Money Ain't A Problem for rap impresario Sean "Puff Daddy" Combs, and he proved it with the Nov. 4 release of his self-declared "sonic motion picture,"MMM.
The 13-track compilation was originally offered for free in celebration of the mogul's 46th birthday. But, following overwhelmingly positive reception — Complex declared that Puffy was "re-energized" while Pitchfork affirmed he "still commands attention from hip-hop heads and the casual music fan alike" — Combs rereleased MMM on iTunes on Friday, with two exclusive new tracks: Cocaine featuring Gizzle and Old Man Wildin' featuringJadakiss and Styles P.
In an interview with USA TODAY on Thursday, Combs attributed MMM's initial acclaim to nostalgia for the Bad Boy-era sound — "I haven't made Bad Boy music, to be honest, in a while" — and said the decision to rerelease the project was motivated by a counterintuitive response from fans who voiced desires to purchase it.
"My first thought was not to have it available on iTunes, but… I'm excited that the decision was made by the people," he says. "You know, I had fans hitting me and asking me on Instagram or Facebook and saying, ‘Come on. When are you going to put it on iTunes? I want to get it off there.' And you know, it was kind of surprising to comment back to a fan and say, ‘But you can get it for free' or ‘You can download it from here' and they're like, ‘No, I want to buy it on iTunes.' That really touched me in a certain way."
It's especially poignant given that MMM is Combs' second to last body of work. It serves as a segue to No Way Out 2, the final album of his career, due early next year.
"It's the story of Melvin's son, the story of Sean Combs," Combs explains before clarifying that No Way Out 2 won't be a chronological story so much as a nonlinear meditation on his life and his musical style.
It's a precarious task — balancing vulnerable songwriting against the kind of dance tracks that have made Combs such a legend — but he's confident the album will have that balance.
And it's not so much a farewell to the industry as it is a farewell to center stage. The producer, who will perform in Miami on Dec. 31 for Fox's live special, Pitbull's New Year's Revolution, says he is shifting his focus toward mentoring and amplifying new artists through his music cable network, Revolt TV.
"It's just me not being in front of the camera (and) on stage as much in that capacity," he says. "(I'm) moving more into a role as somebody artists come to for advice and I can be more helpful behind the scenes. To be honest, I'm a coach, a ringmaster. I don't profess to be anything but that."
Combs adds that he wants to spend more time with his six children, particularly his three daughters.
"That right there was the main decision because you just can't have both the right way," he says. "I've had a great run and people have shown me a lot of love and I want to finish on top but most importantly, besides finishing on top, I want to be there (for my kids)."
