P Diddy lacks influence
Is P Diddy really the most influential man in hip-hop?
In case you haven't heard, Time magazine (wholly inferior to XXL) recently released it's Time 100 issue, which features their list of "the 100 men and women whose power, talent or moral example is transforming our world. P Diddy was the main hip-hop person featured, along with Will Smith, who's considered more of an actor these days, and Daddy Yankee, who's only on there because he's a "latino."
Rompe, rompe, rompe[1]!
But I wonder if P Diddy is really quite as "influential" as Time magazine would have you believe. To be sure, P Diddy has managed to work his part ownership of the Notorious B.I.G.'s corpse into a fine little career for himself, what with the nearly unwatchable shows on on MTV and HBO, a fake label deal with Wonder Bros., and the best-selling cologne of all time[2]. But this is a list of the most influential people in hip-hop, not the most successful.
Also, the article mentions the political work P Diddy does with Citizen Change, which is the first point I'd like to address. Should P Diddy's dumbass attempt to swing the election for the Democratic party count if it didn't even work? Is that all it takes to be an influential politician? Given the fact that I encouraged people to either stay home or vote for Ralph Nader, I'd say I was the one with the actual influence.
Furthermore, it kinda goes without saying these days that the only reason P Diddy isn't banned from entering any major record label's offices, Damon Dash-style, is his part ownership of the Notorious B.I.G.'s corpse. Unless I'm forgetting something, he hasn't had a for real hit since Biggie was killed and then he went and remade that Police record. If only he could somehow reanimate Biggie and kill him again. I'm sure the thought has crossed his mind.
P Diddy's real influence these days, such as it is, lies in his being a sort of fashion icon. But even in that sense, he's more of a guy that has his own clothing line than a genuine arbiter of hip-hop style. When Jay-Z started wearing button-down shirts (aka button-ups), kids with no father figure in the home all ran out and got one. You'd have to go back to the days of "Jodeci boots" to find a similar example with P Diddy[3].
In fact, I'm surprised Time magazine opted to go with P Diddy on this one instead of Jay-Z, or even Russell Simmons, who invented most of this silly bullshit. The author of the piece mentions having met P Diddy at one of his infamous parties in Miami, so that might have given him the edge here.
Checkit:
[1] What the fuck does that mean, anyway?
[2] Unforgivable is probably not actually the best-selling cologne of all time.
[3] I'm assuming those were popular everywhere and not just here in the STL.
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