Rapper and hip hop mogul Sean "Puffy" Combs (or is it P. Diddy now?) announced earlier this year that he would be hitting the road and on Friday night, he kicked off his Bad Boy Family Reunion Tour in Brooklyn. Of course he won't be hitting the stage by himself as he decides to bring the whole Bad Boy Family with him: Total, 112, Carl Thomas, Faith Evans, The LOX, Lil’ Kim, and Mase, and give fans a taste of 90s nostalgia (those really were the best years in music!). The sold out show at Barclays Center also marked a celebration of the late Notorious B.I.G., on what would have been the eve of the rapper's 44th birthday.
Bad Boy Entertainment was founded in 1993 by Sean Combs, after he was fired from Uptown Records as an A&R executive. One of the label's biggest names, and premier star, was that of Biggie Smalls, a.k.a Notorious B.I.G. In 1995, he was dominating the charts and his Ready to Die album had achieved multi-platinum success. The record label continued its triumph with platinum releases by R&B girl group Total and singer-songwriter Faith Evans. The company started raising tensions in the hip-hop world, especially with Los Angeles-based Death Row Records, which created a rivalry between East Coast and West Coast hip-hop. Many speculate that the hostility between the two labels resulted in the deaths of both Biggie and Tupac Shakur, Death Row's superstar rapper.
Friday night was all about bringing the hip-hop family together and along came a few special guests. Diddy brought Brooklyn's own Jay-Z to the stage and just when he was about to perform his single "Public Service Announcement", he praised the Roc Nation founder as his 'strategist' and his 'brother'. The surprises continued as R&B singer Usher pulled up to the stage and belted out his hit song "I Need A Girl" and the Queen of Hip-Hop Soul herself miss Mary J. Blige came onto the scene as she sang "Real Love", "Be Happy", and "You Don’t Have to Worry", before thanking Diddy for his contributions to her career.
Puff Daddy is scheduled to bring his Bad Boy Family Reunion Tour to Toronto on September 6th at the Air Canada Centre.
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