15 musicians who were signed to Diddy's label, Bad Boy Records

Biggie was one of the first artists signed to Bad Boy, and his two studio albums ("Ready to Die" in 1994 and "Life After Death," which was released 16 days after his death in 1997) were released through Bad Boy.

Publicly, the two appeared to be close friends, and Diddy released "I'll Be Missing You" with Biggie's wife, Faith Evans, in 1997.

However, their relationship had become strained. Rolling Stone reported the "Juicy" rapper was preparing to leave Bad Boy. He "was absolutely about to leave Puff" before he was shot, fellow rapper Babs Bunny told the publication.

Biggie's estate did not respond to a request for comment.

Evans, who was married to The Notorious BIG from 1994 until he died in 1997, was also signed to Bad Boy Records.

Her first three albums, 1995's "Faith," 1998's "Keep the Faith," and 2001's "Faithfully," were put out through Bad Boy. She then moved to Capitol Records.

"In my heart, I really wanted to try and leave Bad Boy after Big died. I mean, after I came back to any type of reality, any clear thinking. I just was so distraught," Evans told XXL in 2014.

Evans said she left Bad Boy because she felt Diddy and the label were paying more attention to other artists, but she emphasized that there was no bad blood.

Evans did not respond to a request for comment.

Mase released his first two albums, "Halem World" and "Double Up" through Bad Boy, and was also known as Diddy's hype man through the '90s.

Their partnership collapsed after he released his third album, "Welcome Back," in 2004, also with Bad Boy.

Mase said he felt like his contract was too constricting, leading him to crash a Diddy interview on V103 in Atlanta and demand that Diddy sign paperwork allowing him to feature on other artists' songs.

Things simmered down until 2022, when Mase once again criticized Diddy's business practices in a now-deleted Instagram post.

"Your past business practices knowingly has continued purposely starved your artist and been extremely unfair to the very same artist that helped u obtain that Icon Award on the iconic Badboy label," he wrote.

Mase added that he had offered Diddy $2 million to buy his songs back and was refused. "This is not black excellence at all," he wrote.

Diddy responded during an interview on the syndicated iHeartRadio show "The Breakfast Club" and said that Mase actually owed him $3 million after failing to deliver an album.

In 2023, on another "Breakfast Club" appearance, Diddy said they were "brothers" and that he had "unconditional love" for Mase.

Mase's rights were returned to him when Diddy allowed songs from Bad Boy to revert back to artists that year.

In 2024, Mase called Diddy's arrest "the big payback" and added that "reparations is getting closer and closer" on an episode of the podcast he cohosts with Cam'ron, "It Is What It Is."

Mase did not respond to Business Insider's request for comment.

The R&B group 112's first four albums were released through Bad Boy from 1996 to 2003. Most famously, they were featured alongside Diddy and Faith Evans on the song "I'll Be Missing You."

As MTV reported, 112 said that they left Bad Boy for Def Jam because of a "lack of money and attention." They added that they also left because their contract was "doo-doo."

"We still work with [Diddy] as far as getting ideas. We got three joints from his camp. It's no bad blood, it's no love lost," said member Mike in 2003.

112 did not respond to a request for comment.

Cassie started publicly dating Diddy shortly after her debut album, "Cassie," was released in 2006 through Bad Boy. They dated until 2018.

In November 2023, Cassie sued Diddy and accused him of rape, abuse, and blowing up Kid Cudi's car after Diddy found out the rapper was interested in Cassie. The suit was settled the same month for an undisclosed amount, The New York Times reported.

In May 2024, CNN published a 2016 video that appears to show Diddy dragging and kicking Cassie through the halls of a California hotel. Diddy apologized in a since-deleted Instagram post and said he was "disgusted" by his behavior in the video.

In an Instagram post, Cassie thanked fans for their support after the video was made public. "The outpouring of love has created a place for my younger self to settle and feel safe now, but this is only the beginning," she wrote. "Domestic Violence is THE issue."

