Diddy ”“ Dirty Money

Diddy’s new album is a Frankenstein of fragmented ambitions: a foray into Euro-funk sophistication, a gaudy pop-rap extravaganza (with guest vocalists including Justin Timberlake, Grace Jones, Drake and Marc Jacobs) and an R&B juggernaut (debuting his new female duo Dirty Money). At best, it’s like one of those White Parties Diddy throws in the Hamptons: Producers Swizz Beatz and Danja hand him lush electro hip-hop, and he wisely hands the vocal heavy lifting to other people. But clumsy attempts at Kanye-style self-analysis (“It’s easy to be Puff, but it’s harder to be Sean”) show that introspective hip-hop is one rap flavour Diddy can’t sample.

Key Tracks: ”˜Ass on the Floor,’ ”˜Yeah Yeah You Would’