Diddy Announces New Album With Trailer Featuring Mary J. Blige, Justin Bieber & More

Diddy is dropping his first solo album in 17 years and rounded up some celebs to help make the announcement. On Tuesday (August 22), Diddy posted a documentary-style trailer for The Love Album: Off the Grid. The trailer featured Mary J. Blige, Justin Bieber, The Weeknd, Yung Miami, Swae Lee, Jozzy, French Montana, DJ Khaled, Teyana Taylor, 21 Savage and Kenneth "Babyface" Edmonds.

"I present to you my new album. The Love Album: Off the Grid," the Bad Boy Records founder wrote on Instagram adding that the project is set to drop on Sept. 15.

In the trailer, Diddy reflects on his music career and his very public love life.

"Why am I doing this? Especially with the success that I’ve had, especially where my life is, how stressful and treacherous this music industry is. Why would I just come back in here and have to do something that I don't have to do?" asks Diddy at one point in the clip. "My heart has been broken. I've still got that question of, like, 'Am I ever gonna love again?'"

The trailer shows him spending time with his late ex-girlfriend Kim Porter, who died in 2018. She and Diddy share three biological children together: King Combs, D'Lila Star Combs, Jessie James Combs, but he is also the father figure to Quincy Brown, who the late supermodel shares with Al B. Sure.

Later in the trailer, he explains the meaning of the project's title. "We in the love era, that's the frequency that I'm asking y'all to be a part of," Diddy says. "I had to go off the grid in order to really lock in 'cause I was so addicted to my phone, so addicted to the work, so addicted to the bulls---."

The rapper who used to go by the monikers Puff Daddy, P. Diddy, Diddy and Puffy, told Ellen DeGeneres that he legally changed his name to Love.

"I don't make an algorithm, I make a feeling," he added later in the trailer. "You wanna give 'em something that they can sing. People say, 'Do you want streams?' I said, 'I want souls.'"

Diddy's last solo album was Press Play which was released in 2006.

Watch the trailer below for The Love Album: Off the Grid :

Sean "Diddy" Combs has had a substantial and influential career in music, entertainment, and business. Diddy started his career as a talent director until he created his own label Bad Boy Records in 1993. On Bad Boy Records he helped cultivate the careers of Notorious B.I.G.'s along with R&B royalty Mary J. Blige, and Usher. On Diddy's own rapping accord, he released his debut album No Way Out in 1997 and is currently seven times platinum by the RIAA. He maintained success in music with Forever (1999), The Saga Continues..., (2001), and Press Play (2006).

The Harlem native continued to create his own albums and later produce MTV's Making The Band which aired for three seasons (2000-2002). The show created bands such as O-Town, Da Band, Danity Kane, Day26, and Donnie Klang. After the show was over he found himself creating a band called Dirty Money in 2009 which was comprised of Dawn Richard and Kalenna Harper.

Throughout his career, Diddy has had his hands in a lot of business ventures whether it was music, entertainment, or even the latest virtual currency. His businesses have put the entrepreneur on the map and have given him a lot of success since he just joined the billionaire club according to Forbes' former editor Zack O'Malley.

"Diddy becomes the third billionaire minted by Hip-Hop surging past Ye on the strength of several assets that have weathered the pandemic remarkably well," he wrote. "The value of his incredibly resilient Cîroc partnership with Diageo—which functions like an equity stake while creating cash flows for Diddy in the neighborhood of $60 million annually—continues to account for the bulk of his fortune."

Take a look at all of the businesses that Diddy currently owns:

Bad Boy Records was founded in 1993 by Diddy. It has since been a staple in hip-hop for over 20 years and has helped cultivate the careers of Notorious B.I.G., Faith Evans, Mary J. Blige, Usher, Mario Winans, New Edition, Danity Kane, and many more. Some artists currently on their roster are two of Diddy's sons Quincy Brown and Christian "King" Combs, as well as Cassie, French Montana, and himself.

Diddy is a proud Harlem native and one of his newest business ventures has been giving back. The rapper co-founded Capital Prep Harlem with Dr. Steve Perry in 2015. Perry founded Capital Prep Magnet School, located in Hartford, CT, in 2005 and was later implemented in Harlem. Capital Prep Harlem offers students an elite education starting from grade six all the way to their senior year of high school. Since this model was founded in Hartford, Connecticut in 2005, it has sent 100% of its predominantly low-income first-generation graduates to college.

Under Combs Wines and Spirits, Diddy has partnered with Diageo's Cîroc and Deleön Tequila. Diddy handles the marketing for Cîroc Ultra-Premium Vodka and co-owns Deleön Tequila since 2013 and 2014 respectively.

https://seanjohn.com

Sean John is Diddy's fashion and lifestyle brand that launched in 1998. The brand is a staple in hip-hop fashion having created major fashion moments with velour tracksuits, baggy jeans, oversized shirts and terrycloth headbands. In 2021, Diddy got his brand back in a $7.55 million bid at an auction to save Sean John from bankruptcy. In a written statement to Forbes, Diddy said, "I launched Sean John in 1998 with the goal of building a premium brand that shattered tradition and introduced Hip Hop to high-fashion on a global scale. Seeing how streetwear has evolved to rewrite the rules of fashion and impact culture across categories, I’m ready to reclaim ownership of the brand, build a team of visionary designers and global partners to write the next chapter of Sean John’s legacy."

REVOLT TV & Media is a "multi-genre, multi-platform network offers breaking music news, videos, artist interviews, exclusive performances, and original programming," the site reads. The company primarily focuses on hip-hop culture and entertainment with the tagline "unapologetically Black." REVOLT Films is a subsidiary of the aforementioned company which focuses on production. REVOLT Films produced UNDEFEATED, which won an Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature in 2012, and DOPE which was nominated for the Grand Jury Prize at The Sundance Film Festival in 2015. According to the site, the production company currently has six feature film projects and three TV programs in various stages of development.

AQUAhydrate is a lifestyle beverage company where Diddy is an active investor and board member. The beverage company differs from the average water bottle you might pick up as it is "supplemented with all natural electrolytes and trace minerals and then elevated to an alkaline pH of over 9 using electrolysis," the site reads. Actor Mark Wahlberg also sits on the board alongside Diddy.