For nearly three decades, no one has lived larger than Sean Combs—Puffy the world builder, the maximalist style guru, the impeccable spotter of talent. John Jeremiah Sullivan spent some time inside the beautiful bubble created by a hip-hop icon.

When Diddy was just an aspiring music mogul – and far removed from the hallowed company provided by the Forbes list – he said that he aspired to grace the cover of four important magazines; Essence, Ebony, Jet, and GQ.”

His GQ ambitions have been realized after it was revealed that he graces the April cover where he discusses a range of topics – including another name change, his favorite artists, Biggie’s death, and a new project with JAY-Z which speaks to his desire to empower the black community with community initiatives spearheaded by successful entrepreneurs.

While choice excerpts appear below, head over to GQ to read the profile in its entirety.

On his name change to “Love”…

“I like re-inventing. That’s probably why I have so many name changes. It’s why I follow David Bowie and Madonna.”

On his favorite artists…

“Kendrick Lamar, Drake, SZA, Jay-Z, Nas, Migos, Lil Baby, Future.”

On Biggie’s death…

“I haven’t dealt with any of that yet. I try to get into it, but…that’s something that just hurts so bad. That’s a time that’s still suppressed.”

On wanting to develop an app that empowers black communities…

“This is not about taking away from any other community.”

“We’ll still go to Chinatown. We’ll still buy Gucci!”

“But the application will make it possible for us to have an economic community. It’s about blacks gaining economic power.”

“At some point there has to be some kind of fight. I feel like we’ve done a lot of marching. It’s time to start charging.”

On his project with JAY-Z…

“We’re into psychological warfare. The difference is, we’re not trying to hurt nobody.”