The Untold Truth Of Cheri Dennis’ Departure From Diddy’s Bad Boy Entertainment | #FindingBET
- I can remember having a record deal and being broke, and going to Puff and being like, yo, Cheri's about to go back home and work at Walmart, like, (bleep) this shit, like, it's like... this is-- this is dead. ♪ Plea I love you, I love you ♪ ♪ Oh, I love you (I love you) ♪ ♪ Oh yes, I do, hey, hey, so don't break my heart ♪ ♪ Come and see the portrait of love ♪ ♪ This ain't the Mona Lisa, no Michelangelo picture ♪ ♪ Step to me, tell me please ♪ - Come on! - ♪ That without me it's so complete, so complete ♪ ♪ Went away, you said nothing ♪ ♪ You didn't no kiss no loving ♪ Growing up in Cleveland was... was very middle-class. I lived with my dad and my step-mom. My dad is my best friend, he raised me. I'm his only. But music was just always kind of part of my household. I'd listen to vinyl and I'd just dig in the crates, and I'd just go through and listen to music. And I think that just kind of formulated, like, my love for music. My dad, for my 12th birthday, I guess he could see, like, it in me, that like, "This girl can really sing." "Maybe I should try and cultivate that or do something with it." So, for my 12th birthday, he took me and my best friend at the time to a recording studio. And that was my birthday present. I think there was like a producer there that had a girls group, and they were looking for another girl. - Here they are too, Spoiled on "Video LP." - ♪ Ohh ♪ ♪ Love don't come easy, my love ♪ I was in the group Spoiled from the ages of 12 to 16. One, it was cool because it-- it actually gave me a platform to practice, you know, becoming a better singer, better songwriter. But it also taught me that I need to be a solo artist. I mean, I got along with the girls. That's a lie, sorry. I'm lying. I didn't always get along with them. I had fist fights with, like, a few of the girls in the group. Sometimes with girls, like, it can be catty, it can be a lot of jealousy. And from that point on, it really made me be like, okay, this whole group thing is probably not, like, you know, my path. From the time that I got out of the singing group to about the time that I moved to New York, or just really started courting New York and taking that seriously, I met a guy named Jimmy Cozier. And Jimmy was like, "You should just come "to New York and, like, do some pre-production stuff, and you know, try and get a deal." And so, from there, I moved to New York. I started going when I was 18, and then I kinda like took a bag and was kinda like living out of this bag and sleeping at, like, his house. And at 19, I had a record deal. - ...we have a lot of artists on Bad Records. One new artist that I wanted to bring out, let her do her thing. She's a young lady trying to make it. This is the part of the show we dedicate to the ladies. Her name is Cheri Dennis. Cheri, come out... - The first time that I met Diddy, I was 19, and he was-- he was pretty charming. Jimmy Cozier was having a birthday party, and so, him and Kim Porter-- rest in peace, sweet woman-- came to the birthday party. I just really sat down next to him and just kinda like sung over, like, whatever was playing. I kinda freestyled over whatever was playing in the club. And, um... yeah, I guess he liked me. A couple weeks later, I remember him inviting me to come to Daddy's house, and I remember him giving me this Bad Boy jacket. I was just so, like, mesmerized at the fact that, like, a place that I had, like, listened to the music and loved, and like, Total, like, Biggie and everybody, 112, that I was so, like, hyped up about that, that it was just-- the whole thing itself was just, like... really whimsical, if I could-- for a lack of a better word. I was like, wow, like, I'm about to be signed to this label where not only I get to, like, live out my dreams, but I'm at a place where I admire the artists, like, I'm a fan of the artists. So, I hadn't yet got the concept of music business and the whole industry. It didn't tank that at that moment. - Miss Cheri Dennis, do your thing. Give her a round of applause, make her feel welcome, y'all. (cheers and applause) - ♪ When you said to me last night, whoo ♪ ♪ We was talking... ♪ "So Complete" is one of my favorite songs. Um... I feel like at the time, it was the whole, like, resurgence of Bad Boy. They did, like, you know, they had G. Dep, he was new, Loon, he was new. It was like all these new rap artists on the label, and I was the girl. And I feel like I had one of the best songs on the album. And I also feel like had "So Complete" been, like, really pushed and been, like, my first record, I feel like my career would have been a little different. To this day, I feel slighted on that record, I really do. I feel like they should have did more with it. I feel like people were saying that they were doing, that they needed to do more with it, and I just feel like, you know, sometimes you get caught up in the politics. Like, you're in this situation where you're getting