Puff Daddy Confirms Retirement After 'No Way Out 2'
Diddy’s motto has always been clear: “Can’t stop. Won’t stop.” But that seems to be changing, as the Bad Boy boss has confirmed his upcoming retirement from hip-hop.
During an interview with Cigar Aficionado, Puff Daddy explained why his next album, No Way Out 2, will be his finale in the rap game.
“I’m going to put out my last album and devote 100 percent of my time to doing films,” he told the magazine, according to PEOPLE. “I want to stop at a great place…A final album is a great place to stop. I want to take a victory lap, to do a world tour and really enjoy it one last time.”
Puff promises that NWO2 will be “honest” and an important part of his 20-year legacy.
“When I’m gone, only the songs will survive,” he added. “I know I’m making music that will live on. I don’t go into the studio just to be hot or to hear myself on the radio. Michael Jackson, Tupac, Biggie—part of them lives on in their music, even though they’re not here anymore. That’s really deep, man. The only thing like that is religion.”
This isn’t the first time he announced a potential retirement. He made a similar declaration back in 2004. “I got a chance to have my dream come true, and I wanted to make sure I made the decision as to when I dropped my last album,” he said, according to MTV News. “If I don’t feel like this album is an incredible piece of work, then I’m cool with the albums I’ve done. I don’t have to put out another album.”
Still, he won’t be stopping his work as an actor. Diddy’s been in films for years, including roles in 2010’s Get Him to the Greek, 2008’s A Raisin in the Sun, and 2001’s Monster’s Ball.
Later this month, he will headline two Bad Boy reunion concerts at Brooklyn’s Barclays Center and in July, he will perform at the ESSENCE Festival in New Orleans.
No Way Out 2, which follows November’s MMM, serves as the sequel to Puff’s 1997 debut album. “It’s one-of-a-kind,” Bad Boy signee Gizzle told Rap-Up TV last year. “The mindset is to just be classic and be epic and to really live up to that. We know it’s a tall order, but we welcome the challenge.”