During the nineties you could not ignore Puff Daddy and his music label Bad Boy Records. The label scored hit after hit and the videos were mini movies with budgets that many directors would kill for. With artists like Total, 112, Craig Mack, Ma$e, Faith Evans and The Notorious B.I.G. Puffy had an impressive lineup and he was at the top of his game. When in the second half of the nineties a rivalry arose between 2Pac and Biggie, Bad Boy Records and Death Row (where 2Pac had a contract) were also pulled into it, which eventually resulted in the death of both rappers. It also meant a huge setback for Puff Daddy, not just because B.I.G. a good friend, but also one of his most successful artists who, due to his appearance on singles by other artists, ensured that sales were higher.
And although he scored a big hit with “I’ll Be Missing You” after that, the best days of the label were over. Diddy, however, had turned himself into a businessman who looked beyond music and built an empire worth $820 million. This documentary shows how Puffy brings everyone back together for two Bad Boy Reunion concerts in 2016 and how the preparations go. It tries to dive into history and show how P.Diddy made his label so successful.
Unfortunately, Can’t Stop, Will not Stop: A Bad Boy Story has mainly become an ego-caressing whole that shows what a perfectionist Puff Daddy is and has too little content or new insights (unless you wanted to know that he has a candy room). It is a documentary that looks good and it is nice to see these artists come together, but there is hardly footage of them talking about the days of success. It shows so much of the preparations for the final concerts that it is simply a disappointment that hardly any footage of that is shown. A concert movie would probably have had more impact if you had alternated that with interviews with the actual artists who talk about their times of success. It makes this a disappointing film that might look just as shiny as the suits that Puff Daddy and Ma$e wore in their videos, but which is as informative as a commercial.
Poo Doody. That is what he should be called.
Hahaha, didn’t he use that already? 😉