We Invented the Remix

Don't believe the hype: Bad Boy Records did not invent the remix, the company has just done a good job using it. But the past is the past. Don't come here if you're looking for Puffy's earlier groundbreaking work with the likes of Jodeci and Super Cat. The "hits" here are of a more recent vintage, and if these remixes are any indication, it seems Diddy has reached the bottom of his bag of tricks. Screeching bells, Ghostface Killah, and the return of the MacK (Craig Mack) give G. Dep's "Special Delivery" (from last year's Child of the Ghetto) that hyped Bad Boy flavor of yore, but it's all downhill from there. Lines like "We used to drive the whole city wild" make listening to "I Need a Girl," Puffy's maudlin ode to ex-squeeze J. Lo, a cringe-inducing experience, and the producer-rapper's painfully weak rhyme ruins Mary J. Blige's "No More Drama." Most disturbing is Puffy's crass opportunism: Biggie's "voice from the grave" duet with Ashanti (on "Unfoolish") is downright creepy and ultimately unnecessary. --Rebecca Levine