How Diddy Stole 112’s Dance Moves
Music mogul Sean “Diddy” Combs founded Bad Boy Records in 1993, and throughout the following decade, he signed several artists and groups that would go on to become household names. One of Diddy’s signees was R&B group 112. Diddy looked up to 112 a lot, and found inspiration in their live performances.
Diddy signed 112 to Bad Boy Records
When 112 auditioned for Diddy (known then as Puff Daddy) in the mid-1990s, the group of Atlanta high schoolers were just friends looking to launch their music career. Martin “Slim” Scandrick, Michael “Mike” Keith, Quinnes “Q” Parker, and Daron Jones soon signed with Bad Boy Records and were recording their self-titled debut album, released in 1996.
Their debut album featured the hit singles “Only You” and “Cupid,” the former being a collaboration with the legendary Notorious B.I.G.
In 1997, the group won a Grammy Award for Best Rap Performance by a Duo or Group for their featured work on Diddy’s single “I’ll Be Missing You,” a tribute to the late Biggie with vocals from his wife, Faith Evans. Their 2001 single “Peaches & Cream” was also nominated for a Grammy Award.
Diddy tried to copy 112’s moves
In 2016, Diddy, 112, and several other Bad Boy acts came together for the Bad Boy Family Reunion Tour. In a 2017 interview on The Breakfast Club, the members of 112 reflected on the experience of touring with Diddy all these years later. Mike recounted how Diddy was especially interested in one move of theirs that they incorporated into their act.
“We got this one move where we go ‘Bam!’ and we hold it, and we wait for the crowd, like Michael Jackson — you just don’t move until the audience comes back with it,” Mike said, demonstrating by holding his fist in the air. “Puff seen it and was like, ‘Hmmm.'”
Diddy then told Bad Boy’s Mase to do the same thing during his act. “So he stood there [and] he was like, ‘Yo, Mase, you gotta stand right here, playboy, you gotta stand right there, you gotta hold it.’ And Mase just refused to hold it, man,” he laughed. “They didn’t get the same reaction that 12 always got every night, man.”
He left them out in a blizzard once
When 112 were getting their start in Atlanta, Diddy told them he was proud of them, but often worked them into the ground. In a 2018 interview with GQ, the group members reflected on one time when he had them in the studio all night, then left them standing outside in the cold.
“One night, we had been in the studio from 6 P.M. to 6 A.M.,” Mike remembered. “Daron and myself had to go back to the apartment, because we were still in high school, and we had to get up and go to class. That day was a huge snowstorm, more than four kids from Atlanta had ever seen. As we’re leaving, Puff is leaving, too, in a Benz with chains on the tires and everything. He rolls down the window and is just, like, ‘I’ll holler at y’all.’ And he drives off. And we’re like, ‘Motherf***er, how do WE get home?”
When they got back home, Diddy expressed his gratitude for the group’s dedication. “We got a cab, and when we got back to the apartment, Puff called the landline and told me, ‘I just want to let y’all know that I’m proud of you, y’all are doing a good job,'” Mike remembered.
