The second band formed by rap mogul Sean "P Diddy" Combs, Da Band was successful until Diddy disbanded them, deciding to only work with a few members. Thanks to thousands and thousands of aspiring vocalists and rappers, along with even more MTV viewers, Diddy's Making the Band series was a huge success, and even more so when his final six were eventually cut from his label. The original group came together after weeks of training and awful eliminations in 2003 featuring Babs (Lynese Wiley), Dylan (Dylan John), Freddrick (Frederick Watson), Ness (Lloyd Mathis), Sara (Sara Stokes) and Young City (Rodney "Chopper" Hill). The group started out on a high note, as Diddy's Bad Boy project with unlimited amount of training and commercial appeal from the get-go. Their debut album came that same year, titled Too Hot for TV, but was immediately rejected from hip hop fans for its almost fraudulent attempt at making it into the genre. The albums debut single "Bad Boy This Bad Boy That" showed how much of a hold Diddy had on the group, not unlike season one winner's O-Town. But the single, which featured the work of Tony Dofat and Diddy, was probably the best and only chartable single.

During the season three finale the group dissolved into the hands of Diddy, who took three members, Chopper, Ness and Babs, under his wing. When