When was the last time you saw every urban radio hit from 1994 to 2003 performed in one night?
This past weekend, when the Bad Boy Family Reunion Tour kicked off at Brooklyn’s Barclays Center, it was hard not to feel like it was a once-in-a-lifetime show. In actuality, what began as a birthday celebration for the label's biggest star, the Notorious B.I.G., has grown into a full-fledged summer tour led by Sean “Puff Daddy” Combs and featuring the likes of Lil’ Kim, Faith Evans, French Montana, 112, Mase, and more. Though many joked about Puff exploiting the artists on his long-running label for one last ride, both nights in Brooklyn sold out within hours. It was the throwback event of the season.
As such, Combs was not going to let the crowd forget about his own journey to success—one fueled by his tenacity, yes, but not taken alone. Puffy may be the patriarch of hip-hop’s most formidable family, but even with drop-ins from Jay Z, Nas, Usher, and Rick Ross, the stage that night belonged to the queens—the biggest of whom, Mary J. Blige, was technically a guest, having never released anything via Bad Boy. Consider it a mere detail amid the gravitational pull of Bad Boy, a label that at its peak throughout the mid to late 1990s was home to many of hip-hop and R&B’s standard-bearers.
Puff’s special treatment of the ladies spoke to more than his need to engulf their star power. In the teary-eyed speeches, the hand-holding, and the dancing with them, Puffy seemed to be genuinely thanking them. Bad Boy was in many ways built on these women’s voices, chief among them Lil’ Kim and Faith Evans. On one hand there was the young woman from Bed-Stuy who spoke of sexuality with such bravado and male hypeness, who defined red-carpet raunch yet could still pose for luxury ads. On the other was the young woman who was every bit as real, in an industry that struggled to let lighter features be thug (and a famous rapper’s wife be truly heard).
Puffy literally bowing down to Faith; photo by Kevin Mazur/Getty Images for Live Nation.
It was that First Lady of Bad Boy, Faith, whose presence in all white felt a little like a dream, as she offered up a raspy set of hits including “As Soon As I Get Home” and “You Used to Love Me.” Total—Diddy’s first girl group consisting of Kima, Keisha, and Pam—reminded us of their ever-duplicated half tomboy/half femme style while doing a serious rendition of their 1996 hit “Kissing You.” It felt surreal to see them together, to hear the songs that seemingly led some of the crowd through young love and heartbreak back in the day. Even when male audience members sat down to give the women space to have a tender moment with these songs, there was a look in their eyes of a love remembered, a girl who had loved to play Total in the car.
Pam and Keisha of Total; photo by Kevin Mazur/Getty Images for Live Nation.
When Lil’ Kim appeared, her confidence and choreography lit the house up. Truth be told, her stage presence is one that’s barely diminished through the years in and out the beefing spotlight. There wasn’t a soul sitting down as she ran through her “Quiet Storm” verse into her own raunchy “Big Momma Thang,” hitting all her marks with a ferocity that declared “I never left.” It was the kind of performance that serves to remind us why we shouldn’t have to explain who Lil’ Kim was (and is), and why every woman in rap after her still owes her that same respect.
Puffy giving props to Lil’ Kim; photo by Jamie McCarthy/Getty Images for Live Nation.
And it was respect that the crowd showed when, at last, Mary J. Blige appeared. She teamed with Jay for “Can’t Knock the Hustle,” but it was her time onstage with another rapper turned mogul that was the most memorable. According to Puffy, there would be no Bad Boy without Mary J. He spoke of her as “an angel” that appeared when he was at his lowest: fired from his A&R job at Uptown Records (where Blige and Biggie were signed at the time), searching for inspiration with a rented house in Scarsdale and his first child on the way. As evidenced by the fact that she barely sang “I’m Goin’ Down,” instead leaving it to the crowd, this was a room full of fans—but no fan bigger than Puff.
The closing blowout; photo by Kevin Mazur/Getty Images for Live Nation.
At three hours long and featuring more than a dozen acts, it was a small feat to bring all these artists together—one that perhaps could only be orchestrated by the figure who had done it in the first place. Though there may be bad blood punctuating Bad Boy’s history, what was left on Puffy’s stage was nothing but family, with a particular love for the matriarchs in the house. And even Kim played nice.