Mark Curry | |
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Birth name | Mark Keith Curry |
Born | New Jersey, U.S. | July 15, 1971
Genres | Hip hop |
Occupation(s) |
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Labels | Bad Boy |
Mark Keith Curry (born July 15, 1971) is an American rapper. He is best known for his 2001 single "Bad Boy for Life" (with Puff Daddy and Black Rob), which peaked at number 33 on the Billboard Hot 100 and at number 13 on the UK singles chart. In 2009, he published a book, Dancing with the Devil, which contains scurrilous anecdotes about his tenure at Puff Daddy's label Bad Boy Records.
Mark Keith Curry [1] was born on July 15, 1971 [2] in New York to Kenneth and Lillie Curry, and moved to Teaneck when he was three. His parents separated in 1983; Kenneth relocated to Atlanta in 1986, with Mark following later that year. He initially worked at The Rim Shop, a car accessories boutique in Atlanta, and at Platinum House, described by Curry in Dancing with the Devil as "a black version of Studio 54 without the kinkiness, and with dancers paid to shed their clothing"; [3] it was at the latter that he first met Sean Combs, during the latter's time doing "Bad Boy Fridays" there [4] (parties run by Bad Boy Records to publicise Platinum House [3] ) who he would meet again after being introduced via D-Mack, another artist on Bad Boy Records, to which he signed in 1997. [4]
In 1999, he appeared on "Gangsta Shit" from Sean Combs' Forever [5] and on "Dangerous MC's" from The Notorious B.I.G.'s Born Again . [6] The following year, he appeared on "Down the Line Shit" and "Muscle Game" from Black Rob's Life Story . [7] In 2001, he featured on six tracks from Sean Combs' The Saga Continues... ; [8] Curry used his 2009 book Dancing with the Devil to note that Combs had failed to invite him to recording sessions, and that he only appeared because he turned up anyway. [9] Curry featured on the album's "Blast Off", "Where's Sean", "Lonely", "I Don't Like That (Interlude)", "The Last Song", and "Bad Boy for Life", [8] the latter of which charted at No. 13 on the UK Singles Chart [10] and at No. 33 on the Billboard Hot 100. [11] Also in 2001, he appeared on "American Dream", from the Training Day soundtrack, which credited David Bowie due to it sampling "This Is Not America", [12] and on "Blast Off" and "Let's Get It (Remix)" from G. Dep's album Child of the Ghetto . [13] He left Bad Boy Records in 2005. [4]
In 2009, Curry released a book, Dancing with the Devil, which contained a number of scurrilous anecdotes about Combs and Bad Boy Records, and which Curry began writing in the belief that Combs "would try to deal with me fairly if he knew I was going to air his dirty laundry"; the book claimed that Combs copied Curry's mannerisms and guide vocals verbatim for his 1998 single "Come with Me", [9] that he regularly shoehorned himself on to his artists' tracks so that he could charge high "special guest appearances" and that artists only found out once they received their royalty checks, [14] that he would insist on his sports cars being featured in artists' music videos so that he could deduct high rental fees from their budgets and that he would then claim tax credits for his cars' business use, that he regularly muscled his way into unearned songwriting and production credits, [15] and that he would flaunt his wealth around the people he was exploiting. [9] Curry also used the book to note that he was so poor while with Bad Boy that he had to sell his backstage passes for shows where he was one of Combs' henchmen and that towards the end of his Bad Boy career he had considered selling cannabis to provide for his family, that the previous year he had lost his house to foreclosure, and that he was homeless, driving a 1992 Honda Accord he had bought at auction, and unable to afford health insurance for himself, his wife, or his son Mark Curry II. [9] In 2014, he opened a juice bar in Miami, and in 2018, he took a job in the solar power industry. [2]
Sean Love Combs, also known by his stage name Diddy, formerly Puff Daddy and P. Diddy, is an American rapper, record producer and record executive. He is credited with the discovery and cultivation of artists such as the Notorious B.I.G., Mary J. Blige, and Usher. Combs has won three Grammy Awards from 13 nominations, two MTV Video Music Awards, and a Guinness World Record for "Most Successful Rap Producer" in 1997.
