Diddy continues to remember his late mentor, Andre Harrell, and late ex and mother of his children, Kim Porter. Following the passing of Andre, a music exec and founder of Uptown Records who discovered Diddy and went on to launch his career, earlier this month, Diddy has been honouring his late friend with a number of heartfelt tributes. Most recently, he took to Instagram to share a clip of Andre dancing with Diddy's ex partner, Kim Porter, as they welcomed in the New Year in 2018. Kim passed away in November later that same year from pneumonia.

"SAVE ME A DANCE!! @ladykp @andreharrell," Diddy wrote on the bittersweet clip, followed by the broken heart emoji. "I PROMISE Y’ALL I’M GOING TO FINISH WHAT WE STARTED!!! REST IN POWER. Shit done got REAL!!!!"

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Who I have officially given a new name ... From now on he will also be known as ANDRE THE GREAT!!!!! ?✊?? RIP @andreharrell

A post shared by Diddy (@diddy) on May 18, 2020 at 2:21pm PDT

Earlier this week, Diddy also shared a montage of Andre set to Babyface's tribute song to the late music legend. "This is a song Baby Face wrote in remembrance of Andre Harrell," Diddy wrote on the post. "Who I have officially given a new name ... From now on he will also be known as ANDRE THE GREAT!!!!! RIP @andreharrell."

The music industry is still grieving the loss of Andre Harrell. The beloved music executive has created a legacy that is unmatched, and it’s clear that his protegé Diddy continues to have a hard time coming to terms with Harrell’s death. “I MISS YOU. HE WAS SO KIND. SO BEAUTIFUL. SO PATIENT. SO BLACK. SO CARING. SO SHARING. SO WISE. THE LIFE OF THE PARTY. A MUSICAL GENIUS! MY HERO,” Diddy wrote in the caption to a photo of himself and Andre Harrell.

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Lord Jamar and DJ Vlad chatted about the late music legend in a recent episode of VladTV, and during the discussion, they brought up Harrell’s early days in hip hop. Before he became instrumental in inking deals that turned some of our favorite artists into icons, Harrell was one half of the 1908s hip hop duo Dr. Jeckyll & Mr. Hyde. Vlad mentioned that he read that Harrell was gung-ho about his music career until he saw LL Cool J perform. It was then that he decided to go another route.

“‘Cause their whole style wasn’t aggressive like that,” Lord Jamar recalled. “It was more like that early emcee type of style and it was good for that, but he was smart enough to know. You see? And that’s part of it, being smart enough to assess your strengths and your weaknesses and know what you can do and what you can’t do. You might want to do some sh*t but I can’t really do that even if I want to do it… But I can help other people do that.”  The two also talked about the evolution of Harrell’s hip hop duo partner Alonzo Brown who apparently didn’t do too bad for himself after becoming an executive producer of the Judge Mathis show. Watch the clip below. 

It was a sad day for the music industry as a whole when the incomparable Andre Harrell passed away last week on May 7th. Diddy was hit especially hard by the legendary music executive’s passing, though, due to the pivotal role Andre played in discovering a young Sean Combs and turning him into a superstar. A few days after the tragic news broke, Diddy took to Instagram to share a heartfelt tribute to his mentor, including a clip from an acceptance speech he gave in which he thanked Andre for all that he’s done for him over the years. On Friday (May 15th), Diddy shared another beautiful message about the man who helped launch his career.

Diddy posted a photo of the two of them hugging on Instagram, along with some loving words. “Irreplaceable,” he began, “I MISS YOU. HE WAS SO KIND. SO BEAUTIFUL. SO PATIENT. SO BLACK. SO CARING. SO SHARING. SO WISE. THE LIFE OF THE PARTY. A MUSICAL GENIUS! MY HERO. LOVE FOREVER.”

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Following Andre’s passing, tons of artists and key players in the industry took to social media to pay their respects.

Rest in peace to a true legend.

Andre Harrell was a pivotal force in the world of R&B and hip-hop. He worked at Def Jam Records as the vice president and general manager before founding Uptown Records. Though he's helped launch the careers of several artists in his own illustrious career, one of his most notable protegees to date in Diddy. 

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Earlier today, Diddy took to Instagram paying homage to his mentor. He shared a clip of a thank you speech he made where he credited Harrell for all of his success. "I'm only standing up here because you gave me the chance. You gave me the opportunity," he says in the speech. "As a Black man, you took me underneath your wing. You was patient with me. You taught me and you talked to me and you taught me about the game."

Diddy penned a heartfelt message to go along with the throwback clip in honor of his friend and mentor, who he admitted played the role of a father figure in his life.

"I honestly still can’t believe it. I’ve got to give myself the reality of this in doses. Because I can’t even handle this. I hope to God that you are all blessed to have someone in your life that loves you and believes in you like this man believed in me.… I’m going to miss him so much. I can’t even imagine life without Dre. God bless @gianni, @onealmcknight and the rest of the family," he wrote. "LOVE YOU FOREVER @andreharrell !!!!!!!!!!"

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I’ve got to give myself the reality of this in doses. Because I can’t even handle this. I hope to God that you are all blessed to have someone in your life that loves you and believes in you like this man believed in me.… I’m going to miss him so much. I can’t even imagine life without Dre. God bless @gianni, @onealmcknight and the rest of the family. ?✊?⁣ ⁣ LOVE YOU FOREVER @andreharrell !!!!!!!!!!

A post shared by Diddy (@diddy) on May 11, 2020 at 2:52pm PDT

The music industry took a collective pause on Saturday to mourn the loss of Uptown Records founder and iconic music executive, Andre Harrell. New broke late Friday night that Harrell had passed away at the age of 59, although his specific cause of death is still unknown. DJ D-Nice was the first to break the news during one of his Club Quarantine sessions on Instagram live. Harrell's cousin, singer O'Neal McKnight, later confirmed his passing.

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Among his many accomplishments, Harrell has been credited for discovering a young Sean "Diddy" Combs and launching his career. He also served as the President and CEO of Motown Records as well as the Vice president and General Manager of Def Jam at different points in his career. At the time of his death, Harrell was the Vice Chairman of REVOLT TV & Media.

Plenty of artists and fellow executives in the music industry came forward to pay their respects to Harrell over social media.

It's with extremely heavy hearts that we report the passing of Andre Harrell. While his cause of death is unclear, the news has just circulated that the 59-year-old passed away—news that was delivered by DJ D-Nice as he was performing one of his popular Instagram Live Club Quarantine sessions. There hasn't yet been an official statement released from Harrell's camp.

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His name may be unfamiliar to some, but the impact that Andre Harrell had on the music industry is insurmountable. He was responsible for signing Sean "Puffy" Combs to his very first record deal and was the founder of Uptown Records, a label that held artists like Al B. Sure!, Christopher Williams, Biggie, Jodeci, Guy, Heavy D. & The Boyz, Father MC, Mary J. Blige, Soul 4 Real, and many others. Harrell would also serve as the President and CEO of Motown Records for a time as well as the Vice president and General Manager of Def Jam. At the time of his passing, Harrell held the position of Vice Chairman of REVOLT TV & Media.

As this news is fresh, we expect there to be many reactions from industry professionals and performers about Andre Harrell no longer being with us. We send our heartfelt condolences to his family, friends, and fans. Read through a few tweets about him below.