On the song “Bad Boy For Life,” Diddy infamously rhymed “Don’t worry if I write rhymes / I write checks.” Since then, emcees such as Pharoahe Monch and Royce Da 5’9” have confirmed being contracted to pen verses for Diddy. However, in a recent interview with New York magazine, Diddy says some of the work for Last Train To Paris was so personal that he had to abandon his practice of being given rhymes verbatim.
“Before, mostly, I would sit in the room and I wouldn’t even do any writing,” he told New York magazine’s Amos Barshad. “But at the same time, I couldn’t just do that cop-out. I call Mos Def, he says, ‘I’m not writing for you, you write for yourself, ‘cause you can do it.’ And that’s what got me.”
Diddy said the personal nature of songs such as “Coming Home,” 
which openly touches on his family life, made it impossible to just have songs handed to him. He added that Dirty Money was modeled after British R&B outfit Loose Ends, and the “flavor and swagger” of Dawn Richard and Kalenna Harper also made it difficult to have them sing pre-written singles. As such, some of the songwriting on Last Train To Paris took a long time.
“This was like sculpting a work of art,” Diddy explained. [Jay-Z and I] worked on ‘Coming Home’ for a month. One month. One record. That man got other shit to do. That’s the way he is with records. It don’t matter what it’s for, he gonna make it be the best record that it can be.”
While Drake, Rick Ross and Jay-Z all helped with the lyrics, Diddy said this album contains the most lyrics he’s ever co-written in his life.
“I get the idea of the song, I go in the studio, I mumble the melody, I put down a couple of catchphrases, I work it as far as I can,” Diddy said. “And then I bring in a co-writer that’s good for the song. A Drake, or a Rick Ross, or even a Jay-Z. I guess I’m blessed with the opportunity, like a singer, that can work with other songwriters. In rap it hasn’t necessarily been cool, but I think that’s my own allegiance to the song. If somebody could help me make the song better, I don’t really care what other people think.”
To read Diddy’s full interview with New York magazine, including his thoughts on Auto-tune, the Ibiza club scene and Shyne, visit New York’s Daily Intel blog.
diddy sucks
who cares you suck diddy. go cheat some artist out of their money
okkk
Check this out!! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WxEtfs36qpg
even cant write his own songs.. sad
Am I missing something? Am I the only one who things Diddy is trash? His new song(s)are straight garbage.
*thinks.
Whomever thinks that Diddy wrote his own ryhmes are plain STUPID! Common wrote for Diddy, 50 wrote for Diddy shit I can go on all night.
I don’t get it, he uses these lyrical ass ghostwriters, but his shit still sound weak to me
Look, that album is consistently a good album.
But c’mon diddy. that track with usher i heard rick ross’ version and its the exact same verses!
TONIGHT 12/15 AT 9PM ET. WATCH & LISTEN LIVE ON BKS1RADIO.COM ON THE “LIVE IN THE CIPHER SHOW” WE RATE & REVIEW ALONG WITH YOU ON A SCALE FROM 1 TO 5 DIDDY DIRTY MONEY’S NEW RELEASE “LAST TRAIN TO PARIS” ALSO WE DISCUSS THE LATEST NEWS IN HIP HOP & SOME HIP HOP TRIVIA QUESTIONS CALL IN 646-929-1530 OR CHAT LIVE ON BKS1RADIO.COM WILL THIS BE DIDDY’S BEST ALBUM? WILL SEE AT 9PM ET.
heeey waitaminute, didnt j. cole write “coming home”? i’m pretty sure he did. look that shit up on the youtubes.
Yes! I like J. Cole’s version way better..
dre has ghostwriters for him too..but dre also makes the hottest beats in the game…
dre has also ghost producers who made beats for him, mel man, scott storch etc.
good for him for being honest about it. not good for him for stiffing Royce on his check, though.
Really now days everybody has a ghostwriter, even your so called best MC. Thats just the way that it is in these days of hip hop. Back when you had a few the that ghostwrite. Big Daddy Kane wrote for a lot of people on Cold Chillen, and look at the Detox album everybody is writing on that one. All forms of music today has somebody writing something for whoever. So Diddy or whoever can have so and so write there are no set of rules. If there was it would be only a few musicians out because Suge had said it best star are made not born. There is a lot I don’t no what to call todays music do you people hope you make it.
That’s not true at all. Many of the best rappers/MCs write their own shit.
Diddy’s new album was ghost written? I’ve listened to some of it and they are the most simple lyrics I’ve heard.
At least he’s honest
haha j cole did a reference track for him with coming home
the reason diddy’s shit still sounds simple is because the ghost writers write shit for diddy! not for themselves. if jay wrote some shit for diddy that sounded like the dynasty intro, niggas wouldn’t even cop it cause diddy don’t rap like that!
Go cop that Mark Curry Book… And read how Puff did all the bad boys wrong..
the song diddy did with wiz k was garbagey trash. but i still wanna hear the cd
And now we should applaud him for ALMOST writing his own shit, what a fucktard.
He deeed it he wrote a rap
“It don’t matter what it’s for, he (Jay-Z)gonna make it be the best record that it can be.—
Bahahahahaha! Ya too bad that ain’t the case for Saigon’s collabo. STFU Diddy, go dance in front of the mirror you chicle-teeth having parasite…
*not writing his own stuff in the past*
One of the All-Time Greatest Paper Gangsters…
… he’s a Bernie Madoff with swag.
quicny jones doesn’t write his own songs either so i guess he sucks too…
QUINCY JONES IS A MUSICIAN/PRODUCER NOT A SINGER/PERFOMER.
Nah this is REAL TALK from Puff. Think about it. He is admitting to not writing his stuff and also still needing to incorporate other writers. He also admits that it is wack, but he did what he had to do to make a good song. As opposed to some of these WACK rappers writing garbage. U gotta respect Puff for this interview.
I respect SOME of his business motives, but deep down he’s still corrupted by the money.