About 
2012
Print
EmailAt its heart, hip-hop culture is about innovation: taking what you have and finding something useful --- Sean "Puffy" Combs embodies that, in alot of ways. B. Coops [28] did this really interesting interveiw with him [29] when he talks about the hard work behind his sucess. [30]
I admit, when I first read about a former dancer turned intern starting his own label, I was skeptical. At the time, vanity labels like BivTen [31] were taking a hit. Also, this was the same kid behind that stampede at City College where nine people were killed [32], so I was thinking, this guy guy can't organize a concert---how will he run a label? What Combs did was come in and fill a hole in the market no one knew was there, and instead of modeling Karl Kani [33], he decided to do his own thing, and jump the hustle. As a result, despite himself [34], his success surpassed all expectations, and he's still in the game years after others fell off.
He's caught some flak for exploiting the memory of the Notorious B.I.G., and I say he has to take that hit. There's a difference between eulogizing an artist and juicing his catalog for every last dime [35]. At a certain point in all the remixing and such, the source material suffers. All in, though I have to give him props. He rose to the top from nothing--he is hip-hop: he is the American dream.
Comments