opportunities, you know what I mean, and you're living-- you're living your best life, as they say. But then, you're still, like, on the shelf, like it's not your project. Like, I'm signed, but is this going to happen, you know what I mean? And then thinking that you have records and thinking that, you know, you have other people being like, "You're so dope. When are you coming out?" And then, to have the home that you're at like, kinda just, like, pushing you to the side, or not seeing the vision, it can be frustrating. I can remember having a record deal and being broke. So, I remember Marjorie going to-- to the label, and going to Puff and being like, "Yo, Cheri's about to go back home and work at Walmart. "Like, (bleep) this shit, like, it's like... this is-- this is dead." So, I remember them giving me, like, this large check, you know what I mean? But the-- prior to that, I was like, yo, son, like, how am I... having a record deal and like, not being able to, like, really, like, manage and survive? Like, this is crazy. So, I think those were, like... that was one of the times where I was, like, really frustrated, like, just not knowing how to, like, you know, survive New York City. It's expensive. Bad Boy started giving me money every month up until the time that I left. So, I honestly never really had to work. You know, shout out to Diddy for that, you know what I mean? ♪ You, you, you, you ♪♪ (cheers and applause) - Now, can you make some noise for Cheri Dennis, y'all? - Meeting Ryan Leslie was a little awkward at first, because I came off a little bit obnoxious about the music. I remember being a little stank about the way that I felt about maybe the music that he played me. And I do kinda... remember an energy of him being kinda like taken aback, like, "Yo... Again, shorty's bugged out." In hindsight, I might have been a little wrong about Ryan Leslie, because, yeah, Ryan Leslie is Ryan Leslie, you know? So, at the time, yeah, I-- I dropped the ball on that one. We had just been sitting for a while, and we were, like, frustrated, and we said, okay, we need to put something out. So... we went to Puff, we asked him, like, we wanna use "I Love You." And he was like, "No, I don't think that's it." So, we were like, "Yeah, it is it." And so, we-- at the time, we had Rich Dollaz, who worked at Bad Boy, and Ryan at the time helped us white label the record. So, we got the vinyl pressed up ourself. And so, the way that it caught Puff's attention, was that we would be, like in the clubs and the DJs would be dropping it. And it kind of came by way of that, like us-- because we probably would-- I don't know, we'd probably still be sitting on a shelf right now had we not, you know, just kinda forced the hand. We moved very independently in a major situation, because we al-- we didn't always have the support. ♪♪ ♪ Oh ♪ ♪ Cheri Dennis yeah ♪ ♪ Dah, dah, dah, Bad Boy ♪ The "I Love You" music video was tedious because of the wardrobe, confusion and conflict between me and Puff. (chuckles) We had a stylist named Marnie, really, really dope stylist. She had me come in, do the fitting. We picked out really dope outfits. The day of the shoot, Puff comes in and he's like, "No, no, change this, change that." They airbrushed my tattoos out. If you go look at "I Love You," you can't see the one on my chest, like, the ones on my arms. Like, he did his thing. Um, you know, the bob haircut, that was, like, all their doing. And I think I might have had like a-- like a pink on, and he was like, "Oh, no." Made me change the fingernail polish. It was like-- had to be, like, this soft, like... iridescent, I don't know, it was like eggshell color. Like, it was just real safe. I'm trying to think of what look in "I Love You" was me most of all. I guess the one where I have on the sweatsuit and I'm, like, standing up against the wall. I think that kinda shows, like, my personality. I'm-- I'm like the most girly tomboy you'll ever meet. ♪ Oh, no, oh, yeah ♪ ♪ Trying to see what's in the cards for tonight ♪ ♪ Boy, accept this as my plea ♪ ♪ I love you (I'm begging) I love you, I love you ♪ ♪ I love you, hey, hey, so don't break my heart ♪ When "I Love You" dropped, the popularity definitely gained, and it was weird, to say the least. I never was in it for fame, you know what I mean? Fame just kind of makes me feel awkward. So, that part of it was really weird for me. You had to look a certain way, be a certain way, talk a certain way. And if you stepped outside of that, it was like open season. A lot of times at Bad Boy, that was an issue too, because I've always been like this really quirky, funky tattoos, funny hair, you know, and I don't think that I fit into the sweet R&B, you know, girl that he wanted, and that's why we had a lot of creative differences, because the type of music that I wanted to make, the way I wanted to look, it wasn't reflective of what he saw for me. You know, and at that time, that's pretty much how stuff went. Like, they-- you know, they got a marketing team. They