Genre Hip hop Label Bad Boy | Length 4:13 | |
Released November 27, 2001 (2001-11-27) Format 12" vinyl, CD single, maxi single Writer(s) Dorsey Wesley, Mark Curry, Robert Ross, Jamel Fisher, Drayton Goss | ||
"Bad Boy for Life" is a song by American rappers P. Diddy, Black Rob and Mark Curry, featured on Diddy's 2001 third album The Saga Continues.... Contrary to popular belief, Mike Tyson does not appear in this video due to safety fears, instead sending his body guard in his place. Produced by Megahertz (Dorsey Wesley), it was released as the second single from the album in November 2001 and reached number 33 on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart. This song appears on the soundtrack for WWE 2K17 which Diddy himself is an executive producer for its soundtrack.
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Background
In reviews of the album, "Bad Boy for Life" has been identified as a declaration of strength by Diddy's label Bad Boy Records. Jason Birchmeier of music website Allmusic explains that the song summarises the claim "that [the] Bad Boy empire is in fact still an empire", while Entertainment Weekly 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 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 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, actor Ben Stiller, actor Richard Dunn, rappers Xzibit, Ice Cube, Snoop Dogg, boxer Mike Tyson, television host Pat O'Brien, basketball players Shaquille O'Neal, Baron Davis and rap rock band Crazy Town. The video was nominated for Best Rap Video at both the 2002 MVPA Awards and the 2002 MTV Video Music Awards.