Not sure if this will work, but I couldn’t resist trying: here’s a link to a New York magazine article about Sean Combs’ launch of his new fragrance, I Am King. (To be followed later by I Am Queen, natch).
According to the link-through to WWD at the bottom of the NY magazine article: “Developed by Combs and the Estée Lauder Cos.´ Karyn Khoury and Trudi Loren in cooperation with International Flavors & Fragrances, I Am King opens with tangerine zest, juicy orange, succulent cranberry and a proprietary Imperial French berry note. The heart is of kir royal, crà¨me de cassis, premium Champagne and cooling Mediterranean water accord. Base notes are of key lime pie, lemon cream, rich labdanum extract, cedarwood, vetiver, white moss, sandalwood essences and clean powdery undertones.” Does that not sound like someone threw up in your luxury yacht? At least it’s premium champers, thank goodness, not Andre or something nasty.
photo: New York magazine
When I first heard about this, I wondered if Diddy was doing a tie-in with his Burger King endorsements. Maybe they’re going to hand out a sample of the perfume with every Value Meal or something. That would be nauseating, now that I think about it.
See, as a European, I saw the name of this perfume and thought “How clever! He’s promoting African American pride by naming his perfume after the great Martin Luther King Jr.” I thought it was a brilliant idea, as by spraying on this perfume, you are promoting Dr King’s ideology and proclaiming yourself part of a great movement for liberation for all humanity. What a fantastic piece of consciousness-raising!
And then I discover that it’s just a narcissistic mouthbreather saying he’s got a big tonker.
Bored now. And so very very disappointed.
I am …. not going to touch this with a ten-foot pole. 😉 Have already been accused of racial insensitivity once, ain’t going there again. Will say you’d have to have some Cojones to do a MLK frag, but hey – if the Pope has one…
Well in a way you gotta hand it to the guy. He started out as a backup dancer in music videos. He knows who is audience is, and it appears that it is impossible to underestimate them, which he also seems to “get.”
But, yeah, I bet he’s a mouthbreather.
You said “backup dancer” and now I keep seeing him in hammer pants in my mind’s eye.
Make that visual go away.
Having read some interviews/articles about him, I think he’s smart enough to hire and consult with people who know a lot about various areas of business, and take their advice. From a business perspective, I have total respect for the man.
I have to wonder how much input Sean Combs even HAD in the development of that fragrance. With so many celebrity fragrances, the celebrity is barely involved. At the same time, Mr. Combs apparently has a thing for Diptyque Tubéreuse candles — I read an article that he won’t even step into a recording studio unless he has his favourite Diptyque candles. And then a few weeks ago, I walked into the Diptyque store in Boston, and saw a stack of 25 Tubéreuse candles behind the counter — apparently, they were his monthly order.
Well, I think that demonstrates good taste! @};-
I must say I nearly hit the floor laughing when I saw the ads for this one. The Ad copy with the listing of notes was even funnier – completely indistinguishable from the Prix Faux ads people recently wrote (And bravo to Vasily’s “Pauper”fragrance!). Is there no end to Puff Daddy/P. Diddy/Spiffy’s ego? I don’t get his appeal at all – he looks like a mouth-breather to me.
Seriously, you don’t think he’s hot? I guess not. Some other votes on here for mouth breathing as well…. gonna leave this alone before we get some race smackdown going, I could live without it. :)>-
Wow. This is gonna be a really difficult choice.
New SL or I am King :-& ???
Both! You could layer them!
Uh-o. I finally, unconditionally, feel *old* at just 35 years. Utter lack of comprehension of “cool.”
I have finally understood also the reason for enhancing one’s figure with balloon-sized breasts that do not move. Those tops. I was just at the mall, looking at a shirt and wondering: who can wear this wide, plunging V? Now, I know. :”>
Those breasts freak me out. Also freaking me out: that mags like Vogue use those women as examples of “curvy” bodies, when they are just skinny bodies with giant boobs.
I’m working on a new perfume which I’m thinking of calling “I am Pauper”. It will open with a burst of “I think that black thing at the bottom of the fruit bowl used to be a banana”, succulent cherry Life-Savers and a proprietary Grape Kool-Ade note. The heart is of that cherry-flavored vodka we used to drink when I was in high school, Schlitz Malt Liquor and some of that water that’s been sitting in the back-yard bird bath all summer and you don’t want to look too closely because there’s something wriggling around at the bottom but you don’t really want to know what it is. Base notes are Hostess Twinkies, Dr. Pepper soda, pencil shavings, navel lint, and just a hint of Dr. Scholl’s foot powder (for minty freshness).
