Remember When Diddy Did That Whole Dirty Money Thing
When I get nostalgia for the sounds of 2010, front and center are the GOOD Friday singles and the Drake hooks but as I hop from Rick Ross verse to Rick Ross verse, my ears pick up a long forgotten but very familiar frequency.
A distant auto-tuned howl brings forth the smell of Ciroc as it reveals itself to be Sean Combs doing his best 808’s & Heartbreak impression. And at this moment, perhaps in pursuit of something more everlasting than a cameo in Get Him to the Greek, he was a part of a new and exciting music outfit called Diddy — Dirty Money.
What the Hell is Diddy — Dirty Money and Why is it Formatted Like That
Until I started doing research, I thought Dirty Money was a product of Diddy’s reality show — his best work — Making the Band, but it’s actually a product of a product of Making the Band. Danity Kane was formed in the third iteration of MtB, but somewhere in 2008 or 2009, they disbanded and one of the members, Dawn Richard, was recruited by Diddy again to make another band, this time not on network television but instead in real life. He also recruited Kalenna Harper, an established singer/songwriter from Atlanta.
In my journey to figure out why Diddy started this project, there are no real answers at my disposal, so I’m left to speculate. Which I will do with no hesitation. As someone that isn’t a psychotherapist but has read The Alchemist and meditated for one full summer, I think Diddy probably feels a constant need to be relevant and involved, which is why he has a million different projects, none of which carry an ounce of passion. And usually, it’s not quite enough to just be involved, so he puts his name on everything. Even if it means fucking the format of the artist name all the way up.
I don’t know anything about business, but it seems like Diddy is pretty good at it. His most impressive feat is that he was able to overcome such a gleaming lack of charisma, rhythm, and self-awareness, and still become one of the most successful people in his industry.
But it all changed with Dirty Money. For the first time since 1997, Diddy was finally doing something musically interesting. Yes, it was a reflection of the sound popularized by Kanye, Drake, and Lil Wayne, but if you sprinkle enough Rick Ross verses on anything, I’m on board.
The first Dirty Money single, and Diddy’s best contribution to the music industry (All About the Benjamins who?), was a song called Angels, featuring Rick Ross and Notorious BIG. Admittedly, the posthumous Biggie verse doesn’t really fit because that’s not what beats sounded like when Biggie was still alive, and posthumous features always seem a little weird, but Ross comes through loud and clear with a fire verse that’s mostly about jewelry.
Over the next year, Dirty Money put out 3 more singles in search of a place in the popular music conversation; Hello Good Morning, which featured T.I. and was “inspired by Diddy’s experiences in Ibiza night clubs” (what); Loving You No More, which featured Drake who had very recently began his mission to take over the world; and Coming Home, which was written by J. Cole and Skylar Grey. A duo that might seem like an intriguing lineup in the year 2019 but when this song came out, Skylar Grey was being held captive at Interscope records where she was making Troop Music which is a category of music that transcends genre and can be heard playing in the background during Emotional Military Homecoming Montages. It’s what Eminem has been doing since 2007. And since our country loves nothing more than its military, Diddy — Dirty Money was finally able to get a hit.
With a Top 10 spot on Billboard and the support of the troops, Dirty Money was ready to put out their album.
Last Train to Paris
At the risk of sounding like a hater or, even worse, a music critic, I’m not going to give my comprehensive thoughts on this album and the songs on it, but I am going to go over some things that stand out and while I’m at it, make some wild generalizations.
The first thing I want to mention is this quote I found from Diddy while he was talking to Alex Da Kid about the kind of production he wanted on Last Train to Paris. He said “I want a beat that makes me feel like a white man in Atlanta.”
So, not only is Diddy incredibly eloquent in explaining his vision but he also predicted the success of Kenny Beats ten years early.
Anyway, let’s address the obvious 808’s & Heartbreak influence which at times almost feels like a tribute. A lot of Diddy’s vocal appearances are doused in auto-tune, like on Change which is essentially a Diddy dance ballad that channels the charm and irony of being emotionally transparent into an auto-tune filter. A weapon that Kanye and Wayne had frequently unsheathed in the few years prior. Speaking of Wayne, one thing that Last Train to Paris has over 808’s & Heartbreak is two Lil Wayne features instead of just one. The first one being among the most interesting Wayne features I’ve heard. It reminds me of some of the stuff that Andre 3000 has been doing since his son became a teenager. You know, the spoken word stuff. Not to mention the instrumental behind his verse sounds like somebody gave me the key to a sci-fi sample pack and concussed me before they let me start using it.
Even when Diddy has ghostwriters (there’s a moment in one song where Diddy grunts during a verse that dons a Rick Ross writing credit) he just can’t figure out how to fake charisma. Any vocal appearance from Diddy is automatically the worst part of a song. And while the objective of the album is not to make Diddy likable, it’s nearly impossible to be a captivating rapper without charisma.
The outside influences are so strong that there are even a couple songs that feel like they were purchased from their featured artists. Songs like Yesterday and Looking for Love don’t even fit into the album sonically and the only things they have in common with the rest of the album is a lackluster Diddy verse and some Dawn and Kalenna harmonies. Same goes for Last Night Part 2 which truly sounds like Diddy was up all night watching New Edition music videos and asked Mario Winans if he had any 112 leftovers.
Though with all that being said, the singles, the science fiction Wayne song, and the Grace Jones moment make this album worthwhile.
What Happened to Diddy — Dirty Money?
The group broke up in 2012 because, according to Dawn Richard, “Puff was tired… I think he wanted to produce and act a little bit more.” And at a core level, I understand Diddy’s short attention span when it comes to his projects. I get it. I feel like Diddy is in tune with the fact that you only get one life and that you should try to do everything that interests you. As someone that has many projects across different mediums, it would be irresponsible for me to shade Puff for doing the same thing just on a massive scale. The problem with doing so many vastly different things is that it’s hard to come off as passionate or genuine in any of them. It’s obviously hard to put your heart on your sleeve during an AQUAHydrate promo but even the things that are less directly attached to the objective of getting rich feel hollow when presented by Diddy.
I think that’s why I’m so intrigued by Dirty Money. There are moments on Last Train to Paris that could trick you into thinking this is Diddy’s only creative outlet. His auto-tuned screams on Angels actually carry weight. The dance ballad, Change, has Diddy doing stuff vocally and lyrically that he’s never even come close to before. It feels like this album was even kind of therapeutic for him. He finally gave himself a place where he didn’t have to live up to the Bad Boy image and lifestyle, where he didn’t necessarily have to show up as Diddy, or Puff, or even Sean. He was finally making something a little more abstract. A little more focused on feelings and less on personality and ego. And while he still has plenty of walls and macho defenses up, it’s incredibly refreshing to receive glimpses of the real Sean Combs, whoever that may be.
