”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.
Sean “Love” Combs a.k.a. Diddy sat down with Vanity Fair for an extensive interview looking back on his career as well as his name changes. At the very end, he revealed plans that even took his team by surprise. The music mogul claims he’s interested in starting an all R&B label.
“I’m coming back into music, you know?” said Combs. “Yeah, all R&B label, because I feel like R&B was abandoned and it’s a part of our African American culture. And 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. [The new label is so that] we can own the genre; 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.”
Combs may be quick to note he won’t be signing artists outright and will be more transparent because of the backlash he’s received for some of his business tactics. In the past, former Bad Boy artists like The LOX and Ma$e have called Combs out for deals they felt were unfair. Combs was also criticized earlier this year after writing an open letter to corporate America asking them to spend more on Black businesses that some fans felt was hypocritical.
Despite the backlash he’s received at times, Combs certainly has the acumen to turn his idea into a powerhouse label just like he did with Bad Boy in the ‘90s. Although Bad Boy was primarily known for its rap acts, the label ushered the careers of R&B artists like Faith Evans, 112, and Janelle Monáe. Combs also played an instrumental role in the rise of artists like Mary J. Blige and Usher.
Read the full Vanity Fair profile on Sean “Love” Combs right here.