section_path: Career/1996–1998: "Puff Daddy" and No Way Out
section_name: 1996–1998: "Puff Daddy" and No Way Out
paragraph_text: 1996–1998: "Puff Daddy" and No Way Out
  
  In 1996, under the name Puff Daddy, Combs released his first commercial vocal work as a rapper. His debut single, " Can't Nobody Hold Me Down ", spent 28 weeks on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, peaking at number one. His debut album, No Way Out, was released on July 22, 1997, through Bad Boy Records. Originally titled Hell up in Harlem, the album underwent several changes after the Notorious B.I.G. was killed on March 9, 1997. Several of the label's artists made guest appearances on the album. No Way Out was a significant success, particularly in the United States, where it reached number one on the Billboard 200 in its first week of release, selling 561,000 copies.
  
  The album produced five singles: " I'll Be Missing You ", a tribute to the Notorious B.I.G., was the first rap song to debut at number one on the Billboard Hot 100; it remained at the top of the chart for 11 consecutive weeks and topped several other charts worldwide. Four other singles—"Can't Nobody Hold Me Down", " It's All About the Benjamins ", " Been Around the World ", and " Victory "—were also released. Combs collaborated with Jimmy Page on the song " Come with Me " for the 1998 film Godzilla.
  
  The album earned Combs five nominations at the 40th Grammy Awards in 1998, and would go on to win the Grammy Award for Best Rap Album. On September 7, 2000, the album was certified septuple platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America for sales of over 7 million copies. By the late 1990s, he was being criticized for watering down and overly commercializing hip hop, and for relying excessively on guest appearances, samples, and interpolations of past hits. For example, in a 1997 review of No Way Out for Billboard, Havelock Nelson commented: "...the over-reliance on huge swathes of undiluted samples is simply clumsy, lazy, and demeaning to the sources." Also in 1997, Neil Strauss of The New York Times called Combs the "king of sampled hits".
  
  In 1996, under the name Puff Daddy, Combs released his first commercial vocal work as a rapper. His debut single, " Can't Nobody Hold Me Down ", spent 28 weeks on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, peaking at number one. His debut album, No Way Out, was released on July 22, 1997, through Bad Boy Records. Originally titled Hell up in Harlem, the album underwent several changes after the Notorious B.I.G. was killed on March 9, 1997. Several of the label's artists made guest appearances on the album. No Way Out was a significant success, particularly in the United States, where it reached number one on the Billboard 200 in its first week of release, selling 561,000 copies.
  
  The album produced five singles: " I'll Be Missing You ", a tribute to the Notorious B.I.G., was the first rap song to debut at number one on the Billboard Hot 100; it remained at the top of the chart for 11 consecutive weeks and topped several other charts worldwide. Four other singles—"Can't Nobody Hold Me Down", " It's All About the Benjamins ", " Been Around the World ", and " Victory "—were also released. Combs collaborated with Jimmy Page on the song " Come with Me " for the 1998 film Godzilla.
  
  The album earned Combs five nominations at the 40th Grammy Awards in 1998, and would go on to win the Grammy Award for Best Rap Album. On September 7, 2000, the album was certified septuple platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America for sales of over 7 million copies. By the late 1990s, he was being criticized for watering down and overly commercializing hip hop, and for relying excessively on guest appearances, samples, and interpolations of past hits. For example, in a 1997 review of No Way Out for Billboard, Havelock Nelson commented: "...the over-reliance on huge swathes of undiluted samples is simply clumsy, lazy, and demeaning to the sources." Also in 1997, Neil Strauss of The New York Times called Combs the "king of sampled hits".