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Faith Evans' book "Keep the Faith: A Memoir" has been released.

I have a copy and I'd recommend that any big Bad Boy fan pick it up. She shares a lot of stories, from her perspective, on the early Bad Boy fans and that whole era. I definitely think fans will find it interesting. I've read a good portion of it and, for the most part, I think it was well done, for what is essentially a tell all book, I suppose.

This book is not an autobiography of Faith Evans. This is a book where Faith tells what she did and saw while she was with Bad Boy, around Diddy and Biggie and everyone in that situation. It starts right around the part where she met Diddy and it ends right around the part where she left Bad Boy. There are tales of her recording her album, of Biggie's infidelity, of the night she spent with 2Pac and much, much more, including drama with Lil' Kim, Mary J. Blige and Missy Elliott.

The 2Pac excerpt will likely garner a lot of attention. While wondering where her own judgement went, she recounts what happened on the infamous night she recorded a hook for 2Pac and what happened afterward. 2Pac had promised her $25,000 and did not pay it. He had her come up to his hotel room to get it, in an effort to get her in bed. She refused, he got angry and claimed that that was what she had wanted. According to Faith, 2Pac never paid her as promised.

She paints Diddy as the demanding, details driven boss that most paint him as, but it comes out as a fair depiction. Someone has to be the boss and it becomes clear that he did a lot for her and offered her a lot of good advice and lessons. She notes, more than once, how she didn't agree with something he did at the time, only to find out later that it was for the best.

There is one particular exchange that may stand out for some. It has to do with the MTV VMAs performance of "I'll Be Missing You." Suffice to say, if Faith had had her way, it never would have happened. Or, at least, she wouldn't have been there. She relays the following telephone conversation:

"Puff, I'm not ready," I said.
"You not ready?" he yelled. "What the f*** are you talking about!"
"I'm still trying to get my s*** together."
"Look. We here. And we gotta live. We have a hit song right now and we need to perform it - together. If you not ready, get ready."
"It's not that simple-"
"Faith, listen to me," Puff said in a low voice. You want to give up on your career? Fine." His voice began to get louder and louder. "But you WILL NOT f*** up my s***. DO YOU HEAR ME?"
"FINE!" I said. "I'll do the show."

Of course, she went on to do the performance, as she indicates, which proved to be iconic. There are different ways to take that exchange. I suspect some will take it as Diddy being selfish and I can understand that. But, you have to wonder, if Diddy doesn't shove her back into the spotlight and make her start performing again and make her take part in what ends up being a historic performance - where is she now? I'm not saying she wouldn't still be a successful artist, but again, there are different ways to look at that situation.

As the book nears it's conclusion, she recounts the day she left Bad Boy, what led up to it and how she approached Puff. She asked that he let her go, and he did. The book ends with an epilogue that takes a quick look at where things stand today.

In all, a very interesting read. You have to take it for what it is. It's not the gospel. She's a human being, recounting conversations from as long as fourteen years ago. Memories fade. But, it's an interesting look at how she saw things from that era and remembers them happening. If you are interested in the book, you can buy it on Amazon.com.