Diddy Announces ‘The Love Album: Off The Grid’: Here’s When It Arrives
Leave it to Diddy to reassure fans that “R&B is alive.” On Tuesday (Aug. 22), the Grammy-winning producer and rapper announced his latest record, The Love Album: Off the Grid. The new album is slated for a Sept. 15 release.
The Love Album marks Diddy’s first solo studio LP since 2006’s Press Play, which spawned the hit singles “Tell Me” (with Christina Aguilera) and “Last Night” (with Keyshia Cole). Diddy, who currently goes by Love, announced the news with a lavish trailer posted to his social media accounts. “Why am I doing this? Especially with the success that I’ve had, especially where my life, how stressful and treacherous this music business is,” he ponders. “My heart has been broken. I still have that question of, like, ‘Will I ever love again?'”
Based on the rest of the nearly four-minute trailer, it appears that The Love Album: Off the Grid is Diddy’s way of finding answers to those questions. Throughout the teaser, clips of him dancing with his late longtime partner Kim Porter and bonding with the newest addition to his family, daughter Love Sean Combs (10 months, with cyber security specialist Dana Tran), are interspersed with a healthy dose of behind-the-scene footage of the album’s recording process and some doe-eyed R&R with Yung Miami of City Girls. On Instagram, Diddy tagged a number of artists, some of which appear in the trailer, including Justin Bieber, Swae Lee, Mary J. Blige, Babyface, Jozzy, Yung Miami, French Montana, DJ Khaled, Teyana Taylor and 21 Savage.
As much as the trailer provides some glimpses into the creation of The Love Album, the new clip also finds Diddy navigating the pressures of fame and his overwhelming world of entertainment and business. From isolating on a private island without his phone to hitting exercises wherever and whenever he can, themes of health and wellness across the physical, mental and emotional realms loom over the Love Album trailer.
The announcement of The Love Album: Off the Grid comes on the heels of a string of recent singles from Diddy. Last year, he released the Bryson Tiller-assisted “Gotta Move On,” which peaked at No. 79 on the Billboard Hot 100, as well as the PARTYNEXTDOOR-featuring “Sex in the Porsche.” This year, he teamed up with City Girls and Fabolous for “Act Bad,” and guested on the official remix of Metro Boomin’s “Creepin'” (with The Weeknd and 21 Savage). Both “Creepin'” (best collaboration and best R&B) and “Gotta Move On” (best collaboration and best hip-hop) received nominations at the 2023 MTV Video Music Awards.
Watch the trailer for The Love Album: Off the Grid above.
Kyle-Brandon Denis
Billboard