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Press Play | 
| Artist: P.diddy
Label: Atlantic
Category: Music
List Price: £15.99
Buy New: £6.88
You Save: £9.11 (57%)
New (43) Used (12) from £1.31
Rating:  14 reviews
Sales Rank: 6422
Format: Explicit Lyrics
Media: Audio CD
Discs: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.2
Dimensions (in): 5.6 x 5 x 0.5
UPC: 075679357526
EAN: 0075679357526
ASIN: B000I0SGA8
Release Date: October 16, 2006
Shipping: Eligible for Super Saver Shipping
Availability: Usually dispatched within 24 hours
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| Tracks:
| • | Testimonial (Intro) | | • | We Gon' Make It featuring Jack Knight | | • | I Am (Interlude) | | • | The Future | | • | Come To Me featuring Nicole Scherzinger | | • | Tell Me featuring Christina Aguilera | | • | Wanna Move featuring Big Boi, Ciara and Scar | | • | Diddy Rock featuring Timbaland, Twista and Shawnna | | • | Claim My Place (Interlude) | | • | Everything I Love featuring Nas and Cee-Lo | | • | Special Feeling featuring Mika Lett | | • | Crazy Thang (Interlude) | | • | After Love featuring Keri | | • | Through The Pain (She Told Me) featuring Mario Winans | | • | Thought You Said featuring Brandy | | • | Last Night featuring Keyshia Cole | | • | Makin' It Hard featuring Mary J. Blige | | • | Partners For Life featuring Jamie Fox |
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| Editorial Reviews:
Amazon.co.uk Review
Heralding yourself as "the man who provided more jobs for blacks than armed service" takes some sort of ego, but if Press Play - the first album in five years from music business CEO turned rapper/producer Sean 'P Diddy' Combs - suggests he's as lacking in modesty as ever. But at least he's got the tunes to back it up. Forget the schmaltzy tone and sampled hooks of "I'll Be Missing You": Press Play is a hip-hop album to the core, built on a sturdy foundation of punchy beats and blippy, retro-sounding electronics - Timbaland/Neptunes-inspired, but by no means copyism. An impressive line-up of guests are deployed wisely: there's blink-and-you'll-miss-'em cameos from Outkast's Big Boi ("Wanna Move"), Nas and Gnarls Barkley's Cee-Lo ("Everything I Love"), Timbaland and Twista (the edgy, downbeat "Diddy Rock") - and even Christina Aguilera, who sounds anything but the pop puppet atop the body-rocking beats of "Tell Me". What's more, Diddy can really rap now - perhaps in part thanks to his decision to hire a team of ghostwriters ("The Future", in particular, bears the unmistakable influence of Pharaohe Monch). There's weak moments - the jazz-funk tinged "Special Feeling" is the sort of honeyed crooner Justin Timberlake could pull off, but Diddy struggles with. All the same, this is an album that'll please fans and surprise naysayers. --Louis Pattison
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| Customer Reviews: Read 9 more reviews...
 The Future of R&B/Hip-Pop December 1, 2008
A lot has been said about how Diddy put together the best producers/ best rhymers/ best guests together in order to make an album for him and he just came in to do the vocals and put his name on the cover.
Anyway when I got the album the 1st thing I checked was the credits only to learn that out of 19 tracks only 5 were produced by the so called "A list" producers.
1 beat from Timbaland - Beats/muscles on steroids
1 beat from Just Blaze - This is what I do
1 beat from The Neptunes - We're not done yet
1 beat from Rich Harrison - Mr Rich Harrison to you
1 beat from Kanye West - When have you ever known me to lose
The rest of the album is helmed by a solid (but definitely not superstar) group of producers who are perhaps one hit away from making the above list. The most high profile of these "B list" producers is Havoc who has been outshined by his protege Alchemist of late. Havoc outdoes himself on "The Future" (my favourite track) He restores my faith in him by expanding his sound while staying true to his roots. Danja who is definitely next in line is behind another favourite "Diddy Rock" and the hot "Wanna Move." The other producer who features prominently on the CD is one of Diddy's own hitmen, Mario Winans.
