Why is Diddy Flying Commercial: Enyce Acquisition Strategy

Sean "Diddy" Combs

Let's agree to speak freely as an urban collective. Why are a group of us so concerned with Diddy's mode of travel? For about two months, I've had an issue simmering on my urban expressionistic mind. Namely, why is it so newsworthy when we see that Diddy was spotted flying commercial? Worse, why did it require follow up, investigative reporting to confirm that Diddy does not solely own a private plane, rather he belongs to a private plane sharing program called Net Jets.

Urban America responded in chorus, "What? Diddy ain't flyin' the G4, no mo?" throughout blogs, barber and beauty shops in a city near you. The reality is we should be very proud of Mr. Combs and examine the business sensibility of his choice to board commercial with the rest of us.

The fact is that while Diddy is a tastemaker, "bottle popper" and self proclaims that "no one on the corner has swagger like Puff." Sean Combs is a shrewd business man with a reputation for having a super human work ethic and keen business sense.

Why is Diddy flying commercial? He made a CEO decision to reduce unnecessary costs, a move that is in line with Fortune 100 company leadership to reduce expenses. Most laudable is Diddy's decision to reduce a business expense that impacted his travel experience significantly. Many CEO's that are leading "lifestyle" businesses fail to sacrifice things that impact the way they roll. As things unfold more clearly with recent business announcements for Mr. Combs, we begin to see what he's doing with those cost savings.


On Tuesday, October 21st Combs announced the acquisition of Enyce clothing from Liz Claiborne for an undisclosed sum adding the 12 year old urban clothing company to his current portfolio of fashion based brands. He didn't purchase Enyce from Master P or his cousin pookie. Rather, Diddy purchased an urban based brand that complements the lifestyle culture of the Sean John brands. Liz Claiborne has been selling brands recently as they return to their core focus on branding.

Diddy Announces Deal & Dons New Name "Black Buffet"
(isn't that a restaurant too?)

Diddy saw an opportunity and got the deal done. Why is Diddy Flying Commercial? In vernacular, Diddy's been stacking that cake, gettin' it in to make moves.

Well done Mr. Combs.

Ryan Leslie the Return of Genius and True Swagger

Ryan Leslie - Producer, Singer, Artist, Rapper and CEO

Ryan Leslie is ushering in the return of the virtuoso for the recording industry. Producer, writer, singer, rapper and documented genius (having scored a perfect 1600 on the SAT and graduating Harvard at 19) Leslie's momentum is building quickly.

He successfully blends live instrumentation and sound capture into contemporary hot tracks blended with cool and CEO of Lifestyle and record label Next Selection, Inc., Ryan Leslie has created a star following on YouTube with one of the top subscribed channels for viewers by documenting his unique creative process for production. He's produced hits for Cassie, Britney Spears and Beyonce but now is emerging with his own album schedule for release in August of '08.




Uniquely, Leslie has taken the rumored jolt from his former love interest Cassie and her alleged relationship with Sean "Diddy" Combs and channeled it into his music. "Diamond Girl" his latest single climbing the charts was an ode to Cassie that has taken a life of it's own as he's moved on. On his track I-R-I-N-A he turns an icebreaker melody that he freestyled to his non-english speaking Russian Model co-star of Diamond Girl and flipped it into a first class ballad that is radio worthy.

Most impressive about Leslie is the unabashed and proud return of true genius. A child prodigy that aced his SATs and entered Harvard at 15, graduated at 19, for me he's a refreshing contrast from Kanye West's approach of boasting "College Dropout". While the comparison ahead for Leslie and West is yet to peak, refreshingly on the music scene there is enough room for both in the spectrum of hybrid producer/artists that are joining the ranks of albums and latest signed artists.

Kanye West and Ryan Leslie in the Lab
College Dropout & College Graduate Collaborate on a Cassie Track

MTV's Buzzworthy recently featured a segment on Ryan Leslie where he provides background on his production of "Diamond Girl".



Leslie comes equipped with the aesthetics of today's recording artists, swag, style, spitting fire lyrics on dope beats. But beneath the trappings of what has defined successful artist is unadulterated genius, drive, inspiration and great music.

For more information on Ryan Leslie visit www.ns4life.com, www.myspace.com/ryanleslie. Subscribe to his YouTube channel by clicking here: www.youtube.com/ryanleslietv

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