In the late 1990s and early 2000s, 112’s was one of the reigning R&B groups. The Bad Boy Records quartet was one of the biggest singing groups in the world at the time with hits like “Only You” with Mase and Notorious B.I.G, “Anywhere” with Lil’ Zane, “Peaches & Cream,” “Cupid,” and “It’s Over Now.” Like many other singing groups of music history’s past, 112 eventually disbanded over personal differences, but Q Parker sat down with TV One for Life + Lyrics to chat about what it was like in 112’s heyday.

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“Being signed to Bad Boy was a dream come true,” Q recalled. “It was sort of like, our gift, because all we watched were Boyz II Men, Jodeci, Take 6. So when we finally put our group together it was like, that’s gonna be us one day. Jermaine Dupri passed on us, Dallas Austin passed on us, Teddy Riley passed on 112.”

Then, the R&B group got their big break. “Here comes Puffy who had this edge about him,” said Q. “I believe the gift for us was we were supposed to sign with Bad Boy because he brought an element out of us that I don’t know would have been brought out of us had we signed to those other executives. We would’ve still been the balladeers and the crooners and all of that, but Bad Boy gave us like—we were the guys you could take home to mom, but we were the guys mom want you to stay away from. We had a nice blend of bad boy but church boy, too.”

He said Bad Boy’s era from 1194-2004 is something that is etched into R&B and hip hop history. “And you can’t mention that era, and the dominance of that era, without mentioning 112,” he said. Q added that the group met Diddy outside of the nightclub 112 and they sang for him on the spot. They soon became the fourth artist to sign to Bad Boy.

Check out Q Parker talk about his Bad Boy memories, his relationship with Diddy now, and why he’ll always show the hip hop mogul love.

Do you remember Lil Zane? Twenty years ago, the rapper was a teenager who had just released his debut album Young World: The Future. His hit single “Callin Me” featuring 112 topped the charts, and his music industry future looked promising. He’d soon collaborate with the likes of Tank, Lil Scrappy, Jacob Latimore, Shawty Lo, and many others, but Zane mysteriously disappeared from the limelight. 

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Zane made waves when he appeared on 112’s “Anywhere” and received his first plaque for a hit song, but in his recent feature for BET’s Finding BET series, the rapper admitted to turning down a deal from Diddy. According to Zane, his manager was launching a label and because they had a close relationship, he decided to stick with the team he knew instead of inking a deal with Bad Boy Records. “I think that Diddy respected that,” Zane said, adding with a laugh, “Don’t make stupid decisions when you grow up, kids. Don’t make decisions with your heart, make them with your mind.”

The rapper also shared a story about collaborating with Bow Wow, Sammie, and Lil Wayne on the 2001 single “Hardball.” During the music video shoot, Zane and Bow Wow had a bit of a tiff when they both wanted to wear the same Atlanta jersey, but Zane explained that they were young with egos and now they’ve put the past behind them.

Ultimately, Zane accused his label of sabotaging his career. He said he would be at a record store for an album signing but there were no copies of his album at the location. He also reportedly worked on projects and songs but he claims the label wouldn’t release them. He ended up taking acting jobs just to earn money to live. Zane revealed that his biggest regret was not learning the business in the early days because he found out too late that he’d been taken advantage of at the beginning of his career. Watch his full episode below.