Diddy-Dirty Money

Oh, you didn't think Diddy could do it? The perpetual changer of monikers, the original executive-turned-artist-turned-mogul and famously over-the-top Hamptons frequenter has lived up to his ability to produce a banger with Last Train To Paris. Sort of quietly released in the smoked-out aftermath of Kanye West's recent epic, Last Train is Diddy's take (three years in the making) on hip-hoptronica and avant-garde production. And, in many ways, it works better than Kanye's effort in fusing disparate styles: boom bappy beats and heavy R&B, traditional sampling used in untraditional ways. Diddy's been at this a long time and it shows ― there are even a few nostalgic moments where it's like you're listening to something from the '90s. And that's why this album is important: from the mournful "Angels," featuring a posthumous Biggie appearance, to Boom Boom Room piano jam "I Hate That You Love Me" to the schizo "Yeah Yeah You Would," Diddy, with the help of Dirty Money, continues to prove his sonic influence over radio rap.