Bad Boy Entertainment, doing business as Bad Boy Records, is an American record label founded in 1993 by Sean "Puffy" Combs. During the mid 1990s, the label signed numerous artists including Craig Mack, The Notorious B.I.G., Faith Evans, Mase, 112, Total, The Lox, Shyne and Carl Thomas. At its 1997 peak, Bad Boy was worth an estimated US$100 million.
Robert Ross, known professionally as Black Rob, was an American rapper who was signed to Sean "Puffy" Combs' Bad Boy Entertainment. He was best known for his 2000 single "Whoa!", which peaked at number 43 on the Billboard Hot 100.
No Way Out is the debut studio album by American rapper Puff Daddy. It was released on July 22, 1997, by Arista and Bad Boy Records. The album is credited to "Puff Daddy & the Family"; the latter act refers to guest appearances from his signees at Bad Boy Records.
Forever is the second studio album of American hip hop recording artist Puff Daddy, released on August 24, 1999, by Bad Boy Records and Arista Records. The album debuted at number two on the Billboard 200, received platinum certification by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), and sold 205,343 units in its first week. Despite this, Forever was met with mixed to unfavorable critical response and trailed the success of his previous album, No Way Out (1997).
The Saga Continues... is the third studio album by American rapper P. Diddy, released on July 10, 2001 by Arista and Bad Boy Records. Similarly to his debut album No Way Out (1997), it is credited to "P. Diddy and the Bad Boy Family"; the latter act refers to his signees at Bad Boy Records. It was the first studio album released by Combs under the P. Diddy name, and the final release under Bad Boy Records' joint venture with Arista Records.
Mason Durell Betha, better known by his mononym Mase, is an American rapper. Best known for his work with Sean "Puff Daddy" Combs' Bad Boy Records, he signed with the label in 1996 and quickly found mainstream recognition as Combs' hype man. He guest appeared on Combs' 1997 single, "Can't Nobody Hold Me Down", which peaked atop the Billboard Hot 100, while his singles as a lead artist, "Feel So Good" and "What You Want" both peaked within the top ten of the chart. Released in October of that year, his debut studio album, Harlem World (1997) peaked atop the Billboard 200 chart, received quadruple platinum certification by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), and spawned his third top ten single as a lead artist, "Lookin' at Me". Furthermore, his guest performances on labelmate the Notorious B.I.G.'s single "Mo Money Mo Problems" and Puff Daddy's "Been Around the World" peaked at numbers one and two on the Billboard Hot 100, respectively, that same year.
"Hypnotize" is a song by American rapper the Notorious B.I.G. featuring uncredited vocals by Pamela Long, released as the first single from his album Life After Death by Bad Boy and Arista Records on March 4, 1997. The last song released before his death in a drive-by shooting a week later, it was the fifth song by a credited artist to peak the Billboard Hot 100 posthumously since "(Just Like) Starting Over" by John Lennon in 1980. Rolling Stone ranked the song as number 30 on their list of the "100 Greatest Hip-Hop Songs of All Time".
Life Story is the debut studio album by American rapper Black Rob. It was released on March 7, 2000, via Arista Records and Sean "Puffy" Combs' Bad Boy Entertainment. The album was praised by critics for its production and Rob's vocal presence and lyricism being similar to the late Notorious B.I.G. Life Story debuted and peaked at number 3 on the Billboard 200 and sold close to 178,000 copies in its first week released. The album spawned two singles: "Whoa!" and "Espacio". Life Story was ultimately certified Platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) for selling 1,000,000 copies in the United States on August 17, 2000.
"Victory" is a song by American rapper and producer Sean Combs, under his then stage name Puff Daddy. The song features vocals from rappers such as the late Notorious B.I.G. and Busta Rhymes. It features heavy use of mafioso-style lyrics, as was popular at the time. The song also heavily sampled the Bill Conti song "Going the Distance", which featured on the soundtrack to the movie Rocky making it a darker start to a rap album that featured many club-standard singles. It also featured the last verses recorded by The Notorious B.I.G. before his 1997 death, as these verses were recorded a day before his shooting. Released as the fifth and final single from No Way Out in March 1998, it peaked at number 19 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, and was certified gold by the RIAA later that year.
