Pop has always been full of chameleons: artists who constantly reinvent themselves to keep us guessing (we guess). Examples include Bob Dylan, the Beatles, Madonna, David Bowie, Beck and McFly.
Desperately seeking entry into this prestigious club is a certain rapper and producer named Sean Combs, who has previously assumed the guises of Puff Daddy, Puff, Puffy, Diddy and - in a burst of linguistic cunning reminiscent of TS Eliot - P Diddy.
And the reinvention continues with an announcement - sure to cause as much of a furore as Dylan going electric - that he is changing his nom de plume yet again, this time to Sean John. This particular name change is very much a back-to-basics transformation for Combs as Sean and John are his first and middle given names.
The maverick hip-hop mogul has used this alias for his clothing line and is now using it for his latest fragrance. "I have always evolved and taken a different name each time," P Diddy/Sean John is quoted as saying in the Sun. "Right now I want to be Sean John because that's where I am right now."
However, the change of pseudonym might also be the result of difficulties regarding his previous nickname, P Diddy, which has caused him financial grief. In 2006, British courts ordered Combs to pay "significant damages" to London DJ/producer Richard "Diddy" Dearlove and he was also restricted from trading under the name of Diddy in the UK.
