We used to call him “Diddy” or “Puffy” or “P Diddy” or “Puff Daddy” or maybe even Sean. But now, the self marketing genius, producer and entrepreneur wants to go by the name “Love,” as in “Brother Love.”
Brother Love announced this new name change via Twitter, and the internet, of course went wild. He said he thought it was time once again to have a name change to reflect where he is now, at age 48, in his life.
‘I have some very serious news,” he said in a Twitter video. “I’ve been praying on this and… I knew it was risky, ’cause it could come off as corny to some people, (but) I decided to change my name again… I’m just not who I am before. I’m something different. So my new name is Love a.k.a. Brother Love. I will not be answering to Puffy, Diddy, Puff Daddy, or any of my other monikers but Love or Brother Love.’
Brother Love often offers advice and motivation to the masses. And, he provides a seemingly never-ending source of inspiration to his followers, many of which are today’s generation of entrepreneurs. For Combs it all started when he was young.
At age five, Sean Combs’ father was murdered and he was raised in Mt. Vernon, New York by his mother. Fast forward past high school, Combs attended Howard University. While attending classes, he produced dance parties and operated an airport shuttle service. He pursued an internship with Uptown Records that led to a position as talent director. Combs rapidly rose to vice president and enjoyed great success producing a number of Uptown’s key artists, ultimately leaving the company in the early 90s.
In 1993, Combs founded Bad Boy Entertainment, his own production company. No doubt as the result of connections he made while working at Uptown Records, he was working with some of the biggest names in hip-hop and pop music. A short four years later, after $100 million in sales, he inked a multi-million dollar deal with Arista Records to manage the label. Later, he recorded several albums, launched his own clothing line and launched a reality TV series titled: I Want to Work for Diddy and created a cable TV music network, REVOLT.
Now, Combs has even opened a school, Capital Prep in New York, to help the next generation be successful as well.
“My mother taught me the importance of education at an early age,” says Combs. “I was able to gain tools, secrets and knowledge about what it takes to be a leader, what it takes to win and what it takes to make your dreams come true!! That’s what we’re doing with #CapitalPrepHarlem!! We’re empowering our inner city youth with the knowledge they need to be great.”
“I was able to be successful because of education,” he said.
Located in Harlem, New York, Capital Prep has enrolled 160 sixth and seventh graders, this school year. The charter school currently has plans to expand to high school grades in the future.
Now, Sean “Diddy” Combs holds hip-hop’s 2013 top spot for the industry’s wealthiest player and his net worth is estimated by Forbes at $580 million. “But how did he go from intern to CEO?” is one of the most asked questions the mogul receives. He describes three key steps below:
Passion – Do What You Love
Clearly, Sean “Diddy” Combs is a talented individual and music lover. He built his fortune on a love of music and an eye for fashion, which he likely acquired from his mother through her work as a model in the fashion industry. Both…