On this date in 2000, Bad Boy Records premiere artist Jamal “Shyne” Barrow released his self-titled debut album on the ever-popular Bad Boy imprint under the leadership of BB honcho, then known as “P. Diddy.”
Shyne’s debut album release was a bittersweet one, with his LP being dropped while the Belize-born rapper was serving 8-10 years in an upstate prison for a shooting in Club New York in Manhattan just a year prior involving his boss and then-girlfriend Jennifer Lopez. Despite Barrow having to do time behind bars, his album was an undisputed success, selling over a million copies in less than a year. It also was a tremendous help that Shyne’s voice was eerily identical to slain Bad Boy artist Notorious B.I.G.
With the album content surrounding Shyne’s real-life gangster image, the project’s leading singles, “Bad Boyz”, which features reggae legend Barrington Levy and the thug love story “Bonnie And Shyne”, were not only popular in the streets, but also did their numbers on-air, with the singles in constant rotation on the radio around the country.
Salute to Diddy, Shyne and the rest of the Bad Boy staff for bringing the people such a timeless Hip Hop classic!
Andre Harrell, founder of Uptown Records, legendary music mogul, and one half of this hip-hop duo Dr. Jeckyll and Mr. Hyde passed away on Friday, May 8th. He was 59 years old.
While the cause of death is still unknown, DJ D Nice revealed the news during Friday night’s Club Quarantine IG Live shos. The announcement came as a surprise and sources confirmed to AllHipHop that Harrell had died suddenly.
Harrell had begun his career in the music industry as one half of the hip-hop duo, Dr. Jeckyll and Mr. Hyde, dropping hits such as “Genius Rap,” “Fast Life,” and “AM/PM.” In 1983 Harrell met Russell Simmons and within two years of working at Def Jam, Harrell became Vice President and later GM. Harrell would later leave Def Jam and start Uptown Records.
Harrell is credited for signing Sean Combs, a.k.a. Puffy, first as an intern. Combs who would later become an A&R for Uptown and bring Mary J. Blige to the roster, and would later find Christopher Wallace, a.k.a The Notorious B.I.G.
In an interview with The Grio, Harrell said the key for Uptown’s success was their ability to combine hip hop music and the lifestyle. “Like Motown Records, [it] was a lifestyle label, where the artists not only made songs that resonated with the community but they also had fashion and attitude that people wanted to emulate…”
in 1995, Harrell would go on to become the CEO of Motown Records, overseeing a roster of artists such as Boyz II Men, Jodeci, Heavy D and the Boyz and Al B. Sure.
Despite Puffy being fired from Uptown in 1993, he and Harrell remained business partners. Harrell served as Vice Chairman for Puffy’s REVOLT network, and a producer on the REVOLT show, State Of The Culture. Harrell was also instrumental in creating the Revolt Music Conference in 2014.
Rapper Little Shawn has an incredible Hip-Hop story. A native of East Flatbush, Brooklyn, the veteran MC-turned-dietician sat with Drink Champs for more than three hours. Over the course of the discussion, the guest (who now goes by Shawn Pen) details the mutual respect he shares with JAY-Z. Shawn recalls his complicated relationship with Eric B., helping Busta Rhymes get a better solo deal when he left Leaders Of The New School, and playing a role in a chain of events that would land AZ on Nas’ Illmatic album. However, most people may know Shawn’s name from a connection to Tupac Shakur. On November 30, 1994, Pac entered Manhattan’s Quad Studios to record a session with Shawn, who he’d known for some years. Upon entering, Shakur was robbed and shot in the recording studio. Upstairs, Biggie Smalls, Diddy, Uptown Records head Andre Harrell and others were also working. While Shakur survived the five bullet wounds, the event would fracture his relationship with Biggie. It also played a pivotal role in the coastal beef of the mid-1990s. Tupac Hit Up Many More People Than Biggie In His Original Makaveli Liner Notes N.O.R.E., a friend of Shawn’s, brings up the incident multiple times throughout the lengthy conversation. At one point, the guest, who served a five-year prison sentence between 1998 and 2003, admits that he has fought people over making accusations in the past. “I came home on a Tuesday; I had a fight Saturday night. I fought to the door.” At 2:46:00, he adds, “That thing has followed me and it has plagued me forever—all day, forever.” In a rare video interview, Shawn is willing to share his take on what happened, and where things went wrong. At 14:00, Shawn Pen remembers being with Tupac Shakur during a day in 1993. He recalls riding from Shakur’s posh hotel room in Manhattan to Brooklyn in a BMW. With plans to party that night, Shawn says he did not like the vibe he witnessed between the Interscope Records rapper and the