When people speak of “East against West,” the same name almost always stands on the East side: Bad Boy. Sean “Puffy” Combs’s label was New York’s most successful hip-hop label between 1994 and 1997-and was in an open dispute with Tupac’s label, Death Row. The course of the feud is recounted on the page East vs. West; this article is about the company behind it.
From Uptown Firing to a $100 Million Label
Combs founded Bad Boy in 1993 after Andre Harrell fired him from Uptown Records. According to Wikipedia, he negotiated a deal with Arista Records under Clive Davis, the volume of which is estimated at $10 to $15 million. The first release was Craig Mack’s Flava in Ya Ear (1994). That same year, The Notorious B.I.G.’s Ready to Die followed, earning six-times platinum. Biggie was the same rapper Tupac had taken under his wing as a friend back in 1993.
In 1997, the label reached its commercial peak: Biggie’s Life After Death was released in March, reached number 1, and sold over ten million copies. Combs’s own debut, No Way Out, entered at number 1 in July and sold about seven million copies, while Mase’s Harlem World achieved quadruple platinum. Wikipedia estimated the total value of the label for the year 1997 at around $100 million.
From the Quad Studios Lobby to “Hit ‘Em Up”
The dispute between the two camps developed in several stages.
On November 30, 1994, Tupac was robbed and shot in the lobby of Quad Studios in Manhattan. Biggie and associates from the Bad Boy circle were recording in the same building. Tupac suspected they had known about the attack. Evidence for that never existed (Shooting 1994).
At the Source Awards on August 3, 1995, the conflict became public: Suge Knight used his appearance to mock Combs from the stage. Death Row and Bad Boy now publicly faced each other as opponents.
The next escalation followed in September 1995. Jake Robles, a friend of Knight’s, was shot dead in Atlanta. Knight blamed Combs’s circle; the crime remains unsolved (Wikipedia).
When Suge Knight bailed Tupac out of prison in October 1995, Tupac became Death Row’s face in this conflict (Death Row Records). Tupac publicly claimed to have slept with Biggie’s wife, Faith Evans. Evans has always denied this. In December 1995, Tha Dogg Pound and Snoop Dogg filmed the video for New York, New York in Brooklyn (Tha Dogg Pound). Finally, in June 1996, Hit ‘Em Up appeared, the harshest attack on Bad Boy, Biggie, and Combs (Song).
After the Murders: Davis’s Allegation and Combs’s Denial
Tupac was shot in Las Vegas on September 7, 1996, and died on September 13. Biggie was shot dead in Los Angeles on March 9, 1997; the case is officially considered unsolved. For Tupac’s death, a Las Vegas jury found Duane “Keffe D” Davis guilty on August 31, 2026; sentencing is scheduled for October 13, 2026.
Davis had claimed in earlier interrogations that Combs offered one million dollars for a murder in 1996. Combs has always denied any involvement, and according to their own statements, the Las Vegas police never listed him as a suspect (Suspects). Eminem’s Killshot line from 2018 also alluded to the rumor; it is not substantiated (Eminem).
After the Boom: Distribution Changes and Prison Sentence for Combs
After 1997, Bad Boy faded: Mase stepped away in 1999, and the label lost influence in the early 2000s. In June 2002, Combs parted ways with Arista, retaining the catalog and artist roster. Distribution subsequently changed multiple times: Universal (2003 to 2005), a joint venture with Warner Music Group distributed by Atlantic (2005 to 2009), Interscope (2009 to 2015), and Epic (2015 to 2022). In 2016, a reunion tour marked the 20th anniversary. In 2023, Combs founded a new label, Love Records.
In July 2025, in a federal case unrelated to Tupac or Biggie, a New York jury found Combs guilty on two counts of transportation to engage in prostitution and acquitted him of the most serious charges. In October 2025, he was sentenced to 50 months in prison. His appeal, argued in April 2026, had not been decided as of early October 2026 (as of October 9, 2026).