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Bad Boy Records

Bad Boy Records (or Bad Boy Entertainment) is an American record label founded in 1993 by Sean "Puffy" Combs.[1][2] During the late 1990s, the label signed numerous artists including Craig Mack, The Notorious B.I.G., Faith Evans, Mase, 112, Total, The Lox, Shyne and Carl Thomas. At its 1997 peak, Bad Boy was worth an estimated US$100 million.

Bad Boy Records

1993 (1993)

Sean "Puffy" Combs

Active

United States

New York City, U.S.

During the 2000s, the label signed French Montana, Machine Gun Kelly, Janelle Monáe, and Cassie, among others. In 2023, Combs created a successor label, Love Records to independently release his fifth studio album, The Love Album: Off the Grid.[3][4][5]

History[edit]

Beginnings[edit]

After his climb from a non-paid internship to becoming an A&R executive at Uptown, Sean "Puffy" Combs was fired in 1993 by Andre Harrell and founded his own label, Bad Boy Records, shortly after.[2] The label's first release was "Flava in Ya Ear" by Craig Mack, followed quickly by Mack's debut album, Project Funk da World in 1994. On the heels of these releases came "Juicy" and Ready to Die, the lead single and debut album from the Notorious B.I.G. (a.k.a. Biggie Smalls), released the same year. While Mack's album went Gold, Ready to Die achieved multi-platinum success. Dominating the charts in 1995, B.I.G. became one of the genre's biggest names of the day and Bad Boy's premier star. Also in 1995, the label continued its success with platinum releases by Total and Faith Evans. Bad Boy, meanwhile, staffed a bevy of in-house writer/producers,[6] including: Easy Mo Bee, Chucky Thompson and D Dot—each of whom are credited on a bulk of Bad Boy's releases during this time.

The Hitmen

Hip hop

1993–present

Bad Boy