NEW YORK, NY (By Cara Donatto/ Atlantic Records) - When Bad Boy founder and CEO
Diddy decided to return to the recording studio for his first solo project in five years, he also decided to recruit an A-list team of cutting-edge producers to turn his widescreen vision into a musical reality. With
Diddy himself serving as both executive producer and hands-on producer for much of "PRESS PLAY," he collaborated with a crew of studio innovators to capture the spectrum of sounds and styles that he wanted the album to embody and reflect.
Joining Diddy behind the board were such production aces as Kanye West, Timbaland, Just Blaze, the Neptunes, Havoc from Mobb Deep, Mario Winans, Will.I.Am from the Black Eyed Peas, Rich Harrison, Danja, Big Boi, Rob Lewis, J-Dub, K-Def, Grind Music, and Jai.
The result is a genuinely innovative work that embraces the wide range of artistic influences that have defined Diddy over the years - as an artist, a producer, and above all, a fan. A riveting mix of the new and the old, "PRESS PLAY" sounds unprecedented. With an irresistible sonic vibe best described as New Wave-meets-Hip-Hop, the album is a cutting-edge collection of sexy electro-pop with an urban street beat, the sound of a man on a mission to create something entirely original - and succeeding.
"I originally started producing records 'cause I wanted to make people dance," Diddy says. "And I've been quietly working on this for the last two years, taking everything I've learned over the years, from growing up in the '70s, to being out in the streets in the '80s listening to hip-hop and watching how it affected my culture, to the '90s, working with Uptown and Bad Boy. Add to that all the experience I've had traveling and being exposed to all kinds of sounds, and it was time to rekindle the thing I loved. I hang out in Harlem; I chill below 14th Street. I go to hip-hop clubs, techno clubs. All that is gonna go into you and if you're not producing music at that time, it's living inside you. So when I decided to produce a new record, it all felt fresh, it felt new, it felt exciting."
The broad-based musical spectrum encompassed on "PRESS PLAY" is the result of Diddy's insatiable appetite for life and experience. In the five years since his last solo set, the RIAA platinum-certified "THE SAGA CONTINUES," Diddy has added fragrance producer, Broadway actor, marathon runner, and television producer to his ever-growing list of accomplishments. It would have been easy for him to rest on his laurels, to release a CD that played on the same template that made him a global superstar. Instead, Diddy took stock of his remarkable life and created a work that breaks all-new musical ground while remaining unmistakably Diddy. As he says, "I've achieved a great deal of success, but music is my passion."
"PRESS PLAY" will be released by Bad Boy Records next Tuesday, October 17th. The album includes the blockbuster first single, "Come To Me," featuring Nicole Scherzinger from The Pussycat Dolls.
