"Bad Boy for Life" is a song by American rappers

P. Diddy Sean Combs (born Sean John Combs; November 4, 1969), also known by his stage names Puff Daddy, P. Diddy, Puffy, or Diddy, is an American rapper, actor, record producer, and record executive. Born in New York City, he worked as a talent directo ...

Black Rob Robert Ross (June 8, 1968 – April 17, 2021), known professionally as Black Rob, was an American rapper who was signed to Bad Boy Records. He was best known for his 1999 single " Whoa!", which peaked at number 43 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100. ...

and Mark Curry, featured on Diddy's 2001 third album '' The Saga Continues...''. Produced by Megahertz (Dorsey Wesley), it was released as the second single from the album in July 2001 and reached number 33 on the US ''Billboard'' Hot 100 chart.

Background

“Bad Boy for Life” was produced in 1998, but later released in 2001. In reviews of the album, "Bad Boy for Life" has been identified as a declaration of strength by Diddy's label

Bad Boy Records Bad Boy Records (or Bad Boy Entertainment) is an American record label founded in 1993 by rapper Sean "Puffy" Combs. It operates as an imprint of Epic Records, a division of Sony Music Entertainment. It has been home to many artists, including ...

. Jason Birchmeier of music website

Allmusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databa ...

explains that the song summarises the claim "that heBad Boy empire is in fact still an empire", while ''

Entertainment Weekly ''Entertainment Weekly'' (sometimes abbreviated as ''EW'') is an American digital-only entertainment magazine based in New York City, published by Dotdash Meredith, that covers film, television, music, Broadway theatre, books, and popular cu ...

'' reviewer David Browne similarly points out the lyric "It's official/I survived what I been through" as a declaration of strength. Soren Baker of the ''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the U ...

'' identifies "Bad Boy for Life", in addition to previous single "Let's Get It", as particularly important to the success of the album.

Music video

The

music video A music video is a video of variable duration, that integrates a music song or a music album with imagery that is produced for promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a music marketing device ...

for "Bad Boy for Life" was directed by Chris Robinson, filmed in June 2001 and released in early July, and features a number of cameo appearances including guitarist Dave Navarro, drummer

Travis Barker Travis Landon Barker (born November 14, 1975) is an American musician who serves as the drummer for the rock band Blink-182. He has also performed as a frequent collaborator with hip hop artists, is a member of the rap rock group Tran ...

, actor

Ben Stiller Benjamin Edward Meara Stiller (born November 30, 1965) is an American actor, comedian, and filmmaker. He is the son of the comedians and actors Jerry Stiller and Anne Meara. Stiller was a member of a group of comedic actors colloquially known ...

, actor Richard Dunn, rappers

Xzibit Alvin Nathaniel Joiner (born September 18, 1974), better known by his stage name Xzibit (pronounced "exhibit"), is an American rapper, actor, television presenter, and radio personality. Xzibit began his musical career after the release of his ...

, Ice Cube, Snoop Dogg and

Fonzworth Bentley Derek Watkins (born February 13, 1974), known professionally as Fonzworth Bentley, is an American rapper, actor, television presenter, and author. He is perhaps best known for being Sean Combs' former personal valet and assistant, as first see ...

, boxer Mike Tyson, television host

Pat O'Brien Pat O'Brien may refer to: Politicians * Pat O'Brien (Canadian politician) (born 1948), member of the Canadian House of Commons *Pat O'Brien (Irish politician) (c. 1847–1917), Irish Nationalist MP in the United Kingdom Parliament Others *Pat O'Br ...

, basketball players Shaquille O'Neal and

Baron Davis Baron Walter Louis Davis (born April 13, 1979) is an American former professional basketball player who is a studio analyst for the '' NBA on TNT''. He was a two-time NBA All-Star, made the All-NBA Third Team in 2004, and twice led the NBA in ...

and rap rock band

Crazy Town Crazy Town (sometimes abbreviated as CXT) is an American rap rock band formed in Los Angeles in 1995 by Bret Mazur and Seth Binzer. Crazy Town is best known for their 2000 hit single "Butterfly", which reached number one on the US ''Billboard'' ...

. The video was nominated for Best Rap Video at both the 2002 MVPA Awards and the

2002 MTV Video Music Awards The 2002 MTV Video Music Awards aired live on August 29, 2002, honoring the best music videos from June 9, 2001, to May 31, 2002. The show was hosted by Jimmy Fallon at the Radio City Music Hall in New York City. During the show, Michael Jackson a ...

In other media

The song was used in the 2015 comedy movie '' Get Hard'', as well as part of a remix/mashup with '' Bad Boys'' by Inner Circle in the trailers for the 2020 film ''

Bad Boys for Life ''Bad Boys for Life'' is a 2020 American buddy cop action comedy film directed by Adil & Bilall. It is the sequel to ''Bad Boys II'' (2003) and the third installment in the ''Bad Boys'' franchise. Will Smith and Martin Lawrence reprise thei ...

'', the third installment in the ''Bad Boys'' film franchise.

Tom Brady Thomas Edward Patrick Brady Jr. (born August 3, 1977) is an American football quarterback for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers of the National Football League (NFL). He spent his first 20 seasons with the New England Patriots organization, with which ...

and the New England Patriots also heavily used the song during their Super Bowl LIII run.

Jesy Nelson Jessica Louise Nelson (born 14 June 1991) is an English singer who rose to prominence as a member of the girl group Little Mix from 2011 to 2020, one of the world's best-selling girl groups. With Little Mix, she released six studio albums and ...

's 2021 debut single " Boyz", featuring

Nicki Minaj Onika Tanya Maraj-Petty (; born December 8, 1982), known professionally as Nicki Minaj ( ), is a Trinidadian-born rapper based in the United States. She is known for her musical versatility, animated Flow (rapping), flow in her rapping, alter e ...

, prominently samples the baseline and the final lyrics of the song.

Track listing

Credits and samples

;"Bad Boy for Life" *Performed by P. Diddy, Black Rob and Mark Curry *Produced by Megahertz Music Group *Vocal production by Harve "Joe Hooker" Pierre ;"Let's Get It" *Performed by Three The... featuring G. Dep, P. Diddy and Black Rob *Produced by Yogi *Additional production by Mario "Yellow Man" Winans *Vocal production by Harve "Joe Hooker" Pierre *Contains excerpts of "Love & Happiness" by Al Green ;"Let's Get It" (remix) *Performed by Three The... featuring Kain, Mark Curry, Loon, G. Dep, P. Diddy and Black Rob ;"Can't Believe" *Performed by

Faith Evans Faith Renée Evans (born June 10, 1973) is an American singer and actress. Born in Lakeland, Florida, and raised in New Jersey, she relocated to Los Angeles in 1991 for a career in the music business. After working as a backing vocalist for Al ...

featuring Carl Thomas *Produced by Sean "P. Diddy" Combs and Mario "Yellow Man" Winans *Contains excerpts from "Phone Tap" by The Firm ;"Hoodfellaz" *Performed by The Hoodfellaz *Produced by Yogi

Chart performance

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

References

{{authority control 2001 singles 2001 songs Sean Combs songs Arista Records singles Bad Boy Records singles Music videos directed by Chris Robinson (director)