New evidence has emerged to suggest that P Diddy might not be as much of a boob as we had previously taken him for.
Tiring, perhaps, of soliciting the public’s love in perfume ads and 30-hour tantric sex sagas, Diddy – real name Sean John Combs – has contributed vocals to an absurdly great track on the forthcoming DJ Hell album Teufelswerk, in which he rails against impatient DJs and waxes on the merits of “the 20 minute versions” of dance tracks with a possessed zeal.
The Quietus went to DJ Hell to see what the score was.
“I met him and I changed completely what I was thinking about him. I thought he was the biggest… I don’t like to say it but I thought he was the biggest asshole in the world after seeing how he appears on TV, but to him it is a game and he knows how to play that game.
“He is a provocateur and he likes to do his own thing but in the mean time he is a genius business guy,” continued Hell, whose Teufelswerk is out through Gigolo on April 27th.
“He knows about techno music and when he was a kid he was going to the Sound Factory to see Junior Vasquez.”
What most impressed Hell, though, was Combs’ humility.
“What thrilled me most and what’s most interesting is he’s just like you. He doesn’t approach you as a superstar, he treats you like a friend. So I really respected that.
“I was doing some music for him and he said, ‘You do something for me and I’ll do something for you.’ I changed my mind completely about him.”
The full interview with DJ Hell will run soon at The Quietus.
Another who seems prone to the charms of the mumbling rapper is Arctic Monkeys drummer Matt Helders, who recently attended a party at Diddy’s mansion, camera in hand.
A wonderfully dry Helders recounts the tale in the video below. There’s an insight into hip-hop luxury as the host serves up grits n’ toast, before declaring to Helders “We havin’ a bromance” and hollering "This is what happens to the white man at P Diddy’s house" as Monkeys producer and Simian Mobile Disco-man James Ford lays headfirst and comatose on a poolside bench.
"We built up quite a lot of trust," says Helders. "We got on like a house on fire."