"No One Else" is a song by American girl group Total featuring American rapper Da Brat. It was released as the second single from Total's self-titled debut studio album on November 28, 1995, by Bad Boy and Arista Records. The song was produced by Bad Boy founder Sean "Puffy" Combs and Poke of the Trackmasters, while the songwriting was handled by the two alongside the featured Da Brat and Terri & Monica vocalist Terri Robinson. The song also contains a sample from the track "South Bronx" by Boogie Down Productions.
The discography of American rapper Sean Combs consists of five studio albums, two collaborative albums, one remix album and seventy-two singles – including thirty-three as a lead artist and thirty-nine as a featured artist.
"I Need a Girl (Part One)" is a single by American rapper P. Diddy featuring Usher and Loon from the album We Invented the Remix. In 2004, the song was featured on the Bad Boys compilation R&B Hits. Along with "I Need a Girl (Part Two)", P. Diddy achieved a rare occurrence by having two parts of a song become chart hits. Part one peaked at number two on the US Billboard Hot 100 and number one on the Billboard Hot Rap Tracks chart. It also charted on the UK Singles Chart at number four. The song was ranked number 15 on the Billboard Hot 100 year-end chart in 2002. The song contains a chord progression played on a Roland JV-1080 sound module, using a patch named "Flying Waltz".
Child of the Ghetto is the debut studio album by American rapper G. Dep. It was released on November 20, 2001, through Bad Boy Entertainment/Arista Records.
"Must Be Love" is a song recorded by American singer Cassie. It features guest vocals by American rapper Puff Daddy, who also co-wrote the song with Aion Clarke, Michael Jones, Leroy Watson and the producer Mario Winans. The song was released for digital download in the United States on April 14, 2009, by Atlantic Records under the Bad Boy imprint, impacting urban radio stations in that region on April 27, 2009.
The following list is a discography of production and co-production by Sean Combs, sometimes credited as Puffy, P. Diddy or simply Diddy. It includes a list of songs produced, co-produced and remixed by year, artist, album and title. Alongside this, Combs was a lead member of Bad Boy Records' in-house production team, The Hitmen.
"Can't Nobody Hold Me Down" is the debut single by rapper Puff Daddy. It appears on Puff Daddy's debut studio album No Way Out and the song was released to Rhythmic contemporary radio in December 1996 and was physically released on January 7, 1997. The single was released through BMG Music, Arista Records and Puff Daddy's Bad Boy Records.
"I'll Be Missing You" is a song by American rapper Puff Daddy and American singer Faith Evans, featuring R&B group 112, in memory of fellow Bad Boy Records artist Christopher "The Notorious B.I.G." Wallace, who was murdered on March 9, 1997. Released as the second single from Puff Daddy and the Family's debut album, No Way Out (1997), "I'll Be Missing You" samples the Police's 1983 hit song "Every Breath You Take" with an interpolated chorus sung by Evans and interpolated rhythm. The song also interpolates the 1929 Albert E. Brumley hymn "I'll Fly Away" and features a spoken intro over a choral version of Samuel Barber's "Adagio for Strings".
MMM (Money Making Mitch) is the first mixtape by Puff Daddy & the Family, originally released on November 4, 2015, as a free mixtape on Bad Boy Records and Epic Records. It was later re-released on iTunes as a retail project on December 18, 2015. It served as a lead-up following the announcement of Puff Daddy's ultimately-unreleased fifth studio album, No Way Out 2, which would have been a direct sequel to his first studio album, No Way Out (1997).
"Let's Get It" is a song performed by American rappers P. Diddy, G. Dep and Black Rob. It was released on April 3, 2001, through Bad Boy Entertainment as the first single from P. Diddy & The Bad Boy Family's The Saga Continues... and G. Dep's Child of the Ghetto. Produced by Yogi "Sugar Bear" Graham with additional production by Mario "Yellow Man" Winans, the song contains samples from Al Green's "Love and Happiness". On the August 12, 2022 edition of The Breakfast Club, 50 Cent revealed that he ghostwritten the chorus and P. Diddy’s verses on the song.