iHR: It's been eight years since your last project MMM (Money Making Mitch). What changed about your creative process in the studio since then?

Diddy: I think just in general, R&B is a whole different frequency. It allows you to stay in a love process the whole time. I was able to really tap into love and really make sure that the intention of all my melodies and the music and everything I was feeling was for that soundtrack of when you're in love, falling in love. And so that's what I would say is different. It is totally different than making Hip-Hop. With R&B, you could just be an unapologetic lover.

How did you come up with that album title?

To be honest, the people really came up with that album title. When people heard I was in the studio, all my fans would hit me and say, ‘What's up with that Love album? What's up with the Love album?' And the name of the album was Off the Grid. And then Kanye had came out with a record called “Off The Grid,” and I was like, ‘Man, I guess I should call it The Love Album: Off The Grid. And that's how I came up with it. So it's a combination of the people and yeah.

The Love Album: Off the Grid has so many collaborations, including the “final collaboration” with The Weekend. How did you convince Abel to end his reign as The Weeknd on your album?

Me and Abel did this record like eight years ago, and it was something that I knew that I was going to put out one day. As I was starting this album, [“Another One of Me”] was the first song that I started with as far as to go into the lane of the new sounding R&B, like my modern R&B sound, which is a combination of my nostalgic ‘90s sound and everything that's up to date right now. Everything that I've experienced sonically, brought with me, all together on one album, The Love Album.

Who was the first artist you recruited for the album and why?

The first artist that I recruited for the album was Teyana Taylor. Teyana Taylor was somebody that I always wanted to work with. She's like my sister. I call her “Baby Puff.” I'm “Big Puff,” but we never got to make a record. We both from Harlem and we just always been cool, but we never worked together musically. And then she retired, so I was so mad that she retired. I didn't get a chance to work with her. So she came out of retirement for me on this one record called “Closer to God.” She's the first one that I reached out to and she said yes.

Bev Johnson