The Story Behind Diddy's Album Cover
Diddy has worked with some of the most renowned directors and photographers including Hype Williams, David LaChapelle, and Annie Leibovitz, but instead of asking them to shoot his latest album cover, the music mogul found a photographer on the Internet.
Australian blogger and amateur shutterbug Jarrod “Jrod” Kimber revealed that he was contacted by Interscope Records for one of his personal photos that he snapped at the Centre Georges Pompidou in Paris during a 2008 vacation. After repeated attempts to reach him, they finally connected and the label purchased the photo from him. But imagine his surprise when he saw that it had become the cover for Diddy-Dirty Money’s Last Train to Paris.
“Obviously I am not a professional snapper or anything,” he explained. “This was taken on a holiday while waiting for my wife (who can be seen under the G) on a small camera. The only artistic part of it was me seeing the cool red right and going up and down the escalator a few times to get the right shot.”
He read some of the ridicule from fans, who were not so keen on the artistic imagery. “I can see why some of his fans might see it as whack,” he wrote in response to the nasty comments. “It isn’t really a cover aimed at the majority of people who buy Diddy records.”
While he admits to not being a fan of the Bad Boy before, the experience may have changed all that. “I’m not going to pretend to be the world’s biggest Diddy fan, I’m more a Jay-Z or Kanye sort of chap, but I always liked his producing of Biggie’s work,” shared Kimber. “Now I’m a bigger fan, I shall talk about his career by saying Post Jrod or pre Jrod when discussing it with people.”
The original photo appears below.
