits, etc.) then what becomes of the world to you? 

The short answer is you manage to bend the world to your whims. The longer, and more revealing, answer is coming out, piece by piece, and in intense detail recently, with the CNN report that obtained video of Diddy attacking Cassie and the RollingStone investigation into his history. It’s the behavior of someone who thinks they own the world. 

Now, when I was a freshman in college at the University of Delaware, I was enrolled in Economics 101, which was a lecture course with 150+ other students. The professor never noticed me until the one day I wore a long-sleeve concert T-shirt from the No Way Out tour. The image on the front was the eponymous album cover with No Way Out and Puff Daddy and the Family emblazoned across the top in neon pink. 

This professor stopped class to point my shirt out and ask me about it. I explained who Puff was and my then pride in him as not only an entertainer, but a businessman and the star of an epic lifestyle.

That was the thing about Puff, whether it was through his own storytelling or that of others (MTV, magazines, news outlets, etc,), he was often able to rely on the tale of his heroic feats of determination and overcoming adversity. 

You know the beats by now: The City College celebrity basketball game tragedy, the death of The Notorious B.I.G., the attack on Steve Stoute, the Club NY shooting, leaving Arista to align with Atlantic. With each incident, Puff trotted out the same spin about praying to God, being tested but ultimately coming back stronger than ever. He’d cite anyone from Horatio Alger to PT Barnum as models for his uncanny feats. 

Looking back on those interviews in retrospect…they all feel so hollow. 

I don’t doubt that things weighed on him during these times. In fact, I was one of the producers on “Can’t Stop, Won’t Stop: A Bad Boy Story”, where, for the documentary, I interviewed everyone from Faith Evans to Lil Kim, 112 to Carl Thomas, to his children and Cassie. There was a fondness for Puff when times were good. And a sadness when many felt he moved on from them. 

In particular, his children and Cassie noted the dark period in his life, which Puff also mentioned in his apology video after his assault video was made public. Cassie was actually with her mother when I interviewed her and she had to pause more than once to compose herself. This was in 2016, which was clearly in the throws of her turbulent relationship with Puff. Thinking of what she had to endure just to sit there and muster enough energy to speak highly of her abuser with me in that moment…. I can’t even fathom. 

The last time I saw Puff was last year when he was a guest on The Breakfast Club. He wasn’t with many people I recognized, as his circle had changed over in recent years, where old mainstays (RIP Andre Harrell, Harve Pierre, James Cruz) were pushed aside for younger advisors. I did my best to avoid him, not wanting to be looped back into the bubble that enabled him. But he was led into the wrong room at one point and we ended up face to face. He recognized me, gave me dap and I re-directed him. He had a tentativeness about him that I never felt before, I chalked it up to his team. They were still an easy balm for him but with less of the institutional servitude. Pleasantries (Mr. Combs) replaced expertise. 

That’s when I really understood Puff. In that moment, I saw that it wasn’t a matter of his being enabled, though there was plenty of that; what with I could see and all the other moments that none of us saw or, at the very least, only a small few. But it was a reminder of the environments that he created, one part fuckery, one part senseless – and all self-serving. He couldn’t stop, until we made him stop. Salute to Cassie, all the women who are coming forward, and the outlets who are working tirelessly to make this bad boy pay for his actions.  Take that.

Trunk (Music)

Music, news, reads, podcasts and videos that I’m checking for this week.

I really like the way A Boogie wit da Hoodie heats up before an album, with guest appearances, loosies, and the collabs he unleashes ahead of the LP. But I’m not sure the momentum connected ahead of Better Off Alone. He does have a banger on his hands with Mariah the Scientist in “P&E,” which flips Ja Rule’s “Down Ass Bitch,” and should get plenty of play in New York as summer arrives. “Dark King” and “Spotlight” featuring Lil Durk are also early standouts.  [Listen]

Last week, Gunna dropped One of Wun; it’s a collection with a high metabolism as its 20 tracks flip over fast with short running times for each song. That pace never allows Wunna to set an overall tone. Still, throughout he’s triumphant (title tack), defiant (“still prevail”) and introspective (“today i did good”). [Listen]. Gunna Whatsapp

Tee Grizzley connects with Future for an absolute heater in “Swear to God.”  [Listen]

The creative direction for Rapsody’s new album, Please Don’t Cry, is A1. “Never Enough” is my current favorite on the project. Related: Rap stopped by The Breakfast Club. [Watch]

