Diddy had a pretty busy year in 2010, what with a starring role in Get Him To the Greek and keeping up with his brands. Oh, and he also released an album called Last Train to Paris with his new group, Diddy-Dirty Money.
The latest single from the group is the reflective and sentimental "Coming Home." I guess this track could be a holiday song? It has a reunion theme that most families can relate to this time of year.
But no matter how well guest player Skylar Grey can sing the chorus, there's problem with this track. It's outdated and samey.
Oh, it's not samey? Listen to those sappy piano chords. Remind you of
anything? How about Eminem and Rihanna's "Love The Way You Lie"? Or
B.o.B. and Hayley Williams' "Airplanes"?
A little similar, yeah? Well, there's a reason: These songs all share the same co-producer, Alex da Kid.
So, no, you're not crazy.
Lyrically, the sameness comes from
within this song's repeated phrases -- like "...keep ballin'" and
"another day, another dawn" -- which serve to remind us that Diddy's
delivery, instead of his writing, kept him afloat all these years.
And, sure, while a line like "it's easy to be Puff/it's harder to be
Sean" is evocative enough, it loses some sheen when you consider that
Drake and Kanye already rhyme about reluctance towards their own
success. So, yeah, the line loses its power quickly.
Actually, I could say that a lot of the entire Last Train to Paris album sound outdated. It may be either that Diddy is playing catch-up on pop music trends or that the album's delay
dated its sounds, which may have still been fresh when they were
concieved or recorded. Let's face it: In the long run, this album will
be overshadowed other landmark rap albums released this year by Kanye,
Drake, Em and others.
At this point in his career, Diddy kinda resembles Avery Johnson circa 2003. After all, Diddy player-coached his album guests and his Diddy-Dirty Money partners through Last Train.
Unfortunately, though, it just seems like it's time for Diddy to step
back and "come home" for good. Hell, he'd probably be as successful as a
full-time producer or manager as Avery was as a coach.
Like Avery, he might also make terrible mistakes along the way. But,
hey, that'd be better than seeing Diddy trail behind everyone else and
falling into irrelevance.
