King Combs is relieved that his father’s trial is over.
The son of Sean “Diddy” Combs — who was recently found not guilty of sex trafficking and racketeering, but guilty of illegal prostitution, for which he is awaiting sentencing — sat down with Billboard over Zoom to talk about his seven-song EP Never Stop executive produced by Ye (formerly knows as Kanye West) and the past year he’s had as his father was in jail awaiting trial.
Once the verdict was in, ABC News caught up with King Combs outside of the Manhattan courthouse where he was notably in high spirits and expressed positivity, which will be a common them in our interview. “We love y’all. We love everybody watching. I’m so happy,” Combs told the outlet. “Pops coming home. God bless the whole world.”
Combs has songs dedicated to both of his parents on his Never Stop EP that he dropped last month.
The song “Kim,” about his late mother Kim Porter who passed away unexpectedly at 47 years old in 2018, features lines like, “When it rains, I feel your pain, it got my vision cloudy/ Tryna keep my head up, but that watеr, it feel like I’m drownin’,” and on the track “Diddy Free” (about his incarcerated father), he raps, “Tired of n—as speakin’ on the family/ N—as claim they brothers, but they can’t be.”
The project also features Ye on the track “People Like Me” and his daughter North West on the intro “Lonely Roads.”
Check out our convo with King Combs below, where he talks about how the project with Ye came together and where he and his family go from here.
So, it’s been an interesting year for you. I know your father is still waiting on his sentencing, but how do you feel now that the trial is over and the verdict is in?
I feel good. The whole family. We feel good. We just, you know, humbly, just waiting for the sentencing and waiting for pops to come home. We got good expectations. My new tape Never Stop is out right now. It’s going crazy. I’m happy to be here with Billboard. Thank y’all for having me.
How did the tape come together? How did Ye get involved?
Shout out Ye, too. He reached out to me during a time where, you know, a lot was going on, probably the worst times in my life. And he reached out to lend support and we talked about a Sean John collab. A lot of people may not know, we’ve been was gonna do a Sean John collab. Then we were gonna work on some music and stuff, but we never got a chance to. So, we started talking about the Sean John collab and he said he wanted to do a five-song EP with me. And then from there, I was like, “Yo, it’s no brainer, of course.” And we just made it happen.
And whose idea was it to have North on the intro?
Yeah, it actually was his idea. She was just in the studio one day. We was at the warehouse studio, and she was just real eager to work and real eager to hop on a track. It came out dope.
There’s a line where you’re like, “When they needed our help, they didn’t have to ask for it.” Do you feel like you and your family were betrayed by certain friends during this process?
I wouldn’t say betrayed, but you know, Ye definitely showed love and showed support when it was needed. And it definitely was a little quiet out there, but I wouldn’t say betrayed.
Because you do mention the “No Diddy” phrase on “Pick a Side.” I’d imagine that a phrase like that bothered you. Did seeing it take off online affect you in anyway?
I never really heard it in person. I seen it on the on Instagram and stuff like that. That’s about it.
So, how does that stuff change now? Because people kind of left your pops for dead and you came out with “Pick a Side” trying to respond to things.
I think now that the truth is getting out and pops is on the way home, God willing. I think we just need to stay with positivity, spread love. I just hope all the hate and all the negative stuff is past us and we can just move forward and with just love and good vibes. That’s what we’re here to do: never stop. I get vulnerable on this tape a little bit but for the most part it’s just good music for people to feel good and get through whatever they’re going through.
Do you regret releasing that track? You had some lines in there that had people talking.
Just creative expression, you know? But like I said, sometimes you can speak from emotional places. Let the truth just come out. Sometimes it’s better.
There’s a track named after your mom where you mentioned that she cried during one of your first performances.
That was a theme with my mom. Every time she seen me do something, even if it was something little she would start tearing up, start crying, especially when I perform, she always would cry.
You also mentioned that you didn’t know the difference whenever you watched her cry. How did she react when you told her you wanted to be a rapper?
She was just proud of me and really excited. She was my No. 1 fan. There would be times where I would perform in front of her in like the bathroom and stuff like getting ready, showing her what I’m gonna do and she would just start crying, like, bawling out.. And for me, it was just confusing that’s why I said I didn’t know the difference. I didn’t really understand.
What advice did she give you that you still think about and cherish?
Some advice she gave me that I still think about is to follow my dreams. The album title is called Never Stop. It’s one of my mottos I kind of get from her too because she always taught me to be myself, and just keep going. In life there’s going to be a lot of obstacles, a lot of people trying to doubt you, a lot of people trying to push you in different ways and just to stay focused and do what I want to do.
How do you guys plan on moving forward once the sentencing comes in?
Like I said, we feel like just moving forward with positive vibes, love. Me? My tape just dropped. I got videos dropping. My sisters got a clothing line coming out. My brother Quincy’s into acting, Justin business. My little sister Chan, she’s in college right now, going to NYU. Baby Love is growing up. So, yeah, just, you know, continuing to live life and just bring positive vibes to the world. I think that’s just the main focus.
You’re in town visiting your pops, right? Have you gotten a chance to see him yet?
Yeah, I saw him. Of course, it wasn’t in the ideal place. Was is it in person or was it like a video call? In person. We dapped up and all that. At least it’s not like behind the wall, but it’s definitely not it. Any advice that he gave you while he was inside this past year? You had came out with “Pick a Side” trying to fight back at the narrative a bit. It was really just to be positive and not let everything that’s going on get to me. And, you know, don’t react off of emotion. Just be me and do what’s true to myself.
Do you think the Bad Boy and Diddy brand can bounce back from this?
Yeah, for sure. We’re definitely gonna keep going. Like, I said, “Never Stop.” We can’t stop, won’t stop, and we’re going to just continue to spread love and hopefully receive that back.
What you got going on in New York now that you that you’ve seen your pops, you’re gonna, you’re gonna stay out here for the weekend?
Yeah, we here in the city, but I’ma just be here, be working, cooking up some new heat, cooking up a video. Billboard might have to come get the behind the scenes.
Never Stop dropped about a month ago. What other plans do you have in store?
After this, we never gonna stop. We’re gonna keep going, keep dropping hits. We got some videos coming out for this tape. I can’t tell y’all which one, so it’s a surprise. We’re just gonna keep it going.
Is there any anything else you you want to talk about or add?
Goodfellas is my new record label. We’re going to go crazy starting my entrepreneurship at an all-time high. Also want to say, I love all the supporters and fans who stuck with us through this hard time, through this dark time, who stream Never Stop, all the people who showing love, spreading love, that’s what it’s all about. And I want to say, Thank y’all. Love y’all so much. Thank you, Billboard. Yeah, Never Stop out now, Goodfellas, Bad Boy. CYN.
