Out with ‘Puffy,’ ‘Puff Daddy’ and ‘Diddy’; in with ‘Love.’

Sean Combs, no stranger to changing the game in music, is one of Urban music’s most highly regarded visionaries.  Now, as revealed via the September issue of ‘Vanity Fair,’ he’s looking to change the game again – this time by launching an ‘all R&B label.’

More below:

Speaking with ‘Vanity Fair,’ the 51-year-old waxed honest about his desire to bring R&B back to the forefront of music.

“I’m coming back to music, you know?” he told the magazine in his Tressie Cottom-penned feature. “[An] all R&B label, because I feel like R&B was abandoned and it’s a part of our African American culture.”

Combs made clear he had no desire to replicate the model that made his legendary Bad Boy Records the success it was in the ’90s, however.

“I’m not signing any artists. Because if you know better, you do better. I’m doing 50–50 partnerships with pure transparency. That’s the thing. We don’t own hip-hop right now. We have a chance to—and I’m going to make sure that—we own R&B.”

The absence of said ‘transparency’ has landed the music mogul in hot water in the past as a number of artists on his labels have alleged his engagement in business malpractice.  When asked on how he feels about the scrutiny, he replied:

“I can’t get caught up in that. I know where my heart is at, and you can’t just do it alone with just Black people. You got to have all types of allies. And that’s one thing I’m good at, I’m good at being a unifier, but I’m not going to be in a room with other tribes that protect themselves and make sure that they straight and not make sure that we straight.”

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As of time reported, Combs has not revealed a tentative launch date for the new label.  Click here to read his ‘Vanity Fair’ feature in full.

[photos courtesy: Carlos Araujo for ‘Vanity Fair’]

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