Sean “Puffy” Combs has established himself as one of the biggest names in hip-hop (Heal). Combs a Harlem native whose father was killed when he was only 3 years old, rose from the mean streets to the top of the music business (AP wire, March 18). “It is true that he started from scratch, and I don’t think that because he was arrested, people will stop buying his albums (AP wire, March 18). Before pursuing his career as a vocalist, Combs was a business-minded Howard University student and an intern at Andre Harrell’s Uptown Records. Combs soon became the A&R representative for Uptown. He then began producing for soon to be mega-stars Mary J. Blige, Heavy D., and Jodeci to name a few. After being let go by Uptown Records (for reasons unknown to this day), Combs took his act over to Clive Davis’ Arista Records distribution team in late 1993 (who are rumored to have paid an estimated $75 million dollars to establish his own record label, Bad Boy (Heal). With the deal cemented with Arista, Sean Combs was about to embark on the greatest mission of his life. Turn Bad Boy Records from an unknown label into one of the most powerful world entertainment companies ever to be helmed by someone in their twenties.StrengthsOne only has to look at the Bad Boy roster of acts and the strong catalog to see that this is one their biggest strengths. They had early success starting in 1994 when Combs released his child hood friends album “Ready To Die”. That childhood friend was none other than Christopher Wallace a.k.a. “The Notorious B.I.G.”. B.I.G’s singles “Juicy”, “Warning”, and, “Big Poppa” took the then unknown label to new heights in the spring and summer of 1994 (Heal). Following the platinum success of Biggie and Craig Mack, other known artists clamored to have their songs graced by Combs magic touch. Artists such as New Edition, KRS-On...
