Posted by Diddy has experienced a lot of success over his career, but even a Hip Hop mogul doesn’t always get what he wants. In an interview with the Breaking Atoms podcast, Diggin’ In The Crates member O.C. recalled Puff Daddy’s angry reaction when the respected MC turned down a deal with Bad Boy Records.
O.C. told Breaking Atoms hosts Sumit Sharma and Chris Mitchell about how he connected with the Bad Boy crew after releasing his Word…Life album in 1994. The veteran rapper joined since-deceased stars Craig Mack and The Notorious B.I.G. on tour, noting how Mack’s hit single “Flava In Ya Ear” even managed to overshadow Biggie at the time.
“This was after the album came out,” he explained. “Craig Mack’s ‘Flava In Ya Ear’ was super hot. He was hotter than Biggie. He was probably one of the hottest, if not the hottest artist out at that moment. And I got a chance to tour with those dudes. So, I remember doing shows with Craig Mack and dude would do the record twice in the club.”
He continued, “And I was like, ‘Yo, I’m not going on after that, man. I’m not going on before that. You bugging! You really make it hard for us.’ I seen some spots where ‘Juicy’ was already a gold single [but] me and B.I.G. would almost get booed some nights because Craig Mack, ‘Flava In Ya Ear’ was a phenomenon … Craig built Bad Boy. He built the house and put the foundation there.”
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Once O.C. finished touring with Mack and Biggie, he had a meeting with Diddy. The Bad Boy founder was interested in signing O.C. to a management deal but also wanted to remix the Word…Life LP, which didn’t sit well with the D.I.T.C. rapper.
“After that tour, I sorta was cool with Puff,” he remembered. “Puff stepped to me about management. I stepped to him as well. So, when I went to his office to talk about management, he was talking about remixing the whole album. And I wasn’t with that. So, he basically told me to get the fuck outta his office!”
Decades later, O.C. was still baffled by Diddy wanting to remix the acclaimed album. While he admitted he regretted rejecting the deal at one point in his life, he insisted he was happy with his decision in the end.
“He wanted to remix the whole Word…Life and I was like, ‘Nah, I’m good with that — that’s not gonna happen,’” he said. “How you gonna ask me some shit like that? In hindsight, I thought I regretted it at one point, but then people was like, ‘Nah, man. You did the right thing.’ And over the years and over time, I was like I’m glad I didn’t make that move.”
Check out O.C.’s full interview on the Breaking Atoms podcast above and listen to the Bad Boy talk around the 23-minute mark. Revisit his Word…Life LP below.