S. Samuel
Hip-Hop mogul Sean "Diddy" Combs has confirmed that Red Cafe joined his Bad Boy Entertainment imprint recently and described his aim to bring East Coast rap "up to par."
Speaking with radio personality Jenny Boom Boom, Puff described the significance of adding Red to his renowned label.
“As far as my track record, I’ve only worked with the best in the game,” Diddy explained. “Whether it’s from Biggie to Jadakiss to The Lox to Jay-Z, KRS-One, LL [Cool J], that’s who I’m used to working with. And so at Bad Boy, we haven’t really signed a lot of hip-hop acts. And this year, when that ball dropped, I was like focused and said I really need to find somebody that speaks the same language as Bad Boy and I can throw all this muscle behind…I’ve known him for a while and seen him mature and evolve and grow, he just has the Bad Boy attitude. He hasn’t stopped…I called Akon up, who he still has a deal with, and I tried to get some stuff together…East coast hip-hop hasn’t been up to par. What I’m saying is when it’s done right, it’s nothing like Red Cafe, it’s nothing like Biggie, it’s nothing like Nas, it’s nothing like KRS-One and Rakim, it’s nothing like that.” (Jenny Boom Boom)
Rumors began to spread online late last month with reports of Cafe quietly joining Bad Boy.
Damn. I just asked what other label Red Cafe could sign to, after being signed to so many other labels. Well that answer came the other day when it quickly began to circulate amongst the online community that Red Cafe got signed to Bad Boy. I would say a prayer for Red Cafe, but it seems–according to what Diddy says–that he’s been letting people out of their contracts if things don’t work out. Wow. Coming from someone who traps artists and engulfs a large percentage of everything they (manage to) do—with his permission? Guess things are finally changing. (SOHH NYC)
Diddy recently announced his plans to bring back Bad Boy’s iconic rap music.
“Bad Boy, you know, we making a comeback,” Diddy promised in a video. “We have been gone, we making a comeback with this Gorilla Zoe. We got this Yung Joc record, I got this new Cassie, ‘It Must Be Love,’ we got Day26, we got myself. We got Janelle Monae…Bad Boy rap is gonna make a comeback this year. We gonna make a comeback this year…Also, can’t forget about E. Ness…We got a whole great stable of artists.” (World Star Hip Hop)
Along with a collaborative album with DJ Envy, Red has worked with a variety of urban artists.
Red’s vocals have graced numerous street hits with Juvenile, Foxy Brown, LL Cool J and Amerie. Violator Management, Funkmaster Flex and Erick Sermon have all featured Red on their albums. He has also worked with Trina, Faith Evans, Fabolous, Tyrese, Akon, Paul Wall, The Clipse, 8Ball & MJG, Mack 10, Fat Joe and more. (Artist Direct)
No information on when Cafe’s debut album will drop has been released as of today (May 4).
Listen to Red Cafe & Diddy speaking on the signing below:
[For more on your favorite rappers from the Big Apple peep SOHH NYC]
