Last Saturday afternoon, tennis legend Roger Federer and eventual champion Novak Djokovic battled in perhaps the most entertaining match of the year in the US Open men’s semifinals.  The momentum swung back and forth between the two, and Djokovic’s remarkable comeback was highlighted by one of the greatest (or luckiest) shots of all time.  It was therefore fitting that every time CBS cut to a shot of the seats where Djokovic’s friends and family were taking in the action, the viewers at home were treated to the “there’s no way that’s actually him” image of Diddy cheering like a madman.  Except for once, when the cameras caught him furiously typing away at his Blackberry keypad.  What was Diddy texting?  A tweet about the adrenaline rush of witnessing tennis’ match of the year up in close in person?  No, better.  A tweet advertising the availability of Bad Boy Presents: The Preview (Hosted By Diddy) for free on the Internet.

Just kidding.  There’s nothing wrong with The Preview, really, but it certainly isn’t a classic in the vein of Federer-Djokovic.  The free release is geared towards generating buzz for Bad Boy’s newest members, but also features some established stars to lend credibility to the proceedings.  This strategy kind of works, but not really.  For example, on the first track “Fly Together,” Red Café kicks things off by boasting “I’m a boss, so I need a boss chick… we can green up like Paul Pierce.”  Someone should have told Mr. Café that when you’ve already secured guest spots from Rick Ross and Fabolous on your group’s mixtape, it’s probably best not to open the first verse by jacking a lyric from each of them.

The other two Bad Boys who take center stage at different points throughout the collection are actually a Bad Boy and a Bad Girl named Machine Gun Kelly and Cassie.  MGK, a self-proclaimed “East side Cleveland wild boy,” spits at an impressively rapid-fire rate befitting his moniker.  He may seem a bit hard to understand to unfamiliar listeners, until Waka Flocka Flame hops in on the action with him on “Wild Boy.” Then you realize, hey, MGK is pretty easy to understand.

The Bad Girl, Cassie, gets her first joint with “Radio,” a semi-mutilated update of Mobb Deep’s classic “Shook Ones Pt. II” that sees Fabolous quoting Drake (again) and the songstress paying homage to Mary J. Blige and TLC.  One can’t help but wonder if Diddy truly sees her ever elevating to that level of stardom, however, as neither she nor MGK get a track to themselves on the (admittedly brief) collection.  In contrast, Red Café, the most famous but least talented of the trio, gets two solo tracks sandwiching a predictably shameless Ciroc advertisement featuring Puffy comparing Grey Goose to piss.  Diddy has always been a savvy businessman however, so perhaps it’s not an accident that the tape ODs on Red Café but leaves you wanting more MGK and Cassie (and Ciroc!).

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2.5 / 5 bars