THE TRACKS OF HIS TEARS

By CHRISTOPHER JOHN FARLEY

In March, Sean ("Puffy") Combs, head of Bad Boy Records and the hottest producer in hip-hop, went into what he calls a deep depression after his friend and chief collaborator, gangsta rapper Biggie Smalls, was gunned down outside a Los Angeles party. Coming hard after the slaying of rival rap star Tupac Shakur, who had been feuding with Bad Boy, the killing sparked speculation that the two incidents could be linked. Now Combs, 26, has re-emerged with his first solo album, No Way Out. It's an uneven work--the piano-driven Do You Know? flashes with brilliance, the dour Young G's slogs in gangsterism--but it has already generated two No. 1 singles. In his music studios in New York City, Combs talked with music critic Christopher John Farley.

TIME: What made you decide to put out your own rap record?

Combs: I never want to die and say, "I wish I would have tried this, I wish I would have did this." I think that would be the most pitiful feeling in the world.

TIME: The album samples David Bowie, the Police, even the Rocky score. That's a sharp contrast from your work with other rappers, which tends to draw on more traditional soul sources.

Combs: I was middle class growing up. I grew up [in Harlem until age 12, in suburban Mount Vernon, N.Y., afterward] with white kids and Chinese kids. I grew up listening to Ozzy Osbourne and Rapper's Delight.

TIME: What about speculation that you had something to do with Tupac Shakur's murder?

Combs: There was definitely no truth in that. I wouldn't... No. To have somebody killed. That boy ain't...he was...he did not deserve to die. Nobody deserved to die like that. Who deserves to get gunned down? We didn't have problems like that. Our problems were some record-type s___. You know?

TIME: Any idea who killed Biggie Smalls?

Combs: I can't speculate... The press, to [ask] anybody else about what they think--that's making s___ more confused. That's not right. F___ what somebody thinks. If you know, then the person would be in jail right now. I can't stoop that low, to speculate on somebody's life.

TIME: There have been reports that Bad Boy has been involved with street gangs. Did you ever hire Crips as bodyguards?

Combs: Never. That is so unintelligent it's beyond, like, my mental capacity. Why would I have a company worth over $200 million and jeopardize that by hiring security that does not have the license to carry firearms?

TIME: You're a father. Do you think hard-core rap records should carry stronger parental warnings?

Combs: I don't have no problem with that. I think kids shouldn't be able to listen to some of these albums till their minds are fully developed and ready to digest an album with certain realities on there. There are realities that may be too harsh for young ears. Even though it's a reality and it needs to be said, it may not need to be said to a 10-year-old.

TIME: What about a three-year-old? Do you let your three-year-old son Justin listen to gangsta rap?

Combs: Well, he can't listen to the Biggie album [the recently released Life After Death]. Some things on my album he can't listen to. He just listens to the singles. The cleaned-up singles.