Last Train to Paris (2010)

Last Train to Paris is the only studio album by American R&B trio Diddy – Dirty Money, composed of rapper Sean "Diddy" Combs, and R&B singers Kalenna Harper and Dawn Richard. It was released on December 14, 2010, by Bad Boy Records and Interscope Records. Story-wise, the album follows Diddy's alter-ego as he travels from London to Paris to regain his lost love. Subject matter and lyrics are based around dramatized descriptions of romance, heartache, vulnerability, regret, and emotional conflict. Predominantly styled in contemporary R&B, Last Train to Paris incorporates elements of Eurodance, Italo disco and tech house.

It is the only album by Dirty Money before their 2012 disbandment, although the group reunited once more to perform on a song from Diddy's fifth album, The Love Album: Off the Grid (2023). Guest vocalists on the album include Grace Jones, Chris Brown, Lil Wayne, Skylar Grey, Drake, Justin Timberlake, Nicki Minaj, T.I., Wiz Khalifa, Swizz Beatz, Trey Songz, Rick Ross, Usher, Sevyn Streeter, James Fauntleroy, Bilal and the Notorious B.I.G. The album also features vocal segues from fashion designers and editors, including Vogue editor-in-chief Anna Wintour and Tommy Hilfiger. The executive producers on the album are Rodney Jerkins, Diddy, Mario Winans and Harve Pierre.

The album marks Diddy's only project with Interscope Records after he and his Bad Boy label parted ways with Atlantic Records in 2009. Last Train to Paris was generally praised by critics, who commended the addition of Richard and Harper to help Diddy innovate a new sound. Its three preceding singles, "Angels", "Hello Good Morning" and "Loving You No More", were met with moderate success on the Billboard Hot 100. Its fourth, "Coming Home", was released in November 2010, peaked at number 11 on the chart, and foresaw the album's release the following month.

The album spawned two further singles released the next year, "Your Love" and "Ass on the Floor", both of which failed to chart. During its opening week, Last Train to Paris outperformed expectations, debuting eight places higher than predicted—at number seven—on the US Billboard 200. It sold 101,000 copies, compared to the 60,000-70,000 copies that Billboard had predicted it would sell. However, despite this strong debut week, the album underperformed sales-wise.

Conception

Diddy described Last Train to Paris as an "electro-hip-hop-soul funk" album which has been three years in the making. Diddy says the sound of this album was influenced by "being in the dance music world and doing stuff with Felix da Housecat, Erick Morillo, Deep Dish, DJ Hell and being in Ibiza and DC10." The arc follows Diddy's character as he tours from London to Paris and finds the woman of his dreams - only to lose her, find her, lose her again and find her a final time.

The records were conceptualised from Diddy's comments to his producers. He told Alex da Kid, who produced "Coming Home", "I want a beat that makes me feel like a white man in a basement in Atlanta." Diddy said that "most of the producers he worked with, he's been friends with for a long time. The records came together by hanging out with them, taking them to parties and showing them movies".

In an interview with MTV News, Diddy said "One of the things [Dirty Money] trying to represent is emotion... Not being afraid to show emotion on record. A lot of records out right now — no disrespect to them, but they're all surface. Its about what people have or a dance. All our records are gonna be about love, feelings and emotion. Last Train to Paris is a love story and the most vulnerable album I've ever been involved in. Its raw emotion — you get a feeling, a vibe."

Diddy released an application for the iPhone that integrates his social networking site and Twitter feed. A short film will also accompany the album. Rap producer Bangladesh, confirmed that he would be producing for the album. According to New York Magazine, the album was "assembled from 60 or so songs. The genesis of Last Train to Paris is full of odd stories involving our hero, ensconced in a darkened studio, barking batty ideas to his production team."

Dirty Money

Last Train to Paris is officially credited to Diddy – Dirty Money. Dirty Money was formed when Diddy asked former Danity Kane member Dawn Richard, and singer-songwriter Kalenna Harper to perform alongside him on the album. In an interview with AllHipHop, Diddy said that Dirty Money is "not about no drug money, illegal money, or anything negative". Instead he described it as "a sound, a movement, [and] a crew", something fresh and unique for his new album. He explained that "he wanted to tell a love story" but needed Dirty Money because "he couldn’t just tell the male’s point of view."