come up with an image, and you gotta move within that image. And I've always kinda moved left of center, you know. They would try to put me with, like, songwriters, and I've always been really sensitive about my art. And I'm not the type of person where, like, you could just throw me into like a circle of, like, six or seven songwriters, and I'm just like, you know. Like, it has to be organic for me. But it was a-- like, you know, it was a job, so I think they were, like, churning out hits. And like, you know, so they wanted all these writers to jump together. And a lot of times, it just wouldn't be like that for me. So, there was a particular song at the time Diddy was going with J. Lo. I feel like J. Lo might have had a hand in writing this record. I don't know the politics behind it. But I have a version, it's a song that Faith Evans recorded, and it's called "I Love You," and it goes... (singing) ♪ I love you, oh ♪ ♪ You're the one that I live for ♪ I hated the song. And-- and after coming from "I Love You," I was just like, I don't wanna sing another record that says "I love you," like I'm over it, you know? And he gave that record to her. And to this day, I don't regret it, 'cause I just didn't love it. Like, I didn't like it. I still don't really like it. That doesn't mean it's not a good song, it just wasn't a song for Cheri Dennis, at all. And quiet it's kept, I feel like... I mean, this could just be me, you know, but I feel like that was her second single off that album, and I feel like that album didn't really do anything. (laughing) Ba-doop boop. ♪ Cheri Dennis ♪ - ♪ J-O-C ♪ ♪ I love you, Cheri ♪ ♪ Mama mi amor, I adore ♪ ♪ Let Joc give you the world and more... ♪ - "Portrait of Love," they came, they played it for me. Didn't like it. And, uh... it took me forever. Like, I can sing a song just like that. But it took me for-- it was like pulling teeth. And I-- I told myself and I told my manager, I was like, maybe if I just drag my ass on this, like, you know, they'll just scrap it, you know? (clicks tongue) Puff was like, "No, no. Just keep on coming back and doing it." Two-- I was in a relationship, had a little situation go down, and I was overweight. So, if you look at "I Love You" as opposed to the clothes in "Portrait of Love," it's a lot of covered-up situations. So, I just was uncomfortable all across the board, you know what I'm saying, like... And then, they tried to put, like, choreography into it. Which, I can dance, but if you look at that video, they gave me, like, a day and a half. I got to LA, they put me with a choreographer. They gave me, like, a day to learn the choreography. And it was just like a hot mess. Like, the whole shit was just like a hot mess. And so, I feel like you can see the awkwardness in the video. Like, when I look at that-- I don't even like watching "Portrait of Love" video. Like, I'm-- I'm like... ugh. (chuckling) Like, that's a dub. ♪ ...Mona Lisa, no Michelangelo picture ♪ I feel like my album "In and Out of Love" was not complete because... um, it was just like a collage of old songs, new songs, and I just felt like it wasn't a cohesive thought. I feel like there were records that never made the album. I feel like there were songs that were so old that made the album that should've never made the album. I feel like the artist that you are in 2008 as opposed to 2002 when you make some of these records, you're not even the same artist, you don't even sound the same. I wanted to make music that, like, might have made people uncomfortable, might not have got-- they might not have understood it at that time, but it was, like, groundbreaking. Like, I wanted to be the girl that was like, "Wait a minute, like, shorty with all these tattoos, like, shorty with this color hair." Like, I feel like there has to be someone to do it first. You would see other girl singers or your peers maybe make a play that you might have said, "Yo, can we do this, or can we do that?" And then it worked for them. And you're like, "What the (bleep)?" Like, I know who I wanna be. I know what kind of music I wanna make. And I gotta fight the (bleep) that's around me that's supposed to believe in my vision. I gotta fight y'all too? Puff was more like, "You good baby girl. You just gotta be patient. I got this. I know what I'm doing shorty. I make stars. I know how to do this." It was more so like that type of vibe. "Just chill out. You good." I wasn't good. People like to ... They always ask me questions about Puff. Like it was such a bad situation. I tell people, "That man gave me an opportunity. I could never shit on him." Yeah there were times where I felt slighted. Yeah there were times where I was frustrated. Yeah there were times when I was angry at him but to sit around and bash him or to talk shit for a man that gave me an opportunity, not only gave me an opportunity but gave me money for years on top of years, I can't even say anything negative about him. My deal was set up so that I didn't get dropped. They released me and they cut me a