street figures in Brooklyn. Shawn, who opted to stay home, later reveals that it was that evening when Pac would be accused of rape. A year later, around the time of the shooting and robbery, Shakur was convicted of first-degree sexual abuse and sentenced to over a year in prison. Snoop Dogg Provides New Details About 1996 Meeting Between Tupac & Nas (Video) At 1:23:00, N.O.R.E. interrupts Shawn. “For the record, you definitely did not rob Tupac?” the Capone-N-Noreaga co-founder asks. “Of course not,” Shawn responds. “But I’ll give you a funny story,” he continues. N.O.R.E. interjects “But you know the ni**as that robbed Tupac?” “No, no,” Shawn replies. The guest proceeds to tell a story involving DJ Richie Rich of 3rd Bass. Later known as Daddy Rich, Shawn says that he attended the same high school as the man born Richard Lawson. According to Pen, they were loose associates. However, he proceeds to tell a story of an early 1990s night at a Downtown Manhattan club where Richie Rich had a brief misunderstanding with some very treacherous New York City street figures. All Eyez On The Score: A Breakdown Of The Beef Between Tupac & The Fugees (Video) “So we’re in this party, and I’m with the worst that Brooklyn has to offer, and I see Richie Rich and another guy that used to be with 3rd Bass. I like these guys, but I know ’em through Clark [Kent], because of this whole DJ thing. Clark is my guy. I’m always at his house, and I know everybody that’s around him. So I see this dude, and of course they’re already drunk, but I want to keep them away from these [Brooklyn street] guys. I see them, and I’m pouring champagne. They hit my arm, and [caused me to spill] champagne on my man Scooter. Bruh. I look at him, and he’s like, ‘Yo, who is these dudes?’ I look and I’m like, ‘I got it.'” Shawn says he pushed Richie Rich and the other 3rd Bass affiliate away. He says that in trying to isolate the two parties, Rich was being held back by the other man. “I don’t what happened. I go in my pocket, and I [pull] my scalpel out, and I start chasin’ ’em through the party, like, ‘Y’all frontin’ now. Stop.’ Right?” Shawn continues, “We leave the club. My car, I had a Lexus coupe…we get outside and we walk to the cars, and my sh*t is leanin’.” The rapper made a discovery, “My sh*t is riddled with bullets.” Recalling the pain, he continues, “I already know who did it…I catch him, and I put him in the hospital.” The incident added to some ongoing cases Shawn says he was dealing with in New York. The rapper’s mother said that police were looking for him. “This kid went in the house, got his mother, called the ambulance, went to the hospital, [and] she called the police. [He] picked me out of a lineup.” Shawn says he reached out to Clark Kent to mediate the matter. Clark initiates a three-way call with Shawn and Richie Rich. Shawn recalls reminding the DJ/producer that when his Lexus was shot up, he did not involve the authorities. “‘I’m turning myself in tomorrow with a lawyer; don’t go down there [to testify against me].’ The next day I go down there, turn myself in, [and] this mothaf*cka is behind [one-way glass] and picks me out.” Shawn was released that day. In a strange turn of events, Richie Rich was unlawfully carrying a gun. He’s caught, arrested, and locked up. “So now he has a case.” Shawn recalls using some industry figures to testify as eye-witnesses to the Lexus vandalism. Per the story, Rich was offered to drop his charges. The Outlawz Dispute Jimmy Iovine’s Claim That He Bailed Tupac Out Of Jail (Video) At this part of the story, Shawn admits to strong-arming the Brooklyn DJ who would later work with Kurious Jorge and appeared in Juice. “The night I caught him, I took everything from him, and I sold it to a guy that gave it to Tupac.” Shawn adds that the famous jewelry portrait of Pac includes a diamond-encrusted bone bracelet. The piece originally came from the 3rd Bass member and Def Jam Records artist. While speaking of this serious incident, Shawn Pen moves back to Quad Studios. “So as far as robbing anybody, that’s so far beneath me, as a person. See, if I’m gonna rob anybody, at that time, when I was in the trenches, it’s gonna be [face to face], and you’re gonna know who did it, and it’s not gonna be for jewelry.” Tupac was allegedly robbed by masked men. “It’s gonna be for something that’s [called] ‘a no-look back.’ See, if you grab a bag and you can’t live off this bag, don’t do it. Because it’s not enough for you to live comfortably. Don’t do it.” Treach Says Biggie Did Not Set Up Tupac & Explains Why (Video) N.O.R.E. brings up the All Eyez On Me film, which Shawn condemns throughout the interview. “I would never,” responds the guest at the implication that it was him. “See, when that happened, it became such a phenomenon, especially in Brooklyn. I had guys tell me, ‘You know I was there, and I did it.’ I’m like, ‘Really? You were there?’ Listen, I’m the only one that got questioned for the crime—in Andre Harrell’s office, with Andre there,” Shawn says of the Midtown loft. At 1:39:00, Little Shawn raises his voice at the line of questioning, asserting that he was there, and had to return on December 1 to get his car from a nearby parking lot. Asked where he was as Tupac entered, Shawn says, “I was upstairs already.” He describes being by the reception area with Puffy and Andre. “This is how the whole sh*t came about: Andre was doing New York Undercover; you know that was his television show with Malik Yoba…somebody had a bright idea and said, ‘Yo, look, we’re gonna get Pac to do a song with Shawn.’ I had just signed to Uptown [Records] at the time.” How Prison Transformed Tupac But Could Not Save Him From Death Row “When [Tupac] got there, and got off the elevator—even the account that he made, that’s not what happened. He said he got off the elevator and everybody ran from him and they wasn’t [engaging]. That’s not what happened. We ran towards him. We was trying to get him to sit down. He went to sit down, and he popped back up [because he was wounded in his groin area]. He said, ‘Call my mother.’ Detectives got there. The ambulance got there. They put him in the gurney, and they stood him up, and they brought him in the elevator to bring him down. So now everybody else that was still there, the police was like, ‘We know that there’s guns up here; we’re gonna search this floor.'” Shawn says he used that threat and helped a Tupac associate hide his firearm in the piano in a band recording room. Shawn says that months later, he and Biggie Smalls discussed the issue. “Me and Big—God bless the dead—are in Daddy’s House [Studios], and we’re talkin’ about this. Big is like, ‘Yo, I don’t know why he would think that I had anything to do with that. Tupac came to New York and I told him about hanging out with these guys.’ Tupac went and told these ni**as that Big said that sh*t! So now they [were upset] at Big. See, you don’t hear that sh*t!” N.O.R.E. says he is aware of that point, but feels it is under-publicized. Former Rap Exec Jimmy Henchman Sentenced To Life For Murder “So Big was mad that Pac put him on blast. He said, ‘I can’t believe that. I’m the one that went and got his gun for him, out the studio.’ I looked [at him] and said, ‘You got it out the piano?’ He said, ‘How’d you know?’ I said, ”Cause I put it there.’ All of that sh*t that happened afterwards was a ploy, and it was manufactured by Suge Knight.” “If you think about it back then: Tupac got convicted of the rape, he went to jail. That sucka-ni**a Kevin Powell did an interview for VIBE with Tupac, and Tupac said, ‘Thug Life is dead.’ He said, ‘I might be killed after this interview. But I want my truth to be known.’ He’s doing the interview. Suge Knight goes to get him out of jail. When Suge Knight got him out of jail, it’s the first time you heard, ‘Biggie and Puff did it.’ That whole East Coast [vs.] West Coast sh*t was manufactured by Suge. Suge did that [blaming of Puff Daddy and Biggie]. Tupac wasn’t saying that; Tupac was blaming street guys. After Suge came and got him out of jail [it changed].” N.O.R.E. points out that Shawn had ties to these street guys. Shawn responds, “Yeah, but I wasn’t a street guy. I was a rapper.” Noreaga responds, “I can’t really let you get away with that [answer].” Shawn doubles down. “But you have to. You know why? Because you wouldn’t know that, if you didn’t have a foot in the street. You don’t know a thing about me; what’d you know? It’s the truth!” 20 Years Later Here Are So Many Things About Biggie Smalls You Didn’t Know At 1:46:00, N.O.R.E. reminds Shawn of rumors that he is one of three people, including Spencer “Scooter” Bowens (who Shawn alluded to in the 3rd Bass story), who have been tied to the robbery without charges. “They say that y’all ni**as robbed Tupac,” the host points out. “Here’s the thing: it’s been 25 years. I was the only one questioned for the crime.” Shawn says the questioning was due to the fact that he was present at the studio and had an open case at the same precinct at that same time. He adds that in Andre Harrell’s presence, investigators told him that they had reason to believe he was jealous of Shakur. Shawn says he responded, “‘That’s your angle? Peace,’ and I walked out.” He looks at N.O.R.E. “Bruh, listen to me: if I take something from you, it’s gonna ruin your life. If I take your chain and your watch, that ain’t gonna ruin your life. So if I ever rob somebody, it won’t be that.” At 2:30:00, Little Shawn describes meeting Biggie early on. Based on a Brooklyn connection and respect, B.I.G. shouted him out on “Party & Bullsh*t” two years before the Quad incident. The pair also made 1995 video single “Dom Perignon.” At the close of the interview, he describes removing his likeness from 2009’s Notorious.
