Diddy has proclaimed the return of R&B music with the arrival of the debut EP from singer/songwriter Jozzy, the first signee on his new Love Records.
On Friday afternoon (February 24), Diddy took to Twitter to celebrate the arrival of Jozzy’s 10-track project Songs For Women, Free Game For N-ggas. With no hesitation, the veteran music exec pointed back to the moment in August 2022 when he proclaimed R&B was dead.
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“When I told ya’ll RnB was dead, I was talking about the soul,” Diddy wrote. “It is what it is! I can tell you right now, IT’S BACK!!!”
“THIS IS A MASTERPIECE,” he wrote in a separate tweet, signing off with his most recent nickname, “LOVE.”
The Bad Boy mogul announced in May of last year that he was officially launching his new R&B label in collaboration with Motown Records. While his first course of action was expected to be the release his first solo album since 2006’s Press Play, Diddy soon followed up the announcement with the introduction of Jozzy as the label’s first artist, proclaiming her the Biggie Smalls of R&B.
A few months later, Diddy kicked off an online discussion about the current state of R&B. Things quickly got heated when Timbaland joined the conversation, with Diddy yelling at the legendary producer: “R&B is muthafuckin’ dead as of right now.”
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The R&B debate continued on for three days, with the likes of Brent Faiyaz, Arin Ray, Chris Brown, Mary J. Blige and many more weighing in.
On August 20, Diddy took to Twitter to clarify his comments while explaining that starting the conversation had now brought attention to the genre.
“It’s been 3 days of the debate…This is the clarity of the message…It’s not disrespect to anybody,” the “Gotta Move On” hitmaker tweeted. “This conversation was out of love and me purposely wanting to bring attention to R&B!
“It was something that I saw the effect of the Hip hop and R&B balance,” he added. “That balance is honesty and realness when it comes together, melodies, vulnerability and most importantly LOVE!!! This message is that R&B game needs more love, vulnerability, support!!”
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Despite comparing Jozzy to Biggie, Diddy wants to make it clear that he is by no means trying to recreate what he did with his first label.
“WE’RE NOT TRYING TO DUPLICATE BAD BOY!,” he tweeted on Friday. “THAT WAS BAD BOY! THIS IS THE LOVE ERA. EVERYTHING WE DO FROM THIS POINT ON IS GOING TO SEPARATE THOSE 2 ERAS BUT ALSO UNITE THEM IN THEIR GREATNESS!!
@143LOVERECORDS”
When he first announced the launch of Love Records, Diddy planned to leave Bad Boy behind completely.
However, once his son King Combs began finding his lane as an artist, Diddy says it was actually his idea to remain under the Bad Boy umbrella, thus forcing the elder Combs to revive the renowned imprint.
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“I had stopped Bad Boy,” Diddy told Billboard in December. “Sometimes you gotta leave the game while it’s hot, you know? And a lot of things were changing with streaming and everything. And one day I woke up, he had a Bad Boy chain on, and I’m like ‘Bro, Bad Boy is on pause for a second…’ He’s keeping Bad Boy alive and taking it to the next level without even no coaching or prompting from me.
Now Diddy and King Combs — who last year became the first father-son duo in history to top the charts simultaneously — are gearing up for a potential Spring faceoff, as both announced they would be dropping new albums close to the top of the year.
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Diddy has been teasing a musical comeback for some time. Last year, the Harlem-bred mogul revealed plans to drop a new project called Off the Grid Vol. 1, although its scheduled September 2021 release date came and went.
Check out Jozzy’s EP Songs For Women, Free Game For N-ggas below:
