Before Sean Combs founded Bad Boy Records, the defining New York rap label of the 1990s, he was an intern and then an A&R executive at Uptown Records, transforming the label with a brash and forward-looking hip-hop-influenced take on R&B.
It was a success, and Mr. Combs responded appropriately.
“I’m walking around the office with no shirt on, cursing white people out,” he recalled on stage at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn on Friday night.
As quickly as he had been hired, he was fired from the label, but not before working with a young, rough-around-the-edges soul singer with a devastating voice, Mary J. Blige.
“I was asking God for a miracle,” Mr. Combs said, “and this is what God sends me.” Then Ms. Blige’s voice cut through the arena, serrate as ever, singing her breakthrough hit “Real Love.”
“You saved my life,” he told her at the end of her set. “There would be no Bad Boy without you.”
A celebration of Bad Boy Records was the pretext for this concert — the kickoff for a national “Bad Boy Family Reunion” tour — an ecstatic three-hour-plus ramble through the crossover hip-hop hits of the 1990s and 2000s, taking place one day before the 44th birthday of the Notorious B.I.G., the label’s greatest star, who was murdered in 1997.
But it was really a celebration of the family tree that links Mr. Combs not just to the artists he signed and produced, but also to the rest of New York hip-hop, as well as the soul tradition he was often accused of bastardizing, but to which he was truly in thrall.
In middle age — he is 46 now — Mr. Combs has become less of a rabble-rouser and more of a standard-bearer. At this show, he was a motivational speaker and worship leader, a king and a ham, a boss in awe of his employees.
In middle age — he is 46 now — Mr. Combs has become less of a rabble-rouser and more of a standard-bearer. At this show, he was a motivational speaker and worship leader, a king and a ham, a boss in awe of his employees.
Perhaps the most striking aspect of the concert on Friday — plagued by persistent audio hiccups, it was the first of a two-night Barclays stand — was how heavily it leaned toward R&B. Bad Boy was often understood as a hip-hop label, but it also vividly inherited, honored and updated the American soul tradition. Besides the invigorating performance of Ms. Blige, who punctuated her songs with high kicks, there were extended sets from the high-energy 112, the slyly tough Total and the dramatic crooner Carl Thomas. Even French Montana, the most relevant Bad Boy rapper of the 2010s, is something of a singer.
But the night’s truest catharsis was provided by Faith Evans, once the wife of the Notorious B.I.G., who performed a luscious set early in the night, outfitted in white fur, and then returned at the end for an intense “I’ll Be Missing You,” the B.I.G. tribute song.
Balancing out that tenderness near the night’s end was a stream of the label’s indelible hip-hop hits — Black Rob’s “Whoa,” Junior M.A.F.I.A.’s “Player’s Anthem” (not on the label, but by B.I.G. affiliates), and then a chaotic, eruptive “It’s All About the Benjamins,” featuring the Lox and Lil’ Kim, perhaps the most emblematic song of 1990s New York hip-hop excess, and here, a coronation.
Here’s the video with Jay Z and Mr. Combs:
Mr. Combs, when he wasn’t being wistful, had that riotous energy as well. During “I Get Money (Forbes 1, 2, 3 remix),” he threw his chain into the crowd. He took things about himself that were once mocked
Mr. Combs, when he wasn’t being wistful, had that riotous energy as well. During “I Get Money (Forbes 1, 2, 3 remix),” he threw his chain into the crowd. He took things about himself that were once mocked — Suge Knight’s barb that he was “all in the videos, all on the record” — and turned them into comedic bits. He was effusive about the guests who came out to celebrate with him, calling Jay Z “my strategist,” and telling Usher, “you done really grown up, playboy.” When he joined Nas for “Hate Me Now,” they emerged wearing black fur coats with 10-foot trains held up by two people, a vintage Bad Boy-era display of lavishness.
With a concert like this, who isn’t present is as noteworthy as who is. Some former Bad Boy stars have found religion in the years since their time in the limelight: Craig Mack, who recorded the label’s first single; and Shyne, who was involved in the 1999 nightclub shooting that threatened to derail Mr. Combs’s empire. He has turned to Orthodox Judaism in recent years. Others are in prison: Loon, on drug conspiracy charges, and G-Dep, for murder. There were also no artists from Mr. Combs’s seasons as a mentor on MTV’s “Making the Band.”
For most of the show, surprisingly, there was little of the Notorious B.I.G. Apart from a handful of mentions and video clips, including one from his Brooklyn funeral procession, he was curiously absent from the early part of the night. But as the clock ticked past midnight, into his birthday, the songs and videos came like needed rain: “Warning,” “One More Chance (remix),” “Only You (Bad Boy remix)” with 112, “Can’t You See” with Total.
“The greatest rapper of all time isn’t here to celebrate with us,” Mr. Combs said, before “I’ll Be Missing You,” for which a choir was brought out on stage, backing him as he rapped and testified.
“The greatest rapper of all time isn’t here to celebrate with us,” Mr. Combs said, before “I’ll Be Missing You,” for which a choir was brought out on stage, backing him as he rapped and testified. When he was done, he lamented, “Life is too short,” then he called for a birthday cake to be wheeled out on stage, and the whole squad, all in Bad Boy jerseys, huddled around it and led the crowd in a rendition of “Happy Birthday.”
Via NY Times and video via Youtube
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