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November 4
He was raised in Mount Vernon, N.Y. Hhis father Melvin Combs was murdered in 1973. His mother Janice Combs was a model. He attended Howard University, Washington, D.C. majoring in business. The career of "Puffy" Combs , as he had been known, began with an apprenticeship as an intern at a new record company. Puffy convinced Uptown Records founder Andre Harrell to take a chance on him. He was barely 20 years old and a student at Howard University when he started commuting on the train to Manhattan three times a week. For his first assignment, Puffy constructed the careers of Uptown's Jodeci and Mary J. Blige, starting in 1991-92. In the process, he helped to create a new musical genre: hip-hop soul. In 1994, his collaboration with Mary J. Blige on her second album, "My Life," produced a classic that spoke to a new generation of youth. That same year Combs created Bad Boy Entertainment and produced his first successful recordings for the new label, including the debut of his oldest friend Notorious B.I.G. (Christopher Wallace) entitled Ready To Die. Bad Boy, a successful Black-owned and Black-operated company, was renegotiated as a 50/50 joint venture with Clive Davis and Arista Records in 1995 as Puffy introduced the debut album by Notorious B.I.G.'s wife Faith Evans. Combs was married to Misa Hylton, a hip-hop fashion stylist. Together they had one child, Justin Combs, in 1994 but the relationship ended in divorce. Later he was with Kim Porter and they had one child, Christian Casey Combs, in 1997. One year later Combs began dating actor-musician Jennifer Lopez; they broke up in 2001. That same year Combs went on trial for weapons charges stemming from a 1999 Manhattan nightclub shooting in which three people were injured; at trial's end he was acquitted of all charges. Combs changed his name from Puffy to "Diddy," and by the time Diddy celebrated Bad Boy's 10th anniversary in 2004, the business had grown into a multi-million-dollar empire. His company had encompassed not only a music label but the award-winning Sean John clothing line, Justin's restaurants and a wide array of charitable ventures. Diddy is also building an acting career, appearing in movies such as "Made" and "Monster's Ball," and making his Broadway debut in "Raisin in the Sun." This is his first time hosting the MTV VMAs. Reference: All Media Guide 1168 Oak Valley Drive Ann Arbor, MI 48108 USA
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The African American Registry®, The African American Registry® Copyright 2005, 2006
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