The Spotlight Turns on Puffy Combs

Sean “Puffy” Combs, whose highly anticipated album is out today, doesn’t just have the No. 1 single in the country (“I’ll Be Missing You,” a tribute to the late Notorious B.I.G., recorded with the slain rapper’s widow Faith Evans). He’s also the star of one of the most dynamic music videos currently getting airplay.

Director Hype Williams’ dazzling clip is for “Mo’ Money, Mo’ Problems,” a song from B.I.G.’s album, “Life After Death.” But it’s B.I.G.’s producer and Bad Boy Entertainment CEO Combs who’s the focal point here, performing (under his stage name Puff Daddy) with fellow rapper Mase. Not only is the range of shots inventive, but there are enough visual cues, such as Combs in the photo at top right, to keep eyes peeled and toes tapping.

The video starts at a championship golf tournament, top left, where “Puffy Woods” is interviewed by “Mase Gumbel,” sinks the crucial putt and glad-hands the crowd--much to the chagrin of a Fuzzy Zoeller-like character. The next minute we’re thrown headfirst into a series of intercut images: Puff and Mase walking past walls of fire and $100 bills, dancers performing on a lighted platform ringed by fireworks, and most interesting of all, Puff and Mase rapping as they float in a sci-fi-like, gravity-free chamber, lower left.

Combs, as usual, is the center of attention. A constant flutter of movement, he kisses the camera, does intricate dance movements and spins like a top. Combs, who started out in the business dancing in clubs and in videos for other rappers, isn’t doing anything he hasn’t done for the past seven years--he’s a megalomaniac and grandstander, but damned if you don’t love him for it.

Most interesting are two things--an impromptu interview segment in which B.I.G. talks about the downside of fame and success, and a throwaway shot of Puff’s entourage emerging from expensive cars at a country club. One character, a bald man with a beard and considerable girth, looks remarkably like jailed Death Row CEO Marion “Suge” Knight, at left in the lower right photo. Coincidence? Arista Records says so. But you be the judge, especially since rumors of strife between the Bad Boy and Death Row camps often reached uncomfortable levels, and the two moguls shared a heated rivalry. But if Knight sees the video from his jail cell, he might agree with its title.