check. That's how that went. The freedom that I felt afterwards is priceless. I think I was definitely misunderstood but all in all I wouldn't change it. You know what I'm saying, because it's my story. I like me again. I like who I am. I wasted a lot of time with personal relationships. Not nurturing them. You know what I mean? I have step-sisters, I have biological sisters. I feel like because I'm such a recluse and I was going through so much, I feel like I spent a lot of time being to myself. That's probably the hardest thing, when I think back on that time, is that I missed a lot of time with those people. That's hardest for me. My grandmother, my dad, my sisters. I feel like I missed a whole lot. Even with having my daughter now, I waited so long because it was just music, and being an artist, and chasing, chasing, chasing. I feel like those are the regrets that I have. It's not so much Bad Boy or music stuff because I can live with that. Because I still have the opportunity. I still have the purpose and the gift that God gave me. Nobody can take that from me but when I think about the other side of life. I feel like I missed out on a lot of stuff. Yeah. That's the hardest part for me. Cheri Coke came from, "The Cheri Coke, the bottle shape." People used to say that about me. Like, "You have the Coke bottle shape." Then it's like dope, like raw, like never step to it. X Times Coke was just very dear to me because it allowed me to get back into the free flowing creativity that I've always wanted to do. Melo is an amazing producer. He allowed me the space and the room to just be myself creatively. Before I started working with Melo X I was surfing the internet and I found him. I thought it was really dope. We ended up doing a whole project together. It just allowed me to step back into being like, "Oh I don't have to sing a song this way, or write it this way, or stay within these guidelines." You know what I mean? It reminded me of that. I ended up being on the NGK record because the guy that I was seeing, he was styling him. I guess maybe MGK asked about me. Shit since we putting it out there. I feel like they wanted to pick my brain. I feel like they had already known that they were going to do the Bad Boy situation or maybe they were courting the Bad Boy situation. Looking back ... I didn't know that at the time. I feel like I came to the studio and I was being asked a whole lot of questions about my experience at Bad Boy. My relationship with Puff, and how was it, and this, that and the third. Looking back in hindsight, for a long time I felt a type of way about that. I did the record with them. Then I had a record that I wanted MGK to get on. I kept sending the record. Kept asking. Kept ... They never did the record. I felt some type of way about that for a long time too because I did it with no problem. They asked me to come do the record. I did it. Shout out to MGK, I think he's a phenomenal artist but yeah, I felt like that was ... I felt the shade in that. I felt slighted on that one. The real break that I took just happened. I just moved from New York. I think I needed to come home and just be Cheri for two seconds. Be around my family, my friends again. Back to just having the people that just appreciate me for me. Somebody was not with the bandana on the head. They kind of turned it into a fashion statement. I mean it's around her neck. But my daughter is everything to me. That's the new part of me. That gives me a whole purpose that I never had before. My daughter is like ... That's like ... I don't even know how to ... I can't even put that ... Describe that feeling into words of how she makes me feel. The motivation that it gives me as an artist, as a person. She makes me want to be a better everything. Better sister, friend, daughter, best friend, mom. She makes me want to ... Artist. All that. (singing) I'm really excited about the R&B Showcase because it's the first time that I've performed in the city in a very, very long time. It's really surprising the love that I've received. I'm always humbled by it, which lets me know that any time people have encountered me, as obnoxious as I think that I might have been or in my own head about what it was that I was going through in my experience, I don't think that I always gave that off or maybe they didn't receive it that way because people always show me so much love. It just gives me an opportunity to let people know that I still love music. You can't take the art from me. You can't take the music from me. You might take the drive to be chasing this whole mainstream moment but as far as the gift that I've been given, that's never been broken. You know what I mean? Even if I'm just in my room, I'm always ... When I'm alone I sing. You know what I mean? That is just something that I .. I think I need that to live. I think that is a part of who I am. I will always make music, always. It's just something that I don't know how to not do. I'm dope. I'm Cheri Coke man. (singing) . Read the full article
