by Renee Murray

Created on: June 26, 2008   Last Updated: July 14, 2008

Sean Combs also known as Puff Daddy, Diddy, P. Diddy, and Puffy was born on November 4th 1969. He was born in the projects of Harlem to his mother Janice and father Melvin. Although he was born in Harlem he was raised in Mount Vernon, just north of the Bronx after his father Melvin was shot and killed when he was 3 years old. As a adolescent Sean played football at Roman Catholic Mount Saint Micheal Academy, on which he played defense. His mother worked three jobs in order to provide him with the best education possible. "She was constantly pushing me. I feel like I was nurtured into wanting to be somebody special," Combs states about his mother. It is rumored that he would puff his chest out on the field to make hisself look bigger, thus granting him the nickname Puffy from his teammates. Even during these early years he was a businessman at heart As a 12-year-old, the enterprising Diddy lied about his age to get a paper route, then made up a number of false identities so he could earn more money by managing several routes at once, as quoted by Diddy himself.

After finishing his education at the Academy he choose to attend Howard University in DC. At Howard his major was business administration and he hosted weekly dance parties, as well as ran an airport shuttle service. During this time he convinced his childhood friend Heavy D to get him an internship at the company he worked which was Uptown Records. This proved to be a challenge for him because he had to commute back and forth between NY and DC. At Uptown he meet his the man who would eventually become his mentor, Andre Harrell. Puffy convinced Uptown Records founder Andre Harrell to take a chance on him. He was barely 20 years old and a student at Howard University when he started commuting to Manhattan three times a week on the train. Due to his commitment and energy he sooned earned the title of Director of A&R. At the age of 19 he was the youngest executive in the music industry,and eventually dropped out of Howard.

Even with this brand new title Sean had his sights set on the vice president position. He served as the executive producer for Father MC's 1990 album which was a hit. Mary J Blidge and Heavy D & The Boyz albums followed which were both successes also. He engineered the careers of Mary J and Jodeci by producing there music and their image. This combination of style and urban flare brought in a new genre of hip hop. The same man Andre Harrell who took a chance on Diddy eventually fired him

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