Sean “Puff Daddy” Combs’ 22-year-old music house Bad Boy Entertainment has teamed with Epic Records, the Sony Music company announced today (Oct. 5). The exclusive partnership includes distribution of two forthcoming Puff Daddy albums and provides a home for Bad Boy artists covering customary label services including promotion, marketing, sales and distribution.
To celebrate the signing, Puff Daddy will perform new music at the BET Hip-Hop Awards scheduled for Oct. 13 in Atlanta.
Bad Boy comes to the Sony label following similar deals with Warner Music Group, Interscope Records and Arista Records, but Epic Records chairman and CEO L.A. Reid, who founded R&B powerhosue LaFace Records and formerly headed Arista, sees it as a full-circle moment.
Said Reid in a statement: “Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs aka Puff Daddy and I have been musical collaborators since the 1990s, when we both ran independent record labels. … Over the years, we not only enjoyed incredible success together, but we also became lifelong friends. Today, of course, Puffy is truly in a league all his own, continuing to influence culture and ignite musical revolutions time and time again. He’s a true innovator and I could not be more excited to join forces once again.”
“I have known L.A. Reid since the very beginning and together we have enjoyed countless successes over our long friendship,” added Combs. “To now work with L.A. in this capacity feels more like a homecoming than a new beginning. Not only is he a fearless and smart businessman, he believes in artists and understands music better than anyone. He embodies hard work and true success, evident in all of his endeavors. To collaborate with L.A. Reid is to collaborate with the very best.”
Bad Boy Entertainment president Harve Pierre, who has been with the company since its inception in 1993, will also be along for the Epic Records ride.
