For years, two words have been embedded in the minds of Sean Puffy Combs’ children: legacy and black excellence. For 20-plus years, Puffy has clotheslined his foes with his unprecedented success and titillating ideas. With his name already tattooed on the walls of music immortality, the Bad Boy luminary seems ready to pass the baton off to his offspring. For 19-year-old Christian “King” Combs, he’s ready to sprint his way to his dad’s ranks with his own bravado and steely bars.
After inking a deal with Bad Boy last year, King Combs has dazzled listeners with several of his releases, most notably, his “Paid In Full” freestyle. With a smooth flow reminiscent of Bad Boy legend, Ma$e, Combs shreds the Eric B and Rakim instrumental with his swaggering delivery. “I just cruise in drops and run around in expensive cars/ Uncle Phil how I switch the broads, now check this/ I be in Caribbean with my honeys, snow bunnies/ Rico, young ni–a with old money,” he cleverly raps.
In addition to his fruitful rap career, Combs is also flourishing on the fashion front. Earlier this year, he showcased his modeling prowess on the runway during Fashion Week for Dolce & Gabbana (for which he is now the face) and later, nabbed a deal to take part in Tommy Jeans’ Spring 2018 campaign. Proving to be dual-threat in both modeling and music, Combs appears primed and ready to walk in the enormous shoes of his father’s and dropkick any detractors standing in the way of his success.
Billboard spoke to King Combs about his new single “Love You Better” featuring Chris Brown, balancing modeling and music, the advantages — and disadvantages — of being Puff Daddy’s son, and more.
What’s your relationship with Chris Brown? I always wondered how you guys linked up for “Love You Better.”
It came about real organically. We was at French Montana’s crib in Calabasas. Remy Ma was cooking. It was a classic night. They just got back from winning an award. Maybe it was BET Awards weekend? I don’t remember the exact dates, so I wouldn’t mark that down, but whatever. We was at the crib and we were in the living room. It was me and Chris Brown and he was playing me his Heartbreak on a Full Moon album and I was like, “Wow. This is fire.” Then I played him my mixtape, and he really liked the sound and the whole vibe I was going for.
He was like, “Yo I gotta hop on this. Let me get on that hook. This is crazy.” And I’m like, “Yeah. I can use this as my single. Let’s do it.” So then, two days after, he’s a man of his word. We went to the studio and he got in the booth and laid it down real quick. There was a lot of good vibes in the room. It looked like a party in the studio that night. He laid his hook and I was like, “Damn. That’s crazy. He really brings that real R&B feel to the track now.”
“Love You Better” samples Case’s “Touch Me, Tease Me” record. How important has it been for you to incorporate your love for the ’90s into the current times, especially with you only being 19?
It’s definitely been important to me and it really started from not really having beats and trying to find my own sound. So I was just listening to a lot of beats on YouTube just to try to get a vibe and it happened that the throwback ’90s vibe was like the songs that I delivered the best on. It just came together and honestly, that’s my favorite time in music. I just like that vibe, the whole feel, the whole essence of the ‘90s and just the swag.
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