Source: AmbrosiaForHeads.com
Last Saturday night (January 25), Diddy made an impassioned speech ahead of the 62nd annual Grammy Awards. The Bad Boy Records founder and veteran artist/producer threatened to boycott the televised event if things do not change in the next 365 days. He asked others to do the same. “In the great words of Erykah Badu, ‘we are artists; we are sensitive about our sh*t.’ We are passionate. For most of us, this is all we got. This is our only hope. Truth be told, Hip-Hop has never been respected by the Grammys. Black music has never been respected by the Grammys,” declared the speaker, who received the Icon Award at an official pre-Grammy gala event. Diddy Blasts The Grammys For Not Respecting Hip-Hop & Calls For A Boycott (Video) A few moments later, Puff stated, “I’m officially starting the clock: y’all got 365 days to get this sh*t together. We need the artists to take back the control. We need transparency. We need diversity. This is the room that has the power to make a change that needs to be made. They have to make the changes for us. [The Recording Academy] is a non-profit organization that is supposed to protect the welfare of the musical community. That [is] the mission statement.” Suggesting an organized boycott on the horizon, Puffy reminded those in the crowd of their ability to prompt change. “We have the power. We decide what’s hot. If we don’t go, nobody goes. If we don’t support, nobody supports. We control what’s cool, we control what’s hot, we control what your kids listen to, what they dance to, we control what’s in video games, we control how they wear their pants.” JAY-Z, Swizz Beatz, and others in attendance gave Puff Daddy a standing ovation during and after his remarks at Beverly Hills, California. Ma$e, one of Bad Boy’s former stars and a onetime protege of Diddy, was among the performers at the same event. Today (January 31), Mason Betha has publicly reacted to the newsworthy speech. He did so by calling out Diddy and asking for a different kind of action. In an Instagram post the Harlem MC accused Puff on “unfair” business practices. Tagging Puff in the post, Ma$e writes, “I heard your Grammy speech about how you are now for the artist, and about how the artist must take back control. So I will be the first to take that initiative. Also, before we ask of other ethnicities to do us right, we should do us, as Black people, better—especially the creators.” The Harlem World creator urged Diddy to walk it like he is talking it.
