Sean Combs was dancing: slow, deliberate, slightly awkward movements on a big stage, illuminated only by angelic light from the screen above, which was flashing slow-motion clips of the Notorious B.I.G., a k a Biggie Smalls.
“I’m going to take my time with this,” Mr. Combs said before somberly rapping “I’ll Be Missing You.” “Bear with me as I get through this.”
Obscured by his abundant gift for triumph is the fact that Mr. Combs — once Puff Daddy, then Puffy and Puff, and now Diddy — is fluent in pathos and has been since he recorded that tribute song for Biggie, his protégé and once the biggest rap star of all, who was killed in 1997.
Mr. Combs was 27 then, and the most polarizing figure in hip-hop. Now he’s 41, and still innovating. Last year he released “Last Train To Paris” (Bad Boy/Interscope), his first album with his group Diddy-Dirty Money, an unexpectedly wound-opening — and wound-healing — record that’s among the most intimate things Mr. Combs has ever done.
By JON CARAMANICA
Full Story:
http://nyti.ms/dVN7QP
Posted By: How May I Help You NC
Thursday, May 5th 2011 at 9:07AM
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