With all the drama, accusations, charges, and, more importantly, the Cassie tape, I’m sure some of you have already canceled Diddy and his musical catalog from your playlist, which I can understand. I’ve never been the biggest Diddy fan, but no matter how you feel about the man, there is no denying his label, Bad Boy, was responsible for some pretty great music in the mid-nineties to early 2000s. Craig Mack warmed things up with the label’s inaugural single, “Flava In Your Ear,” in the summer of 1994. The R&B acts Faith Evans, Total, and 112 all released platinum-selling albums, and I’d be remiss not to mention the impact Biggie made with Ready To Die and Life After Death. Even after Big’s death, Bad Boy’s R&B roster, along with Mase, The Lox, and Black Rob, would carry on the label’s platinum tradition. Diddy, who always made it a point (as Suge Knight said at the 1995 Source Awards) to be all in the video and all on the records of his artists, decided he didn’t just want to be a backup dancer or a hypeman for the label’s talent, but wanted to become the label’s talent as well (this would eventually cause issues with some of the other Bad Boy artists, but that’s a story for another day). His first stab at being an artist would come in June of 1997 with the release of Puff Daddy & The Family’s No Way Out.

No Way Out was released on the heels of the murder of the label’s biggest artist, Notorious B.I.G., and his posthumous release, Life After Death. Diddy would enlist his Hitmen production team to set the album’s musical tone and call on a host of guests, aka the Family, including the ghost of his fallen superstar emcee. No Way Out received mixed reviews from major publications, but that wouldn’t stop it from climbing to number one on the US Billboard Top 200 and becoming a four-time certified platinum album six months after its release. To date, it has sold over seven million units.

I was pretty much done with secular hip-hop by June of ’97, so other than a couple of singles, I don’t know a whole lot about No Way Out. I repurchased one of the seven million copies sold for a few bucks at a thrift store a few years back, long before all the allegations began to surround the business mogul (although there were rumors about his lifestyle and dirty deeds long before).

A reader asked in the comments of my Life After Death write-up if I would give a fair and balanced review of No Way Out. I will try my best to do that and not judge Diddy for the piece of shit that I believe him to be.

No Way Out (Intro) – No Way Out begins with somber chords sung by a celestial choir while a grieving Puffy whispers a prayer that I’m sure he’s probably repeated a few times in the past year, now with new meaning. The choir loop is embedded with cliche sirens and helicopter propellers. Unless it’s completely necessary, can we retire the use of sirens in hip-hop songs?

Victory – From the moment you hear Stevie J’s solemnly triumphant chords come in, along with Biggie’s opening “One” adlib, you can feel this is going to be epic. Puffy helps build the anticipation with a few warm-up lines while the tension in the backing music grows until the drums drop and Big commences to K.O. the track in two rounds. I know this is essentially Puffy’s solo album, but after his opening words, he should have bowed out and let his deceased star emcee shine without interrupting with his minuscule verse sandwiched in between Biggie’s brolic bars. Busta Rhymes comes through to add an energetic hook to what was already an enthused musical experience. This is certified fire. After the music ends, Puffy comes back in yelling, “What I’mma do now? Huh? It’s all fucked up now,” as if hearing Biggie’s vicious verses reminded him that Big’s demise meant the label’s cash cow was now gone.

Been Around The World – Coming off the success of their duet, “Can’t Nobody Hold Me Down,” Puff and Mase reunite to brag about their material possessions, boast of their sexual exploits, and address all the haters whose favorite emotion is directed towards them. In this current climate, hearing Puff say, “Let the Freak Show begin,” and talk about anything sexual is crazy uncomfortable to hear, but much like the album’s lead single, Diddy and Mase’s expensive and explicit chemistry works. Biggie’s catchy Lisa Stansfield-inspired hook, along with D-Dot and Amen-Ra’s smooth but playful David Bowie-fueled backdrop, makes the record even more appealing. This one ends with a skit of The Madd Rapper (first introduced on Life After Death) introducing us to The Madder Producer. It’s silly shit, but whatever.

