For one of history’s most influential rappers, Diddy’s discography is surprisingly sparse: arriving three decades after he first made waves in the industry, The Love Album: Off the Grid is only his fifth studio album, and his first as Diddy (the artist born Sean Combs originally went by Puffy then Puff Daddy then P Diddy). That’s less strange when you take into account the particulars of his legacy – the business ventures that made him one of rap’s biggest moguls; the production prowess that helped unite hip-hop with R&B – but it still feels like something this bumper 24-track record is designed to make up for.
Or, at least, that is the initial impression. The album opens very promisingly, with Brought My Love, an ecstastic meeting of honeyed 70s soul and braggadocio-fuelled rap that riffs on the Notorious BIG’s Combs-produced 1997 smash Hypnotize. From then on, however, Diddy seems to go missing, piping up for a few seconds on various tracks, but largely handing the mic to his army of big-name collaborators (the Weeknd, Mary J Blige, John Legend, Burna Boy).
Combs the producer hasn’t lost his knack for novelty: Swae Lee’s maudlin ballad Tough Love is Auto-Tuned to the point of post-modern art, while Justin Bieber croons overs a clattering, chattering backdrop on Moments. Yet you inevitably find yourself searching for his vocal presence among the lush, swirling R&B, only to eventually discover him engaged in rather creepy conversation with a female protege on Intermission. It all adds up to an oddly dissatisfying return, albeit one that suggests the Top 40 would be a lot more interesting with Diddy producing it.
