Rap icon Sean "Diddy" Combs is under federal investigation following allegations of sex trafficking, sexual assault, and involvement in other illegal activities. Search warrants are being executed at his properties. The investigation stems from various lawsuits filed against Combs, including by his former partner, R&B singer Cassie, in which she alleges years of abuse.
Faculty experts at the George Washington University are available to provide context, commentary and analysis on Combs’ response, his legacy and the implications such allegations have for hip hop culture. If you would like to speak to an expert, please contact GW Media Relations Specialists Tayah Frye at [email protected] and Cate Douglass at [email protected].
Imani M. Cheers is an associate professor of digital storytelling and the Interim Senior Associate Provost for Undergraduate Education Office of the Provost. She is also the Director of Academic Adventures for Planet Forward. Cheers is an award-winning digital storyteller, director, producer, and filmmaker. As a professor of practice, she uses a variety of mediums including video, photography, television, and film to document and discuss issues impacting and involving people of the African Diaspora.
Loren Kajikawa is chair of the music program at The George Washington University’s Corcoran School of the Arts & Design. His main area of research and teaching is American music of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries, with special attention to the dynamics of race and politics. Kajikawa’s writings have appeared in American Music, Black Music Research Journal, ECHO: a music-centered journal, Journal of the Society for American Music, and Popular Music and Society, among others. His book Sounding Race in Rap Songs (University of California Press, 2015) explores the relationship between rap music’s backing tracks and racial representation. In addition to his publications, Kajikawa is a former Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of the Society for American Music (Vol. 12-13) and he currently serves as co-editor of “Tracking Pop,” the University of Michigan Press’s series of books about popular music.
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