What You Gonna Do? – An ordinary lunch date with a friend turns into a shootout with unknown rivals on Puff’s first solo joint of the evening. The writing credit for this one is given to Diddy and Lil’ Kim, but I’d be willing to bet Big also had a hand in penning this drama (at least the first verse). Puff fails to sell it as he sounds like he’s reading the script directly from the paper, and the storyline gets confusing, falling apart by the midway point. Despite Puffy’s performance, I still enjoyed Nashiem Myrick’s (with co-credit going to Amen-Ra) slick, gangsta thriller of an instrumental.

Don’t Stop What You’re Doing – Puffy summons Amen-Ra to loop up Yarbrough & People’s classic funk joint, “Don’t Stop The Music,” which is a no-brainer considering Puff’s favorite tagline. Lil’ Kim makes her first appearance on the album and shares the mic with Puff while the incomparable Kelly Price stops by to sing the hook and adlibs on this feel-good record.

If I Should Die Tonight – J-Dub hooks up a polished, sexy R&B groove with Carl Thomas crooning in the background, which makes for an odd set-up for Puff to reflect on death.

Do You Know? – D-Dot hooks up a soulful mid-tempo groove punctuated by sparkling, sophisticated piano keys (credited to J-Dub), and Kelly Price drops in again to add her voice to the Diane Ross-influenced hook. Puffy goes dolo once again and doesn’t sound convincing. J-Dub jumps back on the piano and completely kills with his closing solo.

Young G’s – Diddy, Jay-Z, and Biggie each spit a verse *in my Snoop Dogg voice* From a young G’s perspective. Kelly Price recreates the refrain from Donny Hathaway’s “Little Ghetto Boy,” and Rashad Smith provides a cool xylophone-driven instrumental to back the pow-wow. I bet you can figure out who the weakest link is on this record.

I Love You Baby – Other than his hit record, “Whoa,” I didn’t know much about Black Rob. I recently discovered a couple of cameos he made on CRU’s Da Dirty 30, which I enjoyed. Puff gives him an opportunity to shine on this track as he spins a dark tale about betrayal and revenge. Rob’s premeditated murderous getback, delivered with his gruff voice, sounds great over The Hitmen’s elegant strings and piano keys that were tailor-made to converse about sex and deceit. I have one issue with this record: Puffy. Why in the hell does he jump in on Rob’s story to give us the last verse? This is Rob’s narrative, so give him the floor and keep your contribution to the whispers you put on the hook, dammit. J-Dub returns at the end of this track to put down another passionately disgusting piano solo. Rest in peace, Black Rob.

It’s All About The Benjamins (Remix) – The liner notes and back CD panel list this as a remix, but it’s the only version of the song that I’ve ever heard. Puffy’s joined by Jadakiss, Sheek Louch, Lil’ Kim, and B.I.G. for this blinged-out cipher session (I wonder why Styles P didn’t make the record). D-Dot’s credited with the hard-hitting mid-tempo backdrop (if you listen to the original Love Unlimited loop the instrumental is built on, D-Dot’s flip sounds even more impressive), but my favorite part is when the beat changes to the flute-led Jackson 5 loop and we get one last charismatic and expensive verse from Frank White.

Pain – Over somber piano play, Puff shares some of the painful events that have him wanting to check out (i.e., his father’s murder when he was a kid, his haters wishing for his downfall, and Biggie’s murder, which is the theme of the third verse). I respect Puff showing vulnerability, but this should have gone right after the “If I Should Die Tonight” interlude. There’s no reason to have two separate “woe is me” moments on the album. Speaking of pain, it was painful to listen to the uncredited voice that sings the hook.

Is This The End? – Puffy gets really ambitious with this one as he attempts to rap double-time, a la Twista. Speaking of Twista, I remember him when he went by Mista Tung Twista in the early nineties. Back then, he was more concerned with speed and getting into the Guinness Book of World Records than style and creating dope records. He reinvented himself with his cameo on Do Or Die’s “Po Pimp,” which was cool stylistically, but I didn’t think it was lyrically phenomenal. He pops up on the second verse of this song and saves Puffy, both figuratively (Puffy was struggling heavily to keep the double-time pace) and literally (in the song, he shows up to give Puff a ride to escape some “unholy men” looking to kill him) and completely obliterates Stevie J’s chirping birds and innocent harp plucks. I didn’t care for the Carl Thomas/Ginuwine hook, but Twista sounds incredible on this record. I’m going to hunt down a copy of Adrenaline Rush immediately!

