DIDDY'S LAST TRAIN TO PARIS PULLS INTO FOXWOODS RESORT!

His businesses and music have made him one of the richest rappers in history. Yet Sean (Diddy) Combs continues to be haunted by this muse he calls Cassie.

"Last Train to Paris," the debut album from his new group, Diddy-Dirty Money, is no exception. She is referenced immediately in the first track, "Intro."

"The record is my first vulnerable, honest, searching-for-love CD. It's strictly from my soul," proclaims His Diddiness before heading for the MGM Grand at Foxwoods on Wednesday.

The Money honeys on the album are Dawn Richard and Kalenna Harper, who've been with him for years. "The name is not about drug money, illegal money or anything bad," Combs insists. "It's about a look, a sound, a movement, a crew.

"It's a love story, a concept album — all my records are concept albums, you know? — about, to be honest, something I had gone through. Why Paris? An ex-girlfriend told me where she was at and I didn't believe her. But it just made me understand how powerful love is. I wanted to run and join her, you know what I mean?" Without fully explaining the circumstances, he says "it was very personal."

That was a couple of years ago. When the experience continued to eat at his soul, Diddy decided to write about it. "I knew Dawn and Kalenna," he says. "I loved their voices. Most of my records have female songs on them. They were the perfect match. We have a great relationship. Our dream is coming true. Some people may not understand the concept, but a lot who saw us on 'American Idol' got it."

That also may have been the first time that the public had seen Diddy and ex-girlfriend Jennifer Lopez in the same venue in years. The way "Idol's" Judge Jenny shows such compassion to contestants "made me cry, like, twice," he told "Access Hollywood." "She makes sense too, you know. I'm proud of her."

Born in Harlem and raised in Mount Vernon, Combs attended Mount Saint Michael Academy in the Bronx, where he played football. He went on to Howard University in Washington, D.C., but dropped out when he got wrapped up in music. Since then, he has become the richest rapper in history.

In 1999, however, he hit a speed bump. During a party with then-squeeze J.Lo at a New York nightspot, shooting broke out. He and Lopez quickly fled, but while she was never charged, Combs was hit with a gun-possession rap and subsequently acquitted. Since then, his life has been fairly calm — except to play the turbulent Walter Lee Younger in the 2004 Broadway revival of "A Raisin in the Sun."

"I loved the way the Broadway community embraced me," says Diddy. "I had a great time and I would like to do another one. Only maybe this time it could be something original."

Right now, however, his eyes are on Foxwoods. "I'm gonna play as much of 'Last Train' as I can and all of the hits I can," he says. "You go with what the audience is feeling. But one thing I do know: It's gonna be a party."

(The group also comes to the House of Blues in A.C. Saturday.)


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