If there’s one thing we know about Sean “Diddy” Combs, he will never pass up an opportunity to promote himself or his companies. While hosting the 2022 Billboard Music Awards, we heard mentions of Sean John, Ciroc and his new label Love Records. He also took a few moments to introduce his new artist, Jozzy.
According to Complex, Jozzy debuted the new song “Replay” on the show. It will be her first release on Love Records. In his introduction, Diddy called her the “R&B Biggie.” That’s high praise from B.I.G.’s best friend and producer, though maybe he should wait until she has a few more hits under her belt before invoking The Notorious B.I.G.
Jozzy is also a producer and songwriter who “helped to write Billy Ray Cyrus’ verse on Lil Nas X’s ‘Old Town Road.’ She’s also written songs for Summer Walker, Mary J. Blige, Pharrell, and Coldplay.”
Diddy is set to launch Love Records through a partnership with Motown Records this summer. He also announced the first release will be his own album.
“Music has always been my first love, Love Records is the next chapter is about getting back to the love and making the best music of my life,” he said. “For the label I’m focused on creating timeless R&B music with the next generation of artists and producers. Motown is the perfect partner for my album and I’m excited to add to its legacy.”
In an interview with Tressie McMillan Cottom for Vanity Fair, the “Coming Home” rapper said he was planning to do things differently this time around, having learned from early mistakes he made with Bad Boy.
“Yeah, all R&B label, because I feel like R&B was abandoned and it’s a part of our African American culture,” he said. “And I’m not signing any artists. Because if you know better, you do better. I’m doing 50–50 partnerships with pure transparency. That’s the thing. [The new label is so that] we can own the genre; we don’t own hip-hop right now. We have a chance to—and I’m going to make sure that—we own R&B.”