Review Summary: To the empire!
Comebacks in music have become the norm for the music industry this year. Few successes have come out from those comebacks, with pop superstar Justin Bieber's "Purpose" making a major splash commercially and critically. Then you have the numerous misses, like the laughable, suffocating "Breathe In. Breathe Out." by Disney alumni Hilary Duff which signify why you shouldn't come back to an industry that doesn't need you in it. Another superstar has risen from the abyss of infinite hiatus to make his splash on the music scene once more, by the name of hip-hop mogul Sean Combs, aka Diddy, aka the real Lucious Lyon. The entrepreneur who discovered one of hip-hop's greatest, the Notorious B.I.G, has surfaced once again after five years and temporary shutdown of his prominent Bad Boy Entertainment - to return with his record's rocking revival and a surprise album on his birthday, the bombastic "MMM".
A return to form was sorely needed for Diddy after his lackluster effort in "Last Train To Paris" - which felt more like a pop-rap record than the polished sound we're used to in past sets. That return to form is evident in "MMM", and it results in Diddy's best effort in nearly a decade since his 2006 effort "Press Play" - fronting mostly nostalgic, '90s-like material with a touch of modern flair, glossiness, and grit. That revived sound is represented in the wealthy intro "Facts", featuring sparkling chimes, chilling bass, and grand violins reminiscent of the boisterous, towering part of Midtown. A sort of reintroduction to the Harlem-born product's story and connecting it to another one's path who sifted through the same struggles as his own and rising to the pinnacle of her craft in business. A diverse sound varying of grandiose, fancy instrumentation splits with darkening, shadowy hip-hop, R&B representing both the flair and grandeur of Midtown while turning back to the menacing, grimy streets of Harlem and its counterparts. The polarizing production is one of the best of the year for hip-hop, a true, modern representation of the state of the large metropolis.
The lyrical content in "MMM" isn't unusual from most hip-hop records: flaunting power, wealth, provocative women, and grand Maseratis and Bugattis. While in the jeweled record it infects and destroys, like the boring, lame Wiz Khalifa and Rich Homie Quan collaboration in the commercialized "All Or Nothing", it also glimmers. The visual mural painted in the dark, polar yet promising "Help Me" is gorgeous and comes out as one of the finest of the record - a rag-to-riches story lyrically depicted beautifully with the soulful background vocals crying out in the latter of the serene bit of the tale. It is an inconsistency that jags the rhythm of the record but doesn't account to how little Diddy is actually on the record, flooding with numerous guest verses from his Bad Boy "family" a la Dr. Dre with veterans like Missy Elliot - it yearns for more of the mogul to appear. In the places he surfaces, like the flamboyant "Auction" or the sleek, sexy "You Could Be My Lover", Diddy's suave charisma lights up the room which leaves out why he didn't insert himself more in the set. Nonetheless, it endures with his limited appearances.
Diddy's revival in "MMM" isn't ground-breaking in any sense, however it's a definite return to form for an entrepreneur who's already cemented his mark in hip-hop with his legendary Bad Boy conglomerate and non hip-hop related enterprises. The vast, bombastic production is the kind of sound that resonates and pairs to Diddy, taking the best of both worlds with blending gritty, grimy hip-hop with his signature polished, grand sound. The commercialized lyrical basis isn't nearly as bad as it tends to be with the majority of hip-hop released these days, even shining in some areas, but it also tires down the record all the same along with the limited appearances of the product himself. The return of Diddy isn't one to be dreading at all as has occurred with other returns, it is one of the few elite to pop the champagne and toast our bubbly glasses to for more of in the future. As actor Terrance Howard says in the hyped-up TV show "Empire", "to the empire!" he proclaims. His golden presence couldn't be more felt than it is now with Diddy's fine return.
