The Bad Boy Curse

I don’t care what Diddy says, Bad Boy comes off as one of the shadiest record labels in the industry.  Signing with Bad Boy automatically qualifies an artist to appear on the back of a milk carton a couple years later.  Their contracts equal life without parole, there are no plea deals.  I’m not exaggerating; many artists do not bounce back after they’re dropped from Bad Boy.  Think about it: Craig Mack, Carl Thomas, Black Rob, MASE, Loon, Shyne, Day 26, Da Band…and that’s just off the top of my head.  All of those artists FELL WAY OFF after Bad Boy.  Sure, arguments can be made that some of it was the artist fault; a few of them were on drugs...but not all of them. Some of these artists were really hot during their time at Bad Boy.  They were doing concerts, all over the radio; you couldn’t pick up Right On or The Source without seeing one the artist on the cover! Diddy is the world’s best promoter so his artists are always everywhere! Then one day, when he is done with them, they disappear.  Of course, Diddy always owns the rights to all of their music so he can create countless remixes of their hits.  In the meantime it always seems that even if the artist tried to market themselves to another label, they always flop (read: MASE, and Shyne). 

Bad Boy has reinvented themselves AGAIN. 2012 is supposed to be their year.  The reinvented label has a new focus which includes: Machine Gun Kelly, French Montana, Red Café, and (Diddy’s favorite side-piece) Cassie.  Albums for all four will drop later on this year.  In case you are wondering I did not forget Diddy-Dirty Money.  Nobody truly knows if Dirty Money was disbanded but given Bad Boy’s history I am sure that it was.  Too bad, Kalenna and Dawn are so talented.  As a singer/songwriter, Kalenna has worked with Aretha Franklin, Christina Milian, Lady Gaga, Ciara, etc.  Dawn is just an awesome singer and dancer.  We have all witnessed her dedication and passion from her days with Danity Kane.  Don’t worry.  These two ladies have the eye of the tiger. Both are working on solo projects.  Check out Dawn’s latest work here, and Kalenna’s latest promotional single and viral for her highly anticipated mixtape. Do you think they have what it takes to reverse the Bad Boy curse? (Follow me @eyediditmyway)