Life after the Notorious B.I.G. and rebuilding the label
Posthumously, Biggie's Life After Death reached number one on the Billboard 200 chart. Its first two singles, "Hypnotize" and "Mo Money, Mo Problems" also topped the singles charts. The album is one of the highest-selling rap albums ever in the U.S., selling over 10 million copies.
In 1996, Combs began recording his solo debut album. The first single, "Can't Nobody Hold Me Down", peaked at number one on the hip-hop, R&B, and pop charts the following spring, in early 1997. In response to the Notorious B.I.G.'s death, the label rush-released Combs's tribute song, "I'll Be Missing You", which features Biggie's widow, Faith Evans, and Bad Boy's R&B group 112. The single topped the charts for 11 weeks and became the second single from Combs's album, No Way Out, which was released in July 1997. The album debuted at number one on the Billboard 200 chart with over 560,000 copies sold in its first week, and seven million altogether. It features appearances by Mase, the Lox, and Carl Thomas, and introduced Bad Boy signee Black Rob.
Mase, Combs's newest protégé, was thrust into the void the Notorious B.I.G. left. His debut album, Harlem World (1997), went quadruple platinum. Due to the successes of Life After Death, No Way Out, and Harlem World, by the end of 1997 Bad Boy as a label and brand name had hit a commercial peak. It began to promote its latest signing, the hip-hop group the Lox, which had prominently featured on various Bad Boy releases that year.
Bad Boy found success with the Lox. In January 1998, it released the group's debut album, Money, Power & Respect, to commercial success. It debuted within the top three on the Billboard 200 chart and was certified platinum. The album was executive produced by Combs and Deric "D-Dot" Angelettie, and features guest appearances by Combs and Carl Thomas. That year, Combs expanded Bad Boy's roster to genres other than hip-hop and R&B, signing Fuzzbubble as its first rock act.[11] The group appeared on the rock remix of Puff Daddy's "It's All About the Benjamins" but parted ways with the label before releasing a full-length album.[12]
In the following years, Bad Boy declined commercially. In 1999, Mase became religious and abruptly retired from the business, leaving a serious dent in the company, especially since his second album had just been released. Bad Boy found some success with Shyne, a young rapper from Brooklyn, who received generally mixed reviews for his deep voice and slow flow—which many considered too reminiscent, and perhaps a ripoff, of the Notorious B.I.G. Combs's later albums failed to generate the same acclaim his debut had.
In an attempt to further market himself, he underwent several name changes, from "Puff Daddy" to "Puffy" to "P. Diddy" to "Diddy" to "Diddy- Dirty Money". But with the split of the group, he returned to "Diddy".
In June 1999, it was reported that Clive Davis and Arista had given Combs a $50 million advance on future earnings in 1998, but Bad Boy only generated around $30 million in 1999.[13]
In the early 2000s, Bad Boy noticeably floundered. Many of its more popular acts left, while those that stayed saw their album sales dwindle. Despite continually releasing new material and various attempts to build artists of the status of the Notorious B.I.G., few proved as successful as the company hoped. Bad Boy had success in 2000 with Black Rob, a New York City rapper who began associating with Bad Boy in 1996. His album Life Story was released through Bad Boy on March 27, 2000, debuted in the top three on the Billboard 200, and was certified platinum.
On June 20, 2002, it was confirmed that Combs and Bad Boy had parted ways with Arista. Combs walked away with ownership of Bad Boy's catalogue and recording roster.[14] Around this time, Combs began overseeing the MTV's Making The Band 2, a reality music show about the development of a group act. Making the Band 2's three seasons focused on Combs's new group, Bad Boy's Da Band.
In January 2003, Combs and Bad Boy entered talks with The Warner Music Group's Elektra Records about Elektra possibly housing Bad Boy for a reported $10 million,[15] but the deal fell through. On February 6, 2003, it was confirmed that Bad Boy had signed a distribution deal with The Universal Music Group's Universal Records. Under its terms, Combs retained 100% of the company and Universal would handle distribution and provide marketing and promotional support.[16] In September 2003, Bad Boy's Da Band released its debut studio album, Too Hot for TV. The group's exposure on MTV helped the album secure a Gold certification by the RIAA.
Southern rap duo 8Ball & MJG released an album called Living Legends to some success in 2004, prompting the creation of Bad Boy South, which eventually housed acts such as Yung Joc. The label also signed the rapper Aasim, whose Bad Boy debut album has never been released.
By January 2005, Bad Boy began clashing with Universal Records. It is alleged that the tension between the labels stemmed from Combs's belief that Universal had not done enough to market Bad Boy's music, while Universal refused to offer more money until Bad Boy produced more hit records. Though Bad Boy's contract with Universal was set to expire in 2006, Combs began talking to other record labels, in particular The Warner Music Group and Sony Music's Columbia Records, for distribution.[17]
