June 15, 2001

112 : It's Over Now

Bad Boy's latest million-sellers release one of their strongest singles to date...

Oh no it's not, boys. It's not over. It's only just beginning for y'all.

Hardly what you would call household names, 112 have become the latest saviours of the Bad Boy Records label. Shifting a million copies of their new, and best album to date ('Part III'), 112 have not, it must be admitted, let them emerge out of the shadow cast by Puffy, Biggie, Faith, Shyne, Ma$e or even Carl Thomas (whose wonderful ballad 'I Wish' is surely Bad Boy's best contribution to soft soul thus far), they've been hanging unto the edge of the abyss by their vocal chords.

112 have never been the cocky sort, but this first release from the album marks them out both as cock-sure, "I'm kickin' you to the kerb" brothas and "baby why'd you wanna dump me this way?" lover-boys, and somehow this contradiction of standpoint and feeling works succinctly lyrically, while musically the track is wildly, indulgently, punchy. Had it not been for their debut 'Only You', this would, arguably, have been called their strongest single yet.

Soul mama