At Least Five Sean Combs’ Quotes That Should Have Been A Warning
Before Diddy was on trial for heinous crimes, he articulated several disturbing ideas.
“I'm a savage. I'm a beast. I'm an animal. I’m a king.” - Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs (on Instagram Live)
Mother Maya once said, “When someone shows you who they are, believe them the first time.” Diddy showed us his savagery. The primal instinct required to be the fiercest predator in a jungle filled with hyenas. He adorned himself with minks, diamonds, and wore a smile that always looked as if he had just polished the blood from his fangs.
As legend has it, his hood named him ‘Puffy’ because his anger would swell up in his chest until it protruded for all to take notice. They say he kept a temper tucked under tailor-made suits. That his ascent to mogul was (private) jet-fueled by credible threats to his enemies and the public humiliation of his allies.
There were early tales of him exploding like the corks from shaken Moët bottles when he did not have dominion over every room he entered. We were distracted by the thick coating of glitz that provided cover for the grime that lay dormant for decades. Until he took it so far that the opulence could no longer shield the public enemy.
“I am the fucking culture.” - Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs (2015 BET Awards weekend)
When Puff says he was the culture, what he meant was: ruthless aspiration, the money tree that lynched careers, a devil in the finest Italian dancing shoes, a kingmaker with a God complex. He could not escape his own image. Saw his reflection in every Sean John ad, and every Bad Boy logo imprint.
When the whole world becomes your house of mirrors, it is difficult not to see yourself in everything that moves the needle. When your ego becomes your highest accolade, you are not concerned with the bodies you step over, strutting your walk of fame.
“I’m not taking no for an answer. That’s just not in my vocabulary.”- Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs (Making the Band era; early 2000s)
We will never know the number of “no’s” that were trapped behind the inebriated lips of his victims. Or how many fluid ounces were needed to fill the IVs to keep the parties going. We have learned that Diddy facilitated zombie apocalypses and called them “freak-offs.” That he hosted seances sponsored by Ciroc and his insatiable appetite.
The party favors — Astroglide, ecstasy, Johnson & Johnson by the gallons, also served as his personal assistants. Making sure that any whisper of “no” would be muted by the ease with which “yes” could enter.
“I control everything. The music. The image. The movement. That’s why I win.”- Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs (Interview with The Breakfast Club; 2014)
Diddy held strongholds…and chokeholds…and loaded weapons…and dangled bodies over hotel balconies and whatever he deemed necessary to acquire control. Sent Molotov cocktails into Cudi’s car seat when he learned that Cassie was being loved differently. Yelled at the top of his lungs at anyone unwilling to acquiesce to his demands.
The public saw an overzealous boss hell-bent on winning, and that was the power of Puff’s sorcery. His ability to hide the torture and reframe the dehumanization as the price of success. He built an ecosystem that kept him at the epicenter while everyone who orbited around him often hoped in vain not to be cast out of his kingdom.
His victory laps, fueled by everyone he ran over in the process.
“I am a god. I'm not just a man, I'm a movement.-” Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs (2008 press run for the album, Press Play)
There is a danger when man sees himself as a deity. As someone who must be praised incessantly. Once upon a time, Diddy stormed the offices of Steve Stoute and broke a champagne bottle over his head. Steve wanted a depiction of a crucifixion to happen in a Nas video Diddy co-starred in, and Puff felt that went too far.
The reports said Diddy deemed the depiction to be sacrilegious. An affront to his beliefs. Later, he would declare himself a god, which is to say, he would not allow a graven image of himself to be portrayed on screen. Could not fathom the god he claimed to be to be blasphemed.
Puff believed that creation and salvation could be attained by anyone in the game that he laid his hands on, as long as they remained reverent. He moved as a “jealous god” who struck down those who dared to value themselves above Him. Diddy subjected former artists to famine, then trotted them out on stage when he wanted to reunite for the sake of appearances.
Sean thought he was Cassie’s god. “Jane’s” god. The god of Total and Black Rob and Shyne, and Big. He believed himself to be omnipotent. King of kings.
His dethroning, a lesson in flying too close to the sun, and confusing the heavens and earth as his personal playground.
