Backstage Pass

Diddy is a man of many talents: performer, producer, marketer, party-thrower, entrepreneur and pitch man.

Rapper should be on the list, too, though not very high, considering all his other successes. He's a decent rapper, but that's often not the point. And that becomes pretty clear on "Press Play" (Bad Boy/Atlantic), Diddy's first album in five years.

It turns out, you see, that Diddy is best in small doses. The album opens with five Diddy-dominated songs, filled with the boasting rhymes, sometimes-stilted flow, and even a sample from an odd new-wave hit (in this case, "Testimonial" features Tears for Fears' "Head Over Heels") that mark all his albums. On "The Future," where he rhymes "breakfast" with "brake pads," Diddy hammers away with lines such as "Bang like chitty chitty, here to disturb you/New CD, watch it spread like bird flu" over a menacing beat. That gets old pretty quick.

But once the "Press Play" guests start arriving, suddenly Diddy finds his footing. Pussycat Doll Nicole Scherzinger sexes up the first single, "Come to Me," cooing over the spacey synth-funk groove. Christina Aguilera is just as steamy on "Tell Me," offering one of her most straightforward, stripped-down vocals since "Genie in a Bottle." And, of course, Mary J. Blige brings the house down with a passionate performance on "Making It Hard," where producer Rich Harrison smooths out the brash horns and jagged beats of Jennifer Lopez's "Get Right" to suit Blige's soul vibe better.

Diddy even stretches the boundaries of Diddiness a bit, with the dance-flavored, double-speed "Thought You Said," featuring a lovely vocal from Brandy and an irresistible skittering beat. "Wanna Move," which teams Diddy with OutKast's Big Boi, Scar and Ciara, is another dance-floor winner, adding a layer of darkness to an airy, Dirty South dance groove.

The strangest of the bunch, though, may be "Diddy Rock," where Timbaland helps construct one of the spacey hip-hop backdrops that have helped Justin Timberlake and Nelly Furtado dominate the charts this year. However, instead of going for a catchy theme like bringing sexy back or getting promiscuous, Diddy goes dada, offering "Let me take you to Indonesia, where nobody can reach us" and "I'm your burgers, you my fries" before standing back once Twista and Shawnna start trading rapid-fire rhymes.

In the five years since his last album, the disappointing "The Saga Continues," Diddy has learned what so many CEOs and politicos haven't. A great leader knows when to stand back and let others shine. He understands that when the entire project does well, so does he, and that sometimes your strongest role can be behind-the-scenes.

This new strategy has definitely helped to revitalize Diddy's Bad Boy Entertainment, which has seen smash hits this year from Danity Kane and Yung Joc, after a short dry spell. And it is sure to pay off when "Press Play" spawns hit singles deep into next year. ("Press Play," in stores today; grade: B)

Listen to "Press Play" here