The Good, Bad and Ugly from the Bad Boy Reunion Tour Kick-Off

Sean “Puff Daddy” Combs’ two-day kick-off of the Bad Boy Reunion Tour, by many accounts, was nothing short of spectacular.

Held at Brooklyn’s Barclays Center Friday and Saturday nights, the concerts featured the artists behind Bad Boy Records’ most famous hits from the 1990s and 2000s, including Shyne, who performed via satellite from Belize, 112, Faith Evans, The Lox, Ma$e and Carl Thomas. The concerts also featured artists who were not officially signed to Bad Boy, but made significant contributions to its success, including Lil’ Kim, Lil’ Cease, Busta Rhymes and Mary J. Blige.

The concerts, which came the day before what would have been the Notorious B.I.G’s, 44th birthday, are the kick -off to a 25-date tour which begins in late August in Columbus, Ohio.

With so much activity throughout the three-hour-plus concert, we’d like to run through our highlights of the event, with the good, the bad and ugly from the Bad Boy Reunion concerts in Brooklyn.

The Good

Sean “Diddy, Puff Daddy” Combs – At 46, Combs showed there’s still a lot left in the tank despite his recent retirement announcement. From Usher to Busta Rhymes to Jay-Z, Combs’ imprint on the last 20 years of hip-hop was on display. He even showed personal growth by joking about Suge Knight’s infamous “all in the videos, all on the record” line from the 1995 Source Awards. It was also refreshing to see the humility Combs’ displayed when speaking about some of the artists on the bill, including Mary J. Blige, who Combs said “saved” his life when he was an A/R at Uptown Records. “There would be no Bad Boy without you,” Combs said of Blige. Of Jay-Z, Combs said “whenever I get in trouble, this is the one I call,” noting that Jay-Z came from 5,000 miles away for the Brooklyn event.

The emphasis on R&B — While Bad Boy is generally associated with hip-hop and rappers, the label produced many classic R&B albums and singles. This was evident in the performance by Faith Evans, which was widely heralded in the press and on social media as being one of the best sets of the concert. R&B crooner Carl Thomas, who performed three of his classics — “Emotional,” “Summer Rain,” and “I Wish,” – was also a fan favorite. Other R&B acts of note included 112, Mario Winans, Total and Mary J. Blige, who performed several classics from her extensive catalog, including “Real Love,” “Be Happy,” and “Love No Limit.”

Surprise guests — In addition to the current and former Bad Boy artists on the official bill, a number of surprise guests from the Bad Boy era and for today showed up to perform, including Jay-Z, Mary J.Blige, Busta Rhymes, Nas, Swizz Beatz, DMX and Ty Dolla $ign, who peformed “You Could be My Lover” with Puff Daddy.

On the second night, former Bad Boy artist Shyne, who has had a frosty relationship with Combs over the years, surprised the crowd by performing via satellite from Belize. Lil Kim on the second night of the concert, brought out some of Brooklyn’s most popular artists of today, including 2 Milly, Desiigner and Fabolous.

The fashion — Combs, who is also fashion mogul through his Sean John label, made fashion statements throughout the evening, but reach new heights when was he was joined onstage by Nas to recreate their iconic video of 1999’s “Hate Me Now.”  The two stepped onstage wearing black fur coats equipped with 10-foot trains that had to be held up by two people. It was a flashback to Bad Boy’s heyday, which was marked by lavish, over-the-top fashions and signs of excess wealth.

The Bad

Missing contributors — Noticeably absent from the concert was Craig Mack, who recorded the label’s first single “Flava in Ya Ear” in 1993; Loon and G-Dep, who are both in prison, and Day 26 and Danity Kane of Combs’ seasons on MTV’s “Making the Band.” No rationale or reason were given for those artists not being on the bill, but maybe they will join the tour on future dates.

Light on Biggie — Though he was honored midway through the first show of the weekend, and throughout the entire show on Saturday, which marked what would’ve been his 44^th birthday, it seemed as if the Notorious B.I.G.’s impact on the Bad Boy universe might have gotten lost in the shuffle with all the surprise guest appearances.

To be sure, the show closed with Puff Daddy’s biggest hit “I’ll be Missing You” – a tribute to Biggie, and there were songs and videos played of Bigge’s greatest hits, including “Warning,” “One More Chance (remix),” and “Only You (Bad Boy remix)” with 112.” But there was no onstage appearance from Violetta Wallace, Biggie’s respected mother, or his children. In hindsight, maybe Combs should have used a Notorious B.I.G. hologram, which Faith Evans hinted was in the works.

For those who vividly remember the Bad Boy era, know that Bad Boy records probably wouldn’t have been as successful without Biggie, and his imprint could have not been stated enough at the reunion concert. Combs did, however, acknowledge the missing presence of Big, saying “the greatest rapper of all time isn’t here to celebrate with us,” he said, before performing “I’ll Be Missing You.”

The audio – On both nights at the Barclays Center, the sound quality was poor, with the music being too loud to hear some of artists clearly. Dozens of concert-goers live-tweeted Combs to express their displeasure with the sound.

Lip syncing – Several artists, most notably Lil’ Kim, were suspected of lip syncing their performance, which drew criticism from some fans.

Time – While we do understand the difficulty of having so many artists at one concert and for it not to feel like a music festival, but maybe something could have been done to limit the show to three hours or less?

The Ugly

Ticket prices — With tickets reselling for $250 for the nosebleed seats and for $1,000 or more for floor seats, it’s safe to say some of Bad Boy’s most loyal fans were priced out of these concerts. However, dates in other cities may be cheaper and there’s still a chance of getting tickets direct from the vendor, which should save concert-goers money.

Father time – Some of the artists have taken better care of themselves and their voices than others. And we’ll leave it at that.

Chain toss– In the heat of his set, Puff Daddy through a diamond-crusted chain into the crowd, causing a frenzy. We bet Combs wishes he had that chain back now.

For more information about the Bad Boy Reunion Tour please read past Human Nature coverage.

Concert videos