This is the album you should be spending time with: Mach-Hommy’s #RICHAXXHAITIAN. “Copy Cold” and “POLITickle” are dope for two very different reasons. The way this brother can mix throwback rap nods with futuristic sounds all twisted together with the undercurrent of the Haitian diaspora is phenomenal. [Listen] [Listen]

Donald Glover got around to finishing 3.15.20, the project he dropped at the start of the pandemic, naming it ATAVISTA, and with the promise that a new album is coming this summer.  [Listen]. Related: “Little Foot Big Foot” video is a masterpiece. [Watch]

Lupe Fiasco is back. The Chicago rapper announced a new album, Samurai, set to arrive next month, and he shared the title track. It’s vintage Wasalu. [Listen]

Congrats!: My Boricua sister, Ivy Rivera, got upped at Power 105 to become Creative & Artist Relations Producer for The Angie Martinez Show; she’s also continue on-air during the weekend. My bro Sav was promoted to SVP of A&R at Arista, where he was already the co-head of urban music. Complex announced Aria Hughes will be the title’s next editor-in-chief. And the good brother Torae renews his deal at SiriusXM.  [Info] [Info] [Info] [Info]

DJ Akademiks sued for rape and defamation by his ex-girlfriend; he’s spoken about this incident before and he’s being dismissive of it now as a money grab. But a previously leaked video from his home on the night in question makes for a serious allegation.  [Info]

Travis Scott and Live Nation have almost settled all the wrongful death suits stemming from the 2021 AstroWorld Festival. [Info]]

Books worth checking out: ““LO-LIFE: The Autobiography of Rack-Lo” and Charlamagne Tha God’s “Get Honest or Die Trying: Why Small Talks Sucks.” [Info] [Info] Related: CTG’s conversation with The NYT Magazine’s new pod, “The Interview.” [Listen]

Drake leads the field at the BET Awards with seven nominations. [Info]

Nas is set to moderate a conversation at DeNiroCon between Robert DeNiro and Martin Scorcese in honor of the 50th anniversary of “Mean Streets.” [Info]

RollingStone gets down to the nitty gritty with Cardi B as she finishes her next album. [Read] Related: A billi. [Read]

Consider this the State of Def Jam address with the ever impressive Tunji Balogun. [Read]

HipHopDX and Complex rank the greatest dis songs in hip-hop history. [Read] [Read] Related: “What Are We To Do With All This Nastiness?” [Read]

Not exactly specific to hip-hop, but this was a fun read from Billboard on what it takes to be booked at The Garden. [Read]

We had Common as a guest at 7PM in Brooklyn. He played us a few records too; he got some heatrock with Pete Rock on the way.  [Listen]

I think Lil Yatchy only put out a snippet of this pod episode where he speaks on Drake v. Kendrick because I can't find the full anywhere. [Listen]

I admire the way Saweetie battles, but wish she didn’t have to so much. She is obviously beautiful and charismatic, but men want to make her shrapnel in their war of words and critics give her such a short leash. Granted, she has a long way to go, but when she catches it on records, she delivers. “Nani” is one.  [Watch] Related She stopped by Brown Bag Mornings and got real. [Watch]

I don’t love “BOA”, but I do like it a lot. The video, however? Megan The Stallion pulls so many anime references together for an eye-popping visual.  [Watch]

Coi Leray is on an interesting wave, with a mix of alt-ish material (like this one, “Lemon Cars”) mixed with Mike-Will Made It bangers. [Watch]

One time for Chance The Rapper and his ode to kinkeeping on “Together,” where DJ Premier flips his own work with Common on their “The 6th Sense.” [Watch]

T.I. is top 15 all time and every once in a while he reminds y’all; this time, with an LA Leakers session. [Watch]

Ice Spice’s “Gimmie A light” is a dope Uptown come-up anthem. [Watch] 

Lauryn Hill and YG Marley with an ill mom/son mash-up on Fallon. [Watch]

Backseat Freestyle is written and produced by me, Jayson Rodriguez, for Smarty Art. If you have any comments, feedback or questions, feel free to email me: [email protected]. If you would like to discuss sponsoring an issue of the newsletter, contact: [email protected] and check out the rates, here. And follow me elsewhere:

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Podcast: I recorded a demo and once I get the main thing (this newsletter) back on a regular schedule, I’m gonna go back to flirting with an audio companion.