Sean John Combs (born November 4, 1969), also known by his stage names
Puff Daddy,
Puffy,
Diddy, and
P. Diddy, is an
American rapper, record producer, actor, and entrepreneur. Combs was born in
Harlem and grew up in
Mount Vernon, New York. He worked as a talent director at
Uptown Records before founding
Bad Boy Records in 1993. He released his debut album
No Way Out in 1997, which has been certified
seven times platinum and was followed by successful albums such as
Forever (1999),
The Saga Continues... (2001) and
Press Play (2006). In 2009 Combs formed the musical group Diddy – Dirty Money and released the critically well-reviewed and commercially successful album
Last Train to Paris (2010).