CNN — (CNN) — As the federal criminal trial of Sean “Diddy” Combs continues, many parts of his past are being revisited. That includes his father’s friendship with the late gangster, Frank Lucas.

Aliya S. King says the long-told legend of Melvin Combs as a Harlem kingpin is false and that Diddy’s father was more of a Harlem Dandy and neighborhood hairdresser. Melvin Combs mythology resurfaced ...