Warryn Campbell says Sean “Diddy” Combs desperately wanted to sign Mary Mary to Bad Boy Records, but the gospel duo ultimately decided to pass.
Campbell, a Grammy-winning songwriter, producer and musician, recently sat down for an interview on the “We Sound Crazy” podcast to discuss his career.
The video was posted online in May, but just started gaining traction because of a story Campbell shared about Combs.
Back in the 1990s, Campbell said he started working with singing duo Erica and Tina Atkins. The sisters would eventually adopt the stage name Mary Mary, after two famous Marys in the Bible.
The producer said Diddy, then known as Puff Daddy, expressed interest in the Atkins sisters before they landed a recording contract. Campbell recalled late rapper Heavy D mentioned him to Combs, who invited him in for a meeting.
Related: Erica Campbell Nearly Gave Up on Acting Before Lead Role in Lifetime Movie
The Los Angeles-based producer brought demo tapes from Mary Mary and R&B band Dru Hill to the meeting.
“I get there and immediately, I don’t like Puff. He walks in the room and doesn’t look at me,” Campbell recalled.
He said Combs was dismissive, talked down to him, and addressed him as “playboy.”
“He looked at me and was like, ‘What you do?’ I said, ‘Ni–a, I make music just like you,'” Campbell told the podcast hosts. He continued by saying he played a song from Dru Hill and Combs liked it. The music mogul asked if it was true that Campbell also produced gospel music.
“I was like, ‘Yeah, I got a gospel group I’m working on,” he recalled telling Combs. The producer said he played an unreleased song called “Shackles (Praise You),” and the Bad Boy founder loved it.
“[Combs] started jumping up and down on the couch and was like, ‘Yo! Yo! Oh my God. Get your lawyer on the phone now! I want to sign them,'” Campbell recalled Combs saying.
The producer said a bidding war followed for Mary Mary. The duo ultimately passed on Bad Boy, which may have been a good thing, considering the allegations against Combs that have surfaced in recent years.
Mary Mary later released “Shackles (Praise You)” as the lead single from their 2000 debut album, Thankful. The song became a crossover hit, spending 20 weeks on the Billboard Hot 100, and Thankful topped Billboard’s Gospel Albums chart and sold millions of copies.
Warryn Campbell married Erica Atkins in 2001. He now pastors a church in Los Angeles and the husband and wife team recently worked together on the faith-based Lifetime movie Thou Shall Not Commit Adultery. Erica starred in the film, while Warryn produced the original score.
Combs is currently in federal prison, serving a 50-month sentence following a conviction on prostitution-related charges.
You can listen to the full interview with Warryn Campbell here.
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