'Press Play' is the fifth album from American hip hop superstar Sean 'P. Diddy' Combs. The album sees Combs continue with the slick mainstream hip hop that has graced his previous albums, and he is joined once again by a large amount of guest vocalists and producers including Jamie Foxx, Christina Aguilera, Brandy, Mary J. Blige, Kanye West, Will.I.Am and Havoc. The singles 'Come To Me' and 'Tell Me' are included.

Sep 2006

Sean P Diddy' Combs new album 'Press Play' includes a who's who of rap and hip hop on the guest list. The new album includes Christina Aguilera, OutKast's Big Boi, Gnarls Barkley's Cee-Lo, Mary J. Blige, Jamie Foxx, Nas, Brandy, Keyshia Cole and the Pussycat Dolls’ Nicole Scherzinger on P Diddy's first track off the album 'Come to Me'. Production on 'Press Play' features the best in the business including will.i.am, Just Blaze, Kanye West, Pharrell Williams, Mobb Deep’s Havoc and Rich Harrison.

• Entertainment Weekly (p.80) - "[H]e's more nimble and lyrically substantive than usual....PRESS PLAY has something for most everyone: street raps, club jams, glossy R&B." -- Grade: B

Personnel: Mario Winans.
Recording information: 2006.
As a rapper, producer, record company owner, and general hip-hop mogul, Sean Combs undoubtedly has the Midas touch. Each of his projects turns to gold, whether he's producing hits for the likes of Mary J. Blige and Mariah Carey, launching successful albums by the Notorious B.I.G. and Faith Evans, or creating his own pop-ready output. By 2006, Combs (whose professional name changed from Puff Daddy, to P. Diddy, to Diddy) was such an omnipotent force in the world of hip-hop that it's no surprise PRESS PLAY overflows with blockbuster status and has music's biggest superstars all over the guest list.
Combs's sample-reliant tracks have always been given to familiar, radio-ready hooks rather than sonic innovation, and it's in this area that he finally delivers by recruiting the hottest producers in the game for PRESS PLAY. Kanye West, Pharrell Williams, Will I. Am, and Just Blaze, among others, give the album a decidedly contemporary feel by contributing dense, layered, gorgeous tracks that challenge without sacrificing Diddy's pop appeal. Also, the artist's rhymes, while serviceable, have never been top-notch, but he overcomes that shortcoming, too, by inviting an A-list of rappers and singers, including Nas, Christina Aguilera, Mary J. Blige, Jamie Foxx, Keisha Cole, Outkast's Big Boi, and others. The album is a glittering, glamorous listen, destined for major club and radio play. PRESS PLAY reveals Combs's true talent, which is not for showcasing his own abilities, but for creating seismic hip-hop events.