So no Scott Storch, no Dr Dre, no Cool & Dre, no Swizz Beatz, no DJ Toomp. C'mon people....
OK he did get some of the best people in the industry to guest on his album and a lot of them are better than him. Diddy gets criticised for it while Hi-Tek is praised for it on Hi-Teknology 2. J Dilla is praised (R.I.P) for it on The Shining while Diddy is crucified for it. OK he doesn't write his own rhymes but Dr. Dre doesn't neither. At least (like Dre) he is not afraid to admit it.
All the politics aside the music is the real reason why you need to check for this album.
The album opens with a typical Bad Boy piano loop (See Forever). On here Diddy kicks his hottest verse since "Victory" on No Way Out.
"We Gon' Make It" follows with horns that must have Jay-Z kicking himself for not having plotted his return earlier and scooped this K-Def beat (Watch out Just Blaze). Diddy does not slouch on the mic either, doing his best Jigga impression with swagger filled but poignant rhymes.
Tell Me who shot Big?/
And take the bullets out of 2pac's ribs/
If I could I would reverse the car, reverse the beat/
Put it on a pot and pour it over a D-Dot beat/
Sometimes I get Drunk for stress relief/
Sometimes I put Life After Death on repeat (we ride)/
Whats a 4 door Bentley coup without my nigga on passenger the side?/
And still I try/
To get money stay fly, finish the race holding my crown high/
I fly next to God my eyes on the prize/
Been away a long time but now I'm re-energized/
The life and times of a mastermind/
Dedicate every breath to claim my design/
And the day I die/
Let a G4 fly and dump my ashes over NY/
After another punchline littered, Jay-Z reminiscent verse (If Jay is coming back then the world needs Puff) over some more horns, this time courtesy of the Hitmen on "I Am", the dark phase of the album begins. This is also the Pharaoh Monch phase of the album.
"The Future" is easily the best song on the album with its driving beat and rapid fire/staccato lyrics. The imagery so vivid as Diddy describes his vision of the future and his part in it (The potential to be the first black president). "Hold Up" continues the onslaught with its soldier drums and Angela Hunte on the hook. Havoc hasn't sounded this fresh in a minute.
The mood lifts again as the 1st single "Come To Me" rolls in, followed by the Christina Aguilera feature on "Tell Me," another definite party starter. But the highlight of this phase (party/club) of the album is definitely "Diddy Rock" featuring long-time Bad Boy collaborator Twista alongside Timbaland and Shawnna whose energy steals the show.
Kanye West puts his stamp on "Everything I Love" which has a typical Kanye 'Late Registration' West beat only at twice the speed and has Diddy straining to keep up at times, but Nas rides it like a pro. At this point the album goes on R&B mode where Diddy reveals his vision of the future of music.
The Brandy assisted "Thought You Said" and the Keyshia Cole helmed "Last Night" are the best examples of this new sound. Up-tempo with a slow groove, that place where R&B meets Pop and House. The latter even lifting from the old Prince. On "After Love" Timbaland shows Diddy that he is the one who has been leading this revolution in music with JT and Nelly Furtado. However Diddy does not quite do the beat justice. Diddy does better on the Rich Harrison master cut, "Making It Hard"
Whether you agree with this review or not one thing that no one can deny is that Diddy has created an album which sounds like nothing else that's sitting on the shelves. No gats, no drug tales, no eagles dropping or shoulders leaning, no snapping, no speeches on how black people should be living, no lessons on what real hip-hop should sound like, no daddy left me or I miss my dogs so pour out a little liquor. Just that pure, high energy, lets have a good time music. In my mind this is what Hip-Pop should sound like. The album is eclectic but not in the sense that we are used to. This is not Mos Def, Wyclef Jean or even Kanye West, Diddy blends Hip-Hop, R&B, Dance/Electronica to create an album that can only be described as the future of R&B/Hip-Pop
 Music to pull teeth to June 2, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
