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So.... I've had this Diddy post in the works for a week since I heard the cd. Of course I relied on AOL Music. I buy nearly nothing w/o hearing it there first. Why buy it when you can preview for free? Even for Diddy who I LOVE! 112 was my favorite group for the longest. Whenever I'm down, I reach for one of their cds. First I love Room 112 (the 2nd album), then 112 (the 1st), then Part III (take a wild guess). Because of my love for 112, when I was in my wild, hilarious stage, I used to tell people I was giving my first born to him and naming another child after him in thanks for 112. This was when I was "in love" with this guy. Our children were to be named Wendell, Wendella, Wendeesha, Wendara, Wendina, Wendy, Joiwynel (in honor of my friends who introed us), and Sean. See what I mean by wild, hilarious phase?

Anyway, when I saw all the guest appearances on this cd, I said, "Wow! Oh yeah! I've gotta do this!" Avant (love), Shawna (ehh), Big Boi (oh yeah! love 'kast), Ciara (yes), Christina (yes), Brandy, Pussycat Doll Nicole long last name, Nas, Cee-lo (Goodie Mo-b!), Mary J, Keyshia Cole (helps me let out my inner ghetto fab), Jamie Foxx, Timbaland, Twista. I mean, oh my! That's a lot of names and most of them are folk I can really get down with! I'm there!

Then I listened. The intro made me giggle. Blatant unwaranted cockiness a la typical Diddy. Its to be expected. "The Future" was out of control! Same vein. Only one of the first 5 songs have features. Diddy. Come on. Bring em already. What are you waiting for? The Pcat Dolls song? Its cool but its actually more intriguing with the video to accompany it.

AOL Music picked "Tell Me" f/X-tina as the best song on the album. Uh... not sure why. They always choose the expected song, though. Come on. Get it together. AOL Music, let ME tell you which song is the best on the cd. I'll drop that hot fiyah knowledge on ya! But you have to pay me.

Moving on. "Diddy Rock" has a hot beat but DON'T SING! PLEASE DON'T SING! Seriously. And don't talk abt your mom. Because it makes me want to make jokes. The blonde hair? Gotta go. The black Donatella Versace look is not sexy. The crazy makeup, gaudy attire. Diddy!! Send your mom to a stylist you know will make her look good. You moved from your shiny suit man! phase and all the baggy attire to never steppin out without looking like you belong on the cover of a magazine!

I digress. On "Diddy Rock" you go on to talk about claming your place... I hope you don't mean as a singer or rapper... You say you can make people feel good.. true. You say "I believe I can do anything..." I hope you mean other than sing, rap or dance. Because if you do, that's probably true. But you should leave those three to the experts. We love you for it Diddy, seriously. And the thanks mid-cd is quite bizarre. While we're on the subject of thanks, can we do away with the current trend to add thanks as the last song? Raheem Devaughn did this, as did Lupe Fiasco and it annoys me! Especially Lupe. His joint was a good 4 minutes long!!!! Hey guys! Can you not? If I want to know, I'll read the liner notes!!!

Now let's get to some of these guest appearances and the rest of the cd. "Special" was absolutely a stolen Mike J beat. Very 80s. At first I wasn't sure I was ready to go that route, techno, electronica, etc. though I know Stace loves it. The more I listened, though, I found myself wiggling in the seat, heading toward the center of my living room to shake it. Wait! Damn me. Lol.

I don't remember the name of the song that had Big Boi and Ciara on it but I knew it would be the joint! Knew it. Wrong. How you have Big Boi AND Ciara on a song and it bores me? Doesn't make me want to get out of my seat? Get outta here Diddy.

"After Love." At the end, he got me when he said, "I just wanna end this conversation on a good note. I love you very much." AWWWWWWW! The bf says that to me all the time! Its so adorable. It also made me say, "Damn you Diddy!!!!" He know good and well I've been rootin for him to get back with JLo. They were my fave couple ever! Loved it. Esp. now that they've left behind the hood-rich clothing and now look chic, you know y'all love each other!!!!! Sigh.

"Thru the Pain" f/Mario Williams (sounded like Mario Winans to me, but that's what AOL Music said)... FAVE SONG. I think b/c there was more Mario than Diddy. No I know. "Thought You Said" f/Brandy I liked also b/c again, very little Diddy. The speeding up at the end? A little too odd for me. I'll pass on that. Thanks.

That was as far as I got. So what did we learn from this. One. Diddy can't do it all. Two. Less Diddy = Better Song. Three. It's time for another cd with you only in the background doing your Diddy thing producing, etc. Three A. It'd be REAALLY great if you'd come out with a cd w/all these fab people everyone wants to hear with all of your great producers WITHOUT YOU ON IT! I'd really love that Diddy. And I'd tell everyone to buy it. I really would. Four. If you like a good laugh and don't mind buying random cds for a giggle, you should buy this cd. If you're looking for some answer to the grand design and what this all means, ya might want to Press Stop.