Cassie Ventura had no comment on the lawsuit when reached by Business Insider.

In December 1999, Diddy, his then-girlfriend Jennifer Lopez, and his protégé, Shyne, were arrested after a nightclub shooting, but Shyne was the only one who went to prison.

He was later convicted of assault and sentenced to 10 years in prison, reports The New York Times.

Bad Boy released his self-titled debut album in September 2000, while he was in prison.

In 2012, Shyne, who served almost nine years, told MTV that he and Diddy made amends.

"As far as Puff is concerned, that's been a long time coming," he said. "He had reached out to me twice while I was in the pen, but I just wasn't ready for it."

In 2024, he spoke about Diddy's legal troubles. He told journalists soon after Diddy's arrest, "Let us not forget what the cold facts are. This is someone who destroyed my life."

A Hulu documentary following Shyne, "The Honorable Shyne," is set to be released on November 18. In the trailer, he said he believed he was set up to be the fall guy for the shooting.

Shyne did not respond to a request for comment.

The Lox released their first album, 1998's "Money, Power & Respect," via Bad Boy before the trio — Sheek Louch, Styles P, and Jadakiss — left for Ruff Ryders and Interscope.

That wasn't without its drama. The Lox said they had to plead with Diddy to get off Bad Boy and started a grassroots campaign to "Free The Lox," as they felt they weren't receiving a fair publishing deal.

This culminated in a 2005 appearance on Hot 97 in which Styles P threw a chair at Diddy, per Billboard.

"We made one record with you, 'Money Power & Respect.' It's 10 years later, and you still got half of our publishing. And you can't make it justifiable that you deserve half of our publishing," Styles P is heard saying in the recording.

According to AllHipHop, a deal was struck soon after the altercation.

In 2023, Jadakiss appeared on an episode of the podcast "I Am Athlete," saying how he appreciated how Diddy handled the situation: "He could've played much harder ball than he played."

The Lox did not respond to a request for comment.

Monáe is one of the remaining artists signed to Bad Boy who isn't Diddy or his family members.

All four of Monáe's albums have been released through Bad Boy, including 2019 album of the year nominee "Dirty Computer."

"I got to say, I was scared to be partnering with a major label after a few years of being independent. I met Puff at a time I had decided to live frugally," Monáe told Billboard in 2018.

"But when I spoke to him, his words were, 'I love what you and Wondaland are doing," she continued, referencing the indie record label she had founded. "I don't want to be creatively involved. I just want people to know who you are and what you guys are doing,'"

"It was so humbling and beautiful. We're still close," she added.

Monáe did not respond to a request for comment.

Dream, a girl group, formed in 1998 and then signed to Bad Boy as its first white act.

Their first album, "It Was All a Dream," was released in 2001 and debuted at No. 6 on the Billboard 200. Their second album, 2003's "Reality," failed to chart at all, and they were dropped from Bad Boy and broke up.

"There were some shady people who maybe didn't have the best intentions for children. And there were some people who maybe were just doing business," Ashley Poole, a former member, told Complex in 2016.

"There was a big disconnect from Puff and us because we were from such different worlds," continued Poole. "Puff was straight business. He didn't care if feelings were hurt. He said what he needed to say. He would tell us we needed to lose weight."

One of Dream's former members, Alex Chester-Iwata, told Business Insider that working with Bad Boy was "a nightmare," saying they "pitted each of us against each other."

The other members of Dream did not respond to a request for comment.

Yung Joc was one of the biggest musicians signed to Bad Boy South, another offshoot of Bad Boy, this time focusing on rappers out of cities like Atlanta.

Both of the rapper's albums (2006's "New Joc City" and 2007's "Hustlenomics") were released by Bad Boy South.

Two years later, it went south: In 2009, Yung Joc told Billboard he was planning to sue Bad Boy and Block Entertainment, his original record label that partnered with Bad Boy, for "failure to pay royalties and advances for his first two albums and charging 'outrageous clearance fees' for his collaborations with other artists."

