Sean ‘P Diddy‘ Combs, the hip-hop mogul, is seeing a rise in streaming numbers despite facing growing s*x trafficking allegations and being dropped from several radio station playlists.
Mr Combs is grappling with more than a dozen allegations bordering on sx trafficking, sxual abuse, assaults and racketeering conspiracy.
Despite the gravity of these charges and his growing alienation from the entertainment world, his music has experienced an unexpected rise in streaming numbers.
Mr Combs, who has pleaded not guilty to the charges, was indicted last month and is currently appealing his detention in a Brooklyn jail.
His songs have been removed from major radio playlists, and his reputation in the music world has taken a nosedive, which is evident in his exclusion at the Grammy Awards, where he once reigned supreme.
Nevertheless, platforms like Spotify and Apple Music have seen a notable rise in streaming his songs. In the past year, his Spotify following has grown by about 15 per cent, from 1.5 million to 1.8 million, according to Chartmetric.
Mr Combs’ hit song ‘I’ll Be Missing You’ has now garnered 622,297,503 streams on Spotify, solidifying its place as one of his most successful tracks on the platform.
In the week leading up to his September 16 arrest, his music catalogue garnered 3.2 million streams in the U.S. Following his arrest, that figure surged by 50 per cent, rising to 4.8 million, according to data from Luminate, which tracks music streaming statistics.
This jump in streams occurred despite the mounting legal challenges surrounding him.
While support for the artiste has fluctuated across social media platforms, TikTok users have rallied in his defence, using the hashtag #FreeDiddy over 12,000 times.
Similar support has emerged on Instagram, with the hashtag being used over 5,000 times.
This loyalty contrasts with the damning media reports, including a leaked video of Mr Combs allegedly assaulting Cassie in 2016 and federal raids on his homes earlier this year.