Pseudo gangsta's and badboys wannabees are so transparent, to me anyway, and listening to rap from a young age it always became pretty clear who the perpetrators were. Now millionaires are so often facilitated by the uneducated and naive buying into their dreams and ruthless ambition, and in Sean Combs case this is no exception. You see havin' listened to hip hop for the past 20 years, since i was about 10 , i think i've heard enough to say P Diddy can't rap. For an officionado it's a bit embarrassing to hear hip hop performed and watered down so badly. People argue, "he can't rap but he's a great producer"(really). Better than Dj Premier, Pete Rock, Madlib, J dilla (to name just a few) "i think not". And having had a few unfortunate lifts in the sister in laws car whilst this cd's been racked up(girls like it), i can assure you it ain't pretty. There's the formulamatic guest appearances from other bland artist, whom the media seem to love but have very little substance(is that rap?). Trust me, this is not real hip hop. If i was rating Sean Combs as a business man he'd get a 5 out of 5 for real, coz' anyone who can persuade people to buy clothes, perfumes, aftershaves etc on the back of this atrocious effort is a genius. Take my advice, don't listen to this affront to rap, you've only got one life man and you'll never get that time back again. There's so much talent around , music to dance, laugh, chill and make love to, this is plain and simply music to pull teeth to. Painful, run like hell, do a van gogh, whatever it takes to avoid this sellout to true hip hop. This is music for fat lonely guy's in their 30's and still living at home with mum. Get a life don't be a fake hip hop fan, listen to the real thing. This is poor, very very poor. Checkout the front cover, is it me or is one of his ears lower than the other ? Freaky!!!!! It makes you wonder what the ladies see in the mult millionaire P Diddy ?
Surprisingly good November 18, 2007
When i bought this album, i didn't expect much. Its Diddy, not a great lyricist but i thought it was worth a shot with all the guest appearances he has on the album. But clearly i made the right choice, because almost every song is a great hit.
Stand out tracks are Wanna Move, Thought you said, Tell me, Come to Me, Last Night, Everything i Love, Diddy Rock and Special Feeling. The rest are great tracks and some are memorable beats taken from various places similar to how Kanye West re-produced the beat for Touch the sky. Timbaland's beat on Diddy rock is fantastic.
 I HAVE BEEN LISTENING TO THIS ALBUM A LOT RECENTLY AND I'M ENJOYING IT October 31, 2007
Diddy spent the five years since the release of his previous solo album making (and shelving) a gospel album, dabbling (or flailing) in dance music, running in the New York City Marathon, developing a perfume called (almost unbelievably) Unforgivable, and undoubtedly doing many other important things. His Bad Boy empire settled into a severe lull until the summer of 2006, when Yung Joc's "It's Going Down," Cassie's "Me&U," and the Danity Kane album revived the label. Press Play is well timed, and it's also well endowed: the roster of collaborators and guests is both extensive and impressive enough to entice the severely Diddy-resistant. Peculiarly enough, Diddy's practically the opening act on his own album. During the first several tracks, he's the dominant voice, dishing out the expected variations on his wildly hubristic boasts of old, and that includes a baffling gritted-teeth threat like "America, fall back, you can't stop me/Got a thing for pigeon-toed chicks who walk knock-kneed." On his own, he does not deliver. Around track six, the guests begin to take over the 80-minute program, and the album morphs into a theatrical examination of love and romance that is partly randomized but mostly tremendous. Apparently inspired by his relationships with ex-girlfriend Jennifer Lopez and his wife, Diddy and his shifting cast of fellow songwriters/producers pen a series of songs -- you could almost call it a suite -- emboldened by a round of knockout performances from several women. Multi-threat up-and-comer Keri Hilson (watch for her), Brandy, Keyshia Cole, and Mary J. Blige all take lead roles and make up the heart of the album. This last half-hour of the album, with the exception of a couple instances where Diddy could've left everything in the hands of the vocalists, teeters on the edge of brilliance. Timbaland (with partner Nathanial "Danja" Hill) and Mario Winans (with Diddy) deliver robust, imaginative productions that lay the majority of modern-day R&B tracks to waste (glints of left-field dance music and the new wave that inspired it are incorporated to great effect), while Rich Harrison expectedly and thrillingly blends the blaring with the lush behind Blige. The rest of the album is worth talking about, as it involves noteworthy appearances from Christina Aguilera, Ciara, Nas, Big Boi, Cee-Lo, and several others, but it's less risky and not nearly as remarkable as the closing stretch. All told, the number of memorable hooks on display here is surprising.