De La Soul Are Fighting To Own The Music They Created (Video) Ma$e argues that Puffy gave him $20,000 for his publishing 24 years ago, in 1996. That was the same year that Murda Ma$e’s career started to boom, following an appearance alongside The Notorious B.I.G. on 112’s “Only You” remix. Ma$e wrote, who likened the deal to robbery, called it “a horrendous business model.” The onetime pastor added that he felt “forced” to perform. In recent years, he joined 112, The LOX, and others on a Bad Boy reunion tour. Ma$e feels as though the ’90s and 2000s business messed up several careers. “So many great moments and [artists’] lives in music were lost. But again, I rode with you in the face of death, without flinching, and you still wouldn’t do right. I never said anything, because I wanted to wait until I was financially great.” The rapper continues, “To add insult, you keep screaming ‘Black Excellence,’ and ‘love,’ but I know love isn’t free.” Ma$e adds that he recently tried to acquire his publishing with a seven-figure offer on the table. “So I offered you [$2 million] in cash just a few days ago to sell me back my publishing.” Bad Boy’s Hitmen Justify Taking Hits From The ‘80s & Making ‘Em Feel So Good (Audio)Calling himself Bad Boy’s biggest living artist, Ma$e says it was a tribute to the opportunity. “[I wanted to] show you respect for you giving me an opportunity at 19 years old.” Ma$e alleges that Puffy asked the former artist to increase his offer to match another interested party, reportedly a European man. He also says that the publishing will revert back to him in approximately 30 more years. “You bought it for about [$20,000] and I offered you [$2 million] in cash. This is not Black Excellence at all when your own race is enslaving you.” He ended the post with a resolution: “Give your artists back their [so] that they can take care of their families.” As an image to the Instagram post, Ma$e used Philadelphia, Pennsylvania rapper Meek Mill. In a quote, Meek brought up “slave contracts” offered to Black artists in the music business by people of other races. The rapper also cited Roc Nation and his Dreamchasers imprint as companies that combat that trend. Ma$e is not the first Bad Boy artist to call out the label’s founder. In the mid-2000s, The LOX appeared on The Angie Martinez Show. As Jadakiss, Styles P, and Sheek Louch vented their frustrations with the trio’s former label, Diddy called in. The two parties argued on air. As recently as this month, Jada’ has insisted that he and Puffy are on great terms today. LL Cool J Discusses The Importance Of Owning All Of His Music (Video) Another trio, De La Soul, has been battling with former label Tommy Boy Entertainment over the publishing and masters to the group’s first six albums. Using social media, De La called for a boycott in 2019. Negotiation attempts have reportedly ended in a stalemate. Those six albums remain unreleased to popular streaming platforms. This week, veteran Brooklyn, New York MCSauce Money also responded to Diddy’s remark as well as JAY-Z. Having worked with both mogul, the former Priority Records artist criticized Puff and Jay:
Just watched @Diddy Icon acceptance speech at the @RecordingAcad and I can honestly say I respect the message, just not coming from him. He practices the same backdoor politics against his own people. Him and his friend Jay Z. If the Grammys on the clock, then y’all are too!
Straight talk is for straight understanding and the truth should be said at all times.
That is a model not always associated with the music industry and the people that have made it the mega-cultural influence that it is. However, there are times when individuals emerge to speak peace to power.
Saturday night at the annual Clive Davis Pre-Grammy Gala was such a time for someone to voice some disturbing and needed truths about the Recording Academy. That is when Sean “Diddy” Combs availed himself to be a mouthpiece of critique even as he was being awarded the 2020 Grammy Salute to Industry Icons at the Beverly Hilton Hotel in Los Angeles. He said regarding the music genres that he has touched in his career, “never been respected by the GRAMMYs.”
“There’s something that I need to say to the GRAMMYs — and I say this with love,” he said. “Every year y’all be killing us. I’m speaking for all the artists and executives: in the great words of Erykah Badu, ‘We are artists and we are sensitive about our sh–.’ For most of us, this is all we’ve got. This is our only hope.”
“Truth be told, hip-hop has never been respected by the GRAMMYs. Black music has never been respected by the GRAMMYs.”
“So right now, with this current situation,” he continued, “it’s not a revelation. This thing been going on — not just in music, but in film, sports, around the world. And for years we’ve allowed institutions that have never had our best interests at heart to judge us — and that stops right now.” The crowd, while a bit dazed from the length of his speech, cheered enthusiastically.”
“I’m officially starting the clock: you’ve got 365 days to get this sh— together,” he continued. “We need the artists to take back control, we need transparency, we need diversity. This is the room that has the power to [force] the change that needs to be made. They have to make the changes for us: They’re a non-profit organization that is supposed to protect the welfare of the musical community. That’s what is says on the mission statement: they work for us.”
“It’s going to take all of us to get this done. I’m here for the artists, so sign me up.”
This is not the first time that anyone has spoken to The Recording Academy with the stingy chastisement found in the form of critique.
Entertainment Attorney and the Publisher of The Source magazine (who was in attendance) continues to speak out and says, “It may have been the longest acceptance speech ever made, but it was impactful, honest and courageous.”