I Got The Power – Two words come to mind to describe this one: bully and gully. The Lox batter and bruise Jaz-O’s electronically grimy backdrop. This record only increased my anticipation to finally listen to and break down Money, Power & Respect in the near future.

Friend – This was a complete train wreck. Stevie J builds a decent sonic canvas around an Average White Band loop, but Puffy and Foxy Brown’s exchange, along with Simone Hines’ hook, feels recklessly thrown together and simply doesn’t make any damn sense.

Senorita – After an extremely too-long pillow talk exchange between Puff and his Spanish-speaking vixen that ends the previous track, Yogi (from The CRU) drops a hypnotic pulsating bass line and sprinkles melodic chimes from heaven over it to set the mood for Puffy’s ode to his sexy Latino goddess, Carmen (I wonder if JLo was the muse for this song). Puff sounds more convincing rhyming on this song than any of his other solo joints on the album, but nowhere near spectacular. But his catchy hook will have you singing along while you bob your head to the plush instrumental.

I’ll Be Missing You – With “Can’t Nobody” (which will get to real soon) being released six months before No Way Out, this is the album’s unofficial lead single/official second single. Stevie J taps The Police’s “Every Breath You Take” for the backdrop, and Faith Evans and 112 lend their vocals to Puffy’s dedication to his fallen friend or deceased bitter employee, depending on who you ask. Puff spews simple, sappy, and cliche bars, but the music and Faith and 112’s voices on the hook and bridge will surely stir your emotions as you reminisce over Big or any of your lost loved ones.

Can’t Nobody Hold Me Down – As promised, Diddy closes the album with the lead single. Six July and Nashiem Myrick recreate the vintage electronic funk of “The Message” for Puff and Mase to tag team the mic and boast about materialism and excess and excessive materialism. The hooks and refrains on the album version sound shortened compared to the original mix that I remember, but even in its truncated form, it still sounds great. My only issue with this record is its placement. You have to close the album with the Biggie dedication joint, bro.

“Do You Know?” begins with Puffy saying, “There are times in my life when I feel trapped. I feel there’s no way out. No escape. To be honest, I don’t know where my life is going. Where I’ll end up at. I just don’t know.” I’m sure he didn’t think he’d end up where he is now. Maybe the album title, No Way Out, was Puffy’s way of subliminally crying out for help to escape the dark, twisted, and perverted world he felt trapped in. Needless to say, it didn’t help him escape, but it may have helped produce some great music.

There’s a reason No Way Out is credited to Puffy Daddy & the Family. Of the album’s seventeen tracks, only five feature Puff rhyming by himself. This was a wise move, considering Puff is a horrible rapper. I’ve often criticized rappers in the past for not writing their rhymes, but after listening to Puff recite rhymes written by some of hip-hop’s greatest pens (i.e., Jay-Z, B.I.G., and Jadakiss) on this album and still sounding terrible, it made me respect what Lil’ Kim does even more. It’s well-known that Big penned most of her rhymes for the Hard Core album, but she sold it with her personality, charisma, and believable promiscuity. Ironically, Diddy, the ultimate salesman, fails to close the deal as an artist on No Way Out, but everything works well.

The production on No Way Out is stellar as The Hitmen laced the project with so much soul, heat, and flavor you’d swear it was an audible New Orleans seafood boil. All of the Family and special guests, not named Foxy Brown or that horrible uncredited voice that sings the hook on “Pain,” deliver with solid to great efforts. Biggie’s handful of contributions were a nice added touch, and more importantly, they sound authentic and not like posthumous patchwork added to gain clout, even if that was Puff’s purpose for including them. Despite a few track sequencing issues, “Friends” and Puffy’s rapping, No Way Out is a really good listen if you can look past Diddy’s disgusting highly-publicized transgressions. How’s that for fair and balanced?

-Deedub
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