Mary, Faith and Kim: The History of The Superwomen of Bad Boy

Without Mary J. Blige, Faith Evans and Lil’ Kim, the true power of Bad Boy would be unknown

Before there was Bad Boy, there was Mary.

In 1990, after dropping out of Howard University, Sean “Puffy” Combs found himself interning at the hottest record label on the scene. Uptown Records, founded five years earlier by former rapper Andre Harrell, snatched up acts with the most promise and began churning out hits.

From Heavy D & The Boyz to Father MC, there was a slightly cookie-cutter yet ultimately successful approach to breaking a new act on Uptown. R&B and hip-hop were still trying to find their footing in a post-Motown world. Hip-hop was still in its infancy and the output was often infantile or a form of caricature.  R&B still depended heavily on tried and true radio ready party songs. This wasn’t music that moved you. This was music that made you dance.

Puffy wanted to make both. His first chance to make that happen would be with a woman with talent, edge and swag.

He moved up from intern to Talent Director and it became his job to find a way to market some of the newer acts that had been signed to the label. Mary Jane Blige was a native of Yonkers, just five miles away from where Puffy grew up in Mt. Vernon. She was signed to the label to sing backups and then to record her debut album.

Keep in mind, this is 1991. We are in the middle of the Gulf War. Whitney Houston unites the country by turning “The Star Spangled Banner” into a hit single. The biggest rap acts are family-friendly Heavy D & The Boyz and A Tribe Called Quest. R&B singers are expected to be classy, coiffed and wearing gowns. Think En Vogue and Mariah Carey, who ruled the early ‘90s.

Puff and Mary kicked in the door of pop culture before Bad Boy Records could even be formed. Led by his then-girlfriend Misa …

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