Sean Combs Talks to Style.com on His New Fragrance and Its Provocative Video

In 2006, Sean “P. Diddy” Combs launched his first fragrance, Unforgivable, raking in $100 million USD globally in its first year and winning the FiFi Award for Fragrance of the Year in the men’s luxe category. Combs won the award again in 2009 with the launch of I Am King. For his latest venture, the music mogul unveils “3 AM,” his first new scent in six years. While the celebrity fragrance market isn’t quite what it used to be, the fresh, citrusy scent is being backed by a provocative promotional video that stars Combs and his longtime love interest, Cassie.

Check out an excerpt from Style.com‘s exclusive interview below.

How did you develop the concept for the video?

The concept for the video represents one of the things that 3 a.m. is for me. It’s a very one-on-one time. It’s a time to have fun and push the envelope a little bit. It’s definitely an hour where you would find yourself with a young lady. Anything can happen at 3 a.m., and in the video, you see a fantasy that’s in my head of what happened that night.

What vibe are you hoping to evoke with this fragrance?

First of all, I want [people] to like the design of the bottle, but just like with any fragrance, I want somebody to stop you in the elevator and ask you what you’re wearing. No matter what the fragrance is called, that’s my objective. And I want a lot of people to get laid to it!

When you’re creating a new fragrance, do you have certain notes in mind or do you bring other elements to the perfumers for inspiration?

I usually have a name first, then I go to the scent and the design of the bottle. I work directly with my partners and they give me almost all the creative freedom. Scent-wise, I usually say the same thing: I want to smell clean; I want it to smell good. I don’t like woody, musky smells. I use bergamot in almost every fragrance—things that relate to freshness but also give you an erotic type of smell.