"Diddy said he's got to stay out of it because it's between me and Block Entertainment," he said, adding, "I feel like [Bad Boy] isn't doing anything to try to intervene and help the situation."

It's unclear if he ever filed the suit.

He hasn't released an album since, though he has put out singles and EPs independently.

In 2014, Yung Joc told The Grio, "Diddy and I are great. We made a lot of money together. Every time we've crossed paths since, it was love."

Yung Joc did not respond to a request for comment.

All four of French Montana's albums have been Bad Boy releases, most recently 2021's "They Got Amnesia."

"The deal [with Diddy] just felt right and it felt like it was the right thing to do. I felt like I can make a change with this for the music culture that I came from," Montana told Billboard in 2011.

In April 2024, during an episode of "Vlad TV," he confirmed he had left Bad Boy.

"I fulfilled everything. I make sure everybody got their money. I made sure, you know, Rozay got his money," he said, referring to rapper Rick Ross, who also owns a record label. "I made sure Puff got his money, made sure Epic got their money."

French added that he left Bad Boy on good terms with Diddy.

Montana did not respond to a request for comment.

After an eight-year hiatus, New Edition teamed up with Bad Boy for their first album, "One Love." It was released in 2004 and is their last album to date.

The band's members said there were lots of disagreements about the future of the band with Diddy and his label. In a 2005 radio interview, they opened up about the problems.

"Diddy, when we didn't agree with him on certain songs, we would get sent home for like six, seven months. You know, it would just be nothing being done," said member Ricky Bell.

The final straw, they said, came when a song that none of the members liked appeared on the album instead of a song they worked on together with their longtime producers, Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis.

"On top of that, Puffy paid himself $50,000, on top of that put a song on it that we didn't like, and we just felt like that was just a slap in the face. No respect," Bell added.

New Edition did not respond to a request for comment.

Pitbull released two albums via Bad Boy: 2006's "El Mariel" and 2007's "The Boatlift."

Pitbull was one of the first acts signed to Bad Boy Latino, an offshoot founded by Diddy and Emilio Estefan in 2005, per Billboard. He was also a partner in the venture and had an A&R role.

It didn't last long. Before "The Boatlift" was announced, Pitbull said he was leaving the label. Pitbull was dissatisfied with his role, a 2006 New York Post report said.

"I told him, 'Yo, I want a piece. If I'm gonna get in the bed with you, I want a piece,'" he said. "I got a whole lot to bring to the table, which [he] is gonna definitely capitalize off of."

Pitbull did not respond to a request for comment.

From 2012 to 2022, Machine Gun Kelly's six albums and three EPs were released through Bad Boy. His most recent EP, "Genre: Sadboy," was released in March through Interscope.

The "Wild Boy" rapper was first signed in 2011, as Diddy noted in a now-deleted Instagram post in August 2019.

"When I first signed @machinegunkelly I knew he was going to be a star. I didn't know how exactly we'd get there but I knew it would happen," he wrote. "'I'm so proud of the artist he is becoming, he's shown all the traits of an artist that will stand the test of time."

Kelly did not respond to a request for comment.

Both of B5's albums — 2005's "B5" and 2007's "Don't Talk Just Listen" — were released by Bad Boy. They were a departure from Bad Boy's roster, as the group was primarily a boy band that also appeared on Radio Disney.

During an interview with The Shade Room in 2023, the brothers said they didn't regret leaving Bad Boy. "We just couldn't see eye to eye so we decided to split," said Patrick Breeding.

They added that after Diddy announced his intentions to revert publishing to the original musicians, they hadn't heard anything from him.

"We didn't hear anything. We didn't get no calls or nothing like that from them," said Carnell Breeding.

Dustin Breeding added, "Puff, Diddy, yeah, we all want our publishing too. We were so young at the time, we didn't understand the business of it. But looking back now, damn, why our names wasn't on the credit?"

B5 did not respond to a request for comment.