“Ain’t no party like a Diddy party…” is the mantra Sean “Diddy” Combs imparts on all who will listen. If you’ve ever experienced one of his incredible shindigs, you’ll understand the star-studded atmosphere at New York’s Beacon Theater on Thursday night (April 27).
The founder/CEO of the 20-plus year old Bad Boy Entertainment empire screened the Can’t Stop Won’t Stop: A Bad Boy Story documentary, which chronicles Diddy’s rise and fall, and how he established the mega-million dollar conglomerate he’s created in music, film, fashion, spirits and more. The 16th Annual Tribeca Film Festival was the perfect place to showcase the inspiring story of navigating the pitfalls and pleasures of pain, passion and perseverance by Diddy and the people that helped him to the top of the entertainment food chain.
The Live Nation-produced film explores the 2016 Bad Boy Reunion tour, which kicked off at Brooklyn’s Barclays Center just shy of a year ago. The event, which spanned two days, featured a who’s who of 90s hip-hop acts (Nas, Jay Z, DMX) and new school stars (French Montana, Ty Dolla $ign). Seeing how Diddy and the Bad Boy family came together to honor The Notorious B.I.G for his 44th birthday, amid mending relationships and hectic schedules, is a sight to marvel.
In a press release supplied to the media, Diddy said, “I knew this was a story that should be shared with the world. Heather Parry and Live Nation Productions, and Director Daniel Kaufman, helped create this very special documentary. Now I’m blessed to also be working with Apple to showcase the film and share Bad Boy’s history and impact with fans. The support Live Nation, Apple and everyone on the team has given to this project is a true testament to the Bad Boy legacy.”
As for the concert after the screening, we witnessed the powerful impact of Bad Boy’s classic anthems in the form of Lil Kim setting it off with her string of hits like “Quiet Storm (Remix)” and “Get Money,” Faith Evans’ sultry swag on “You Used To Love Me” and Carl Thomas’ smooth vocals on “I Wish.” After having the Beacon crowd go wild, Diddy and Ma$e popped on stage like Batman and Robin to rip through their classics “Can’t Nobody Hold Me Down” and “Mo’ Money, Mo’ Problems.” Yet it was the hyper-energetic thrust of Lil Kim poppin’ out with the fellas (along with Diddy’s sons Justin and Christian Combs) for the finale cut, “All About The Benjamins.”
After taking in the screams from the winded audience, Diddy expressed his love for being a native New Yorker. “I don’t know if we have any out of towners in the house…but I’m from New York muthafu**a!!” He then acknowledged the two people that put him in the position to be great, namely Andre Harrell and Clive Davis. Diddy also addressed the main takeaways from his personal story. “To all the dreamers out there you gotta keep on fightin’, fightin’, fightin’. The problem was they knocked me down seven times, but I got up eight,” he said.
The doc will be available to the masses on June 25 through an exclusive deal with Apple Music.