MUSIC: THE TRACKS OF HIS TEARS

PUFFY COMBS SOUNDS OFF ON HIS DEATH-HAUNTED NEW CD AND HIS SLAIN FRIEND, RAP STAR BIGGIE SMALLS

In March, Sean ("Puffy") Combs, head of Bad Boy Records and the hottest producer in hip-hop, went into what he calls a deep depression after his friend and chief collaborator, gangsta rapper Biggie Smalls, was gunned down outside a Los Angeles party. Coming hard after the slaying of rival rap star Tupac Shakur, who had been feuding with Bad Boy, the killing sparked speculation that the two incidents could be linked. Now Combs, 26, has re-emerged with his first solo album, No Way Out. It's an uneven work--the piano-driven Do You Know? flashes with brilliance, the dour Young G's slogs in...

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