Executive produced by Diddy and Hezekiah Walker of the Love Fellowship Tabernacle; "Thank You" was going to be Bad Boy's first gospel album. At one time, it was scheduled for release on June 5, 2001. But, it was never released. So, let's take a look at what might have been. For reference, I am including an old press release from Arista at the end of this article.

According to that release, this was the planned track listing:


Faith Evans, 112, Carl Thomas, Thelma Guyton, Asia & Ashley and Tammy Ruggeri were all Bad Boy artists. Mario Winans and Cheri Dennis still are, of course.

Bad Boy released a 5 track snippet sampler to promote the album. It featured 2 full songs and 3 snippets. The two full songs were "I Love You (Intro)" by Vickie Winans, Mario Winans and Diddy (although Diddy is not heard on the track) and "You". The snippets are "Special Place" (1:57), "Thank You" (2:06) and "I Love Him" (2:07). Does the track being named "I Love You (Intro)" mean that "I Love You" was actually the intro and there wasn't a separate one?

"You" was the first single for the album and a video was shot (watch it at the bottom of this entry). The song was released on promotional CDs and vinyl. Recently, I also discovered that "Special Place" was also released as a promo single that included an "Extended Mix". There are some lyrics for the song available online. Does this mean that it was the second single? I don't know for certain, but it'd be a decent guess.

"I Love Him", interestingly enough, was released in at least a few different iterations. It first appeared on the Foot Locker exclusive Bad Boy compilation "Nothin' But the Hotness in '98". Here, it's sung by former Bad Boy artist Tanya Blount. It's just her singing, there is no one else on the track. Then, it was released (in a couple of places, one of which being a B side to "No Disturb Sign" by Jerome on vinyl in 2000 - that's the copyright on the vinyl label, although it says "Arista 2001"). Produced by Harve Pierre, Diddy makes an appearance with some ad libs and a verse is added from former Bad Boy rapper Mase.

Finally, the version on the "Thank You" snippet sampler is sung by Guyton with Diddy adlibing at the beginning. The song doesn't play long enough for us to hear whether or not Mase is there. But, his verse, quoted below, makes you think it was a possibility.


Brandy's "I Know Now" appears to have been released somewhere at some point in time, as there are lyrics posted online. Where they came from, however, I have no idea.

"By Faith" popped up on "Hurricane Relief: Come Together Now". There is a verse from Diddy on it. Was that verse intended for "Thank You"? It's hard to say. However, looking at the credits, one "Mason Betha" is credited along with Diddy, Fred Hammond and two others. So, Mase wrote part of Diddy's verse, at least. It's safe to say that Mase hasn't done much writing for Diddy since he retired - the first time. The fact that Diddy refers to himself as "Puff Daddy" may also be a clue as to the date of the material. The full verse:


Diddy also ad libs throughout the track. Those ad libs include "Thank You". Due to the nature of the track, that could mean nothing. But, at the same time, it's worth noting.

Why wasn't it released? I don't know if we were ever given a reason. What might have been? It's hard to say. But, for those that were disappointed, as you can see - at least some of the material was released and can be found, if not in great supply. I'm trying to find the "Special Place" release, myself, actually. I have the rest and will be posting pictures of it in an upcoming segment here at Bad Boy Blog.

Here is the video for "You":


Here is the Arista press release for the album: