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• Citizen Change: Vote or Die!
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Tavis: It's getting harder and harder these days to introduce Sean 'P. Diddy' Combs, because the guy does everything. Maybe we should just call him 'Mr. Everything,' or as we say in the hood, 'Mr. All That and then some, and a bag of chips, a bag of onion potato chips with the ‘funk' on it.' What's up, man?

Sean 'P. Diddy Combs: How are you doing?

Tavis: How are you living? I'm well, how are you doing?

Combs: I'm doing great.

Tavis: You're rocking a Mohawk again.

Combs: Yeah, yeah, it's serious.

Tavis: Yeah.

Combs: It's serious, you know, we in a serious time.

Tavis: Right. So a serious time calls for a Mohawk hairdo?

Combs: You know, I want to make sure they see me coming.

Tavis: Right.

Combs: I want to stand out in a crowd.

Tavis: I saw you coming.

Combs: I want to stand out in a crowd. This is my warrior cut right here.

Tavis: Yeah, yeah. I saw you rocking at the MTV awards the other night.

Combs: Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Tavis: You had a good time down there.

Combs: Had a great time.

Tavis: Arriving on your yacht?

Combs: Yeah, I had a great time.

Tavis: Oh man, the life of Puffy must be nice. For those--you've been everywhere talking about everybody about this, and I applaud you for it.

Combs: Yes.

Tavis: You've talked to everybody, you've been asked everything, but not by everybody. But for those who haven't seen you talk about Citizen Change, your organization, tell me about the organization Citizen Change and why you decided to create it.

Combs: We created Citizen Change to educate, motivate and empower the over 40 million youth and minority voters who are disenfranchised or not educated to the process, the voting process, and also the hustle of politics. If you don't have a community of voters that could put somebody in office or take them out of office, you know, basically your politicians are not going to deal with your issues. So we want to hip them to the process and also to really energize them. God has blessed me with a talent to be able to communicate to people and be able to market to people. And we've come up with a plan to really do an extreme makeover of the voting process and really hip everybody to the hustle of politics, but to make them understand the power they have in their one vote. The last election was just decided by over probably 600 votes, you know. And this election right here is neck and neck, and we will be the deciding factor.

Tavis: If I were a politician, I'm not, as you well know, but if I were a politician, should I be offended when 'Puffy', when 'P. Diddy,' uses the phrase, 'If you want hip young people to the hustle of politics,' should I be offended by that?

Combs: I mean, you can get as offended as you want. I mean, we know, I'm just, I'm going to say it like it is because I have no--

Tavis: What do you say, what do you mean when you say that, 'Hip to the hustle of politics?'

Combs: It's a, you know, I mean, if you've come up in a hood, you know when somebody is around you and they're just talking around in circles. To be honest--

Tavis: Talking loud but ain't saying nothing.

Combs: Yeah, talking loud but ain't saying nothing. And right now, it's really time for a change, and the way you make that person in your neighborhood change is usually, you back them up against a wall, and you make them tell you what's really, what's really going on, instead of talking around in circles.

Tavis: Hold them accountable.

Combs: Yeah, hold them accountable. And we have to first be responsible, hold ourselves accountable. But you know, politics--like you have, you have the elderly who have a strong group of voters, a large number of voters. So--

Tavis: And a big organization called the AARP.

Combs: Yes, yes. And so you have the politicians dealing with their issues. They make sure that their lives are secure and comfortable. You have different communities of voters that put people in office and take them out of office. And unless we kind of get ourselves together and become a community that could put people in office and take them out of office if they won't deal with our issues.

Tavis: But isn't that the point though, that politicians, generally speaking, write young people off, because they don't think that they are involved in the process? They don't think they're hip to the hustle. They don't think they're aware.

Combs: That's extremely clear that they feel like they're too lazy to vote, that they don't care, and they're not going to vote. But that's not the truth. They just don't, a lot of young people, I myself didn't really understand. It isn't really usually explained to you, how the process works.

Tavis: When did you get hip to the hustle then?

Combs: I would have to say, you know, I just voted in 2000--

Tavis: For the first time.

Combs: For the first time, so it made me really pay attention to what was going on. And once I saw, once I really studied and really analyzed it I saw how most of the issues were directed to a pool of voters who had large numbers. And most of the things that were taken care of in the policies that a president, once they were in office took care of, was to make sure that they took care of the people that put them into office.

Tavis: I know you brought me a T-shirt, you better have brought me a T-shirt.

Combs: Yes, yes. I brought you a T-shirt.

Tavis: I'd be mad if you didn't. There you go. It's vote or die.

Combs: Vote or die. It's serious.

Tavis: I'm glad that you--thank you for the T-shirt, first of all. I'm glad that you brought this, because I've been waiting to ask you about this, I love this slogan 'Vote or Die'. What concerns me about it is whether or not you think that young people who are--because I think young people are much brighter than politicians give them credit for. I think a lot of young folk are not involved in the process, not because they're lazy, to the brilliant point that you made earlier, but because they know that the system is dysfunctional. They know that our democracy is dysfunctional. They know that people are involved in a hustle. To that end, when you tell somebody in a T-shirt, with a great slogan like 'Vote or Die', do they really take that seriously? I don't think that young people think they're going to wake up on November third, the day after Election Day and die, because they didn't vote the day before. I mean, can this slogan be effective?

Combs: I think the slogan can be effective because when you put somebody into office, I think it's clear that when we put somebody into office of president that we're putting our lives in their hands and the lives of our families. And that president can make a decision where you could wake up the next morning and your ass could die, straight up, you know. But also, beyond that it has so many different meanings, and I think young people can relate to. I think we know about the, we have a direct connection with the Civil Rights Movement because we are reaping in the benefits of what the Civil Rights Movement has done. And we owe it to the Civil Rights Movement, to all those people who have died to afford us these freedoms. We owe it to all the people that have died for us to have the opportunity to vote. And if you don't vote, it's just like you're just giving up. It's like you're dying, and that's one of the other meanings it has--Vote or die, and, you know, it's time for a change.

Tavis: I started out earlier by saying that, you know, you're getting harder and harder to introduce these days because you do so much stuff. You're the consummate entrepreneur now, the consummate businessman. Can you give me an example, or a couple of examples if you have one on top of your head, of how politics has affected your business? I mean, everybody in business, I mean, everybody in this town, Donald Trump on down, has politics creep into their business. They've got to find themselves navigating the intersection between a businessman and engaging in the political world. How has politics affected your business world, your growing empire?

Combs: I mean, I'll have to say the economy, the effects of the economy, you know, directly, which affects a lot of my businesses. But also, a lot of my businesses are around--have some direct connection with the emotions of the consumers. And so when it's not--

Tavis: Consumer confidence goes down.

Combs: Yes.

Tavis: That affects Sean Jean.

Combs: It affects it when, you know, people are not feeling good because, you know, I'm in entertainment. So, you know, you like to have good times, especially if you're making music or you're making clothes or making films. It doesn't affect our bottom line because no matter what, no matter if there's good times or bad times, entertainment still is always thriving, but it affects it in a way what motivates me, and that's people feeling good. And we're in a time right now where people aren't feeling good. They don't really see enough hope. One of the things, you know, we would plead to the politicians to start to deal with is issues that deal with us directly at home, you know, whether you're in the south side of Chicago, or in Watts or in Harlem. There are people in those communities that need help, and those politicians are supposed to help them and take care of them, make positive changes in their lives.

Tavis: And this clearly is non-partisan because you were at the Democratic Convention and you're here of course in New York at the Republican Convention.

Combs: Yeah, it's non-partisan. I have, the only allegiance I have is to the people. And you know, I'm not a politically savvy person. I don't, you know, this is not something I'm into as far as from a politics standpoint.

Tavis: You're just a marathoner.

Combs: I mean,--

Tavis: You just run marathons.

Combs: I get it done, basically, I go hard or go home.

Tavis: Do the work.

Combs: And actions speak louder than words and, you know, I think you lead by example, you know. So it's like every day I learn more about the process, and I try to pass that on. And, you know, I'm in a great partnership to get directly to the communities with BET, I'm in a partnership with MTV, and we're creating programming to directly touch this community of voters. And everybody can talk, but at the end of the day, make sure on November 2, you know, that you remember this conversation, because the revolution will be televised this time.

Tavis: Speaking of the fact that you are in the entertainment business, and clearly you are, what did you learn from, how much did you enjoy, what did you get out of that wonderful run that 'A Raisin in the Sun' had here on Broadway? I was so mad, because my schedule has been so tight, P. Diddy, I was trying to get here to see the play, and you all closed it down before I got here. But you had a heck of a run with that thing.

Combs: Yes, I mean, it was a life-changing experience. It was standing room only every night. But to play that role, to be able--

Tavis: Walter Lee.

Combs: Walter Lee, after Sidney played it, Danny Glover. So many people have played it, you know, whether it's in colleges or high school.

Tavis: But you played it and brought a whole different audience to appreciate the Broadway experience.

Combs: Yes, it definitely--it changed the face of Broadway and, you know, it revolutionized Broadway, as far as it brought people that wouldn't normally experience the Broadway experience, it brought them to Broadway and hopefully, it will keep them here. And also working with Phylicia Rashad and Sanaa Lathan, and Audra McDonald, Bill Nunn, you know, it taught me so much as an actor and where I'm going as an artist in the future of doing more acting.

Tavis: Where do you want to go as an artist in the future? But you're taking on some-- even that, I gave you major props. We talked on the radio show, as you recall, and I gave you major props for this, because you stepped out and opened yourself up to critics, and ain't no critics that--you know, that Frank Sinatra was right. If you can make it here, you can make it anywhere.

Combs: Yes.

Tavis: You step up on Broadway and play a role, try to reprise a role that Sidney Poitier put down. You're really opening yourself up; so, you've obviously got some courage. You want to do some more of this acting thing, huh?

Combs: Yeah, I mean, I'm already out there.

Tavis: Yeah.

Combs: I'm already out there right now...

Tavis: But it ain't selling records. Broadway ain't selling records, man.

Combs: Yeah, I'm already out there, and it's like, it's no turning back now, you know. I'm trying to not just make money, I'm trying to make history and also to inspire my people. And, you know, I wouldn't pass up that chance for nothing in the world, you know. And Sidney was extremely supportive, and it was an opportunity of a lifetime, and it changed my life in a positive way. And it's one of the reasons why I also decided to do Citizen Change, was just playing the role of Walter Lee, and that was back in '59, and we have a lot more freedoms now than we had then, and we have to be, you know, we have to make sure we take advantage of those freedoms and make these cats accountable.

Tavis: Is there any possibility that 'P. Diddy' could ever be over-exposed because you're doing so much stuff?

Combs: You know, there's definitely a possibility of that, but right now it's a situation where even if I'm out of the country, or I go and I lock myself--

Tavis: Yeah, I saw you in St. Tropez, hanging out.

Combs: If I lock myself in a room, you know, there are articles that are still written about me; so, what I try to do is I try and embrace it and, you know, utilize it in a positive way, and doing something like this is a way to utilize it in a positive way. I mean, I'm not going to stop, but also, you know, I like to preserve the sexy and try to lay low at times. But, you know, even with that, there are still things that are written about you that you have to combat or have to embrace.

Tavis: His name is Sean 'P. Diddy' Combs, the organization is Citizen Change, the slogan, 'Vote or Die'. You know, Election Day, November 2nd.

Combs: November 2nd, please get out and vote.

Tavis: There you go.

Combs: Register, you have until October 4th to register. Register first, please.

Tavis: 'P. Diddy' putting it down.

Combs: Yeah.

Tavis: November 2nd, Election Day, you know what time it is. Nice to see you man.

Combs: Okay, thank you.

Tavis: And that's our show for tonight, in fact, that's our show this week. We've had a great time here in New York City, Puffy's hometown, 'P. Diddy' runs the city. We had a great time here all week. We'll see you back next time from Los Angeles, until then thanks for watching. Good night from New York and keep the faith.