 Press Fast-Forward January 10, 2007
2 out of 5 found this review helpful
Oh dear. Was expecting a lot more being that this is his first album in five years since the last pretty decent one. That with his bigging it up too in his usual style.
P Diddy is many things, an entrepeneur, style icon and so on but he is no great shakes as a producer, perhaps a remixer (or hijacker). Let's be honest, most of Biggie's best tracks (e.g. 'Unbelievable') weren't produced by Diddy. Here his production influence barely makes the album with him only mustering 'Additional or Co-production' credits on a couple of tracks.
For me has always invented his relevance and standing in the hip-hop world, not saying that he doesn't deserve to be there, but he doesn't have the kudos that he probably believes he has. Perhaps analysing the market at the moment, dominated by the 'Gangsta' imagery and posturing of 50 Cent etc, suddenly he feels the need to scrap around for a bit of street cred; whereas he barely cursed on his last cds, now he can't stop himself and it sounds a bit lame and fake. I never quite bought it when LL started going all hardcore and I certainly don't buy Diddy's gangsta credentials, with talk about weed and b**tches and so on.
There's been a lot of speculation about whether he writes his own rhymes (as in his own words 'Don't worry if I write rhymes, I write cheques') and it must be said that his words need working on a few occasions. Listen to 'Come to Me and then 'Tell Me' back-to-back and notice the improvement. There's been some rumour that rapper Pharohe Monch ghost-writes for him due to the style, definitely some depth in that charge.
Being that his best records are r'n'b tinged, you might argue that he needs the r'n'b singers on there to sell the records and sound good, which makes him a bit like the rap version of Shaggy. But it's not just the rhymes that aren't sometimes quite on point, it's all in the ideas and production which let it down too often.
So a review - you've already heard the 2 decent tracks on this album which are probably the best ones, but Track by Track it's like this:
1) OK intro
2) This is pretty good, fairly promising first track
3) Not bad live band track either but why not a regular-length record.
4) Diddy write this? Produced by Havoc of Mobb Deep who's made better.
5) A bit annoying and boring, you'll probably fast track this one
6) Standout track but pretty lame lyrics (sample 'the people go screaming like a Opera Anthem' - screaming in opera?! Does that come after the fat lady sings?)
7) Prob the best track by the hottest producer out there, Just Blaze. Christina Aguilera sounds good, not her usual style.
8) Featuring Big Boi, can hear the Outkast influence here. Not bad.
9) So lame, it's unlistenable (I'm your burgers, you're my fries?!! / Let me take u to Indonesia, where nobody can reach us??!!!!)
10) Interlude, nice piano/harp/string arrangements with Diddy bigging himself up and swearing unnecessarily for effect.
11) Guess the producer in one. Kanye all over it. Featuring Nas + Cee-Lo (you may know him from 'Crazy'). Fairly good
12) Someone was listening to Prince when they produced this. Outkast would have sounded better here. Bores after a while.
13) Interlude
14) Mostly R'n'B with Diddy kept to a minimal. Not a bad thing.
15) Quite like the melody on this one, with Mario Winans. Beats a little bit like I Don't Wanna know, their last collabo. But what the hell is the ending all about, a total mess. Terrible idea to lead into the next track like that.
16) Fast BPM, slightly drum n bass track with Brandy. Boring rapping.
17) Another Prince influenced track. Like the keys on this, chorus a bit dull. A bit long.
18) I thought this was Faith Evans on here, maybe this is Mary out of her regular vocal range. Pretty good.
19) Jamie Foxx features on this, again it's okay and suits Diddy's laid-back flow but again why the need for cussing on a track like this?
I think he has said, this is his last album - on this evidence it may be just as well. 3 stars - just
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