Diddy
Press Play

Bad Boy

Hip-hop mogul Sean Combs may have slightly adjusted the silly level of his nickname, but Diddy continues to boast the same-old outsized aspirations, from claiming to have “the potential to be the first black president“ to stuffing his third artist album with 79 minutes of music.
Not that Combs fills up all that space himself. Dude realizes by now his role is that of ringmaster and he hires a sprawling cast of up-for-it urban royalty — Mary J. Blige, Nas, Christina Aguilera, Twista, OutKast’s Big Boi, Gnarls Barkley’s Cee-Lo, Kanye West, Just Blaze, The Neptunes, Timbaland and many more.
So fine, Press Play sounds more like a mixtape, but with the “star’s” still-mediocre rapping taking a backseat to hot beats and hotter guests, Diddy exceeds (admittedly low) expectations. Not bad, boy.