Hip-hop has “unified the world,” according to Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs.
The 53-year-old music mogul, who claimed people who grew up in the 80’s and 90’s are all part of the genre’s “culture” because they understand it better than their parents’ generation, insists people need to go out and find the music rather than have it sold to you.
Speaking to The Sunday Times’ Culture magazine, he told his interviewer: “You are part of the hip-hop culture. You’re white, you’re from London, but hip-hop has become so big that you don’t have a stereotypical view of it 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 hunting for it. It wasn’t your mother’s music. It was cool. Hip-hop had the biggest impact of any music genre. It unified the world.
Diddy believes the “hustle and entrepreneurism” found on social media is a result of hip-hop, and argued that young people who make music on their phones are also inspired by rap’s spontaneity.
He insisted, “That’s what hip-hop has always been about – having a voice.”
Despite selling millions of records over the years and having inspired the likes of Eminem, Rihanna and Ed Sheeran, Diddy – who doesn’t play any musical instrument – insists he still has an “instinct” for songs.
Humming, he said: “This is what I tell a keyboard player.
“Me hearing sounds is like Messi kicking a ball – it’s all feeling.
“When I had to do my chores. I’d be vacuuming and I’d hear a record, but I’d hear other sounds over it – I’d hear records the way I’d take them if I had the chance.”
Diddy believes he was heavily influenced by the year he was born.
He explained: “I love that I was born in 1969!
“When I was conceived, man was landing on the moon and there were assassinations. I was born and conceived into 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 did all the music for the nineties. …”