He continues, “His narrative of his journey to his challenge to the GRAMMYs to cease the disrespect of Black music was epic. Very proud of Sean for his well-deserved honor and for giving such a message to the music industry.”
McMillan would know. As the Co-Founder of the Artist Empowerment Coalition, an organization organized by luminaries in the community to address problematic issues that seem to most impact Black musicians and executives in business, he has been fighting for almost 30 years to address these concerns. And while sitting in the audience, he was pleased to see that this fight is being picked up by others.
Also in attendance in the audience at Clive’s yearly shingdig, nodding in agreement, were Jay-Z, Beyonce, Janet Jackson, Cardi B, Lana Del Rey, John Legend and so many of the artists that have found their stories woven into Puffy’s musical tapestry, like Faith Evans, Ma$e, Lil’ Kim and his son King Combs who all did moving (and we mean making you want to dance) tributes.
Is Combs correct? Do you believe that this may ignite a new passion to fight for equity and reform within The Recording Academy or do you believe we should support shows that celebrate us, like The Source Awards? #sooncome Or will you still tune in to see the annual show today?
Diddy to Grammys: Hip-hop has always been disrespected. “You have 365 days to do better.” pic.twitter.com/3JjuiobtHC
Early this morning, ScHoolboy Q released his first solo music in nearly three years. Following 2016’s Grammy-nominated The Blank Face LP, “Numb Numb Juice” marks a loud and proud return. Groovy Q wasted no time with the visuals to the song, which clocks in at less than 2:00 in length. The single is produced by an ensemble including Hykeem Carter, DJ Fu, as well as Nez & Rio. In the video, Q pays homage to the late 1990s Hype Williams-era visuals. He offers his best recreation of The Notorious B.I.G. and Puff Daddy’s “Mo’ Money, Mo’ Problems” set. With the shiny red suits and the backdrop that many on social media have compared to the inside of a cheese grater, Q delivers his bars with a close associate. He raps to the camera with flare. He pauses to dance, smile, and flail his arms, just like the Bad Boy family, Missy Elliott, Will Smith, and so many others did in the late ’90s. Common & Hype Williams Release a Visually Stunning Short Film for Kingdom (Video) Other sets in the Dave Free-directed video include an elaborate mansion with a pool. In a robe, the Los Angeles, California MC dances as he lives the good life on the property. Sequences also include a glow-in-the-dark homage to Hype’s Belly feature film (and references to its characters, played by Tyler, The Creator no less). Other scenes find Q counting big bills, orchestrating martial arts on a helipad, and rolling down red paint on the highway. Early on, he also smokes up as a guest on The Joe Rogan Podcast. ScHoolboy Q is having the most fun as he ramps up for an anticipated fifth album. Back in 2016, Nas used Belly as an inspiration in the video for DJ Khaled’s “Nas Album Done.”
For much of the 1990s and 2000s, Kim Porter was Puff Daddy’s companion. They have three children together. Today (November 15), the 47-year-old Columbus, Georgia native was found dead in her Toluca Lake, California home. A representative for Kim Porter confirmed the news and asked for privacy for the family.
Details have not been made public surrounding the case of Porter’s death. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Kim Porter was found unresponsive in her home late this morning, where she was eventually pronounced dead. Authorities were reportedly contacted after a 911 call that Porter was in cardiac arrest. TMZ reports that she had recently battled either the flu or pneumonia.
A onetime professional model and actress, Porter previously had a relationship R&B star Al B. Sure. The couple had a child, Quincey Brown in 1991, according to IMDB. During the rise of Bad Boy Records, Porter entered a relationship with Combs. They remained together, on and off, through the late 2000s. The couple’s three children are Christian Combs, along with twin daughters, Jessie Combs and D’Lila. Puffy addressed his son on 1997’s “What You Gon’ Do.” Since a 2007 split, the couple remained amicable and often spent holidays together and made special appearances as a family.
Like his father, Christian Combs has gone into music under the moniker King Combs. A Bad Boy Entertainment artist, he recently released “Love You Better,” with Chris Brown.
Kim Porter had roles in The Brothers, The System Within, and the VH1 series Single Ladies.
Diddy has not yet addressed the loss publicly. Ambrosia For Heads extends condolences to the Porter and Combs families.
