Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs believes HipHop “unified the world”.
The 53-year-old music mogul argued people who grew up in the 80s and 90s are all part of the “culture” of the genre because they understand it better than their parents’ generation, but insisted people had to seek out the music, rather than have it marketed to them.
Speaking to The Sunday Times’ Culture magazine, he reckoned to the interviewer: “You are part of HipHop culture. You’re white, from London, but HipHop got so big that you don’t look at it with a stereotypical view like your parents did. Because you grew up with it.”
He then added: “I don’t think it was marketed to the suburbs. People went on the hunt for it. It wasn’t your mother’s music. It was cool. HiHop has had the biggest impact of all musical genres. It unified the world.”
Diddy believes the “hustle and entrepreneurism” found on social media is a result of HipHop and argued young people making music on their phones are also inspired by rap’s spontaneity.
He insisted: “That’s what hip-hop was always about — having a voice.”
Despite selling millions of records over the years and inspiring artists including Eminem, Rihanna and Ed Sheeran, Diddy can’t play any musical instruments but insisted he can always “feel” what works in a song.
Diddy thinks he was heavily influenced by his year of birth.
He explained: “I love that I was born in 1969! When I was conceived man landed on the moon and there were assassinations. I was born and conceived in that energy, but also the energy of Curtis Mayfield and Barry White. That’s the music I grew up with. Then, in the Eighties, hip-hop landed. And then I made all the music for the Nineties . . .”