Sorry, Vasily – but I think Kimora Lee Simmons may have beat you to it with Baby Phat Fabulosity. That stuff is vile! 😮
Man, that stuff WAS vile. Even by the vile standards it was vile. Makes that Tommy Dreaming look like Lutens.
I would totally buy that. It would remind me of the house I used to live in… (sniffs with nostalgia.) Wait … where are the cigarettes? You forgot something.
holy somoli. that was hysterical.
LOL! Yowsa. Twit city.
Man will probably make a fortune. I want to see the bottle! Think it comes with a little crown you can wear as a ring?
Ew, the whole concept of this is so arrogant it’s disturbing.
Why does he feel the need to list Kir Royal and then both seperate ingredients that make up a Kir Royale (champagne and creme de cassis?)
Um … I didn’t know that either. :”> But your point is well taken, I think he’s trying to get the “luxury club drink” message across for us dunderheads.
I wouldn’t expect most people to know it, March – I was a bartender for a year and I don’t think I had anyone order a Kir Royale from me the entire time. But I guess then, he isn’t expecting his perfume customers to be well versed in luxury drinks?
Oh, I don’t know. Aren’t the hip people drinking Cristal through straws these days? And leaving the bands on their cigars so you can see the brand? IT’s enough to make me sob into my embroidered kerchief.
Ah, a luxury barf-fest. I’m excited.
On a certain level I’m excited too!! I mean, at least it’s not a molten river of woods and some pink pepper.
I am just waiting for the shot of SJ with robe, crown and sceptre. Maybe sitting on the porcelain ‘throne’?
March, thanks for making me spit out my coffee – again!=)) That note-combo is stomach-churning, innit?
xo
Syrup of Ipecac is just as effective, and a lot more affordable. Bottle’s not as nice, though. Did I mention the bottle is nice?
Hey … we need a fragrance with Syrup of Ipecac! :-w
Those notes are appalling, but honestly, I could look at that man all day. Even in a Burger King crown.
Just what we need … a calone-ish, blackcurrant, white moss, sandalwood, powdery “masterpiece” (how many of those are out there?) with a lot of fruit and bizarre gourmand notes tossed (urp!) in. What a nightmare.
I think the key lime pie was the deal-breaker for me. Will be really funny if it smells like a run-of-the-mill fresh/aquatic/woods guy scent.
It does kind of remind me of the drink du jour among the young late 80s working crowd – the WooWoo. If I remember correctly, it was an awful concoction of vodka, peach Schnapps, champagne, cassis, and couple more horrifying ingredients. I had to pray to the porcelain god on many occasions after drinking a few of those.
Ewww!! Agh, those horrible drinks when we didn’t know what we were doing. Remember Long Island Tea? :-& Or anything made with Midori. Or Black Russians. shudder
He should have just called it Ongepatshket. LOL on throwing up in your luxury yacht. Thanks, March!
=))
Francesca, you made my day. I haven’t seen or heard the word “ongepatshket” in ages. Thank you!
Thanks, Nava! A wonderful word which I learned from my dear mother-in-law.
But what does it MEAN? (whines) :((
It’s Yiddish for a messed-up mishmash!;)
I wish someone would name a fragrance that.
You beat me to it! I was thinking “cachebaches”, which is the spanglish equivalent. I can’t think of any man I know who would want to smell like fruity cocktail, no matter what the drydown, and I severely doubt the women’s version will be any less godawfully sticky-sweet.
You have your doubts about the integrity of this fragrance? Do you not want to be Queen? Where’s my eye-batting emoticon? 8-|
For that matter, why has Tina Turner not done a celebrity frag? I’d buy that. “I Might Have Been Queen.”
Makes sense that the berry is not just Imperial, but proprietary. Blasted monarchy.
Seriously, how much more ridiculous can those notes get?
Egads.. Words just fail me.
I had a word. I think it is spelled aaaiiiieeee!!!! Not sure. But that’s close enough.
I personally think Diddy is totally hot (and an excellent businessman) but this seems a bit … much. For all I know, though, he’s done great with Unforgivable. And I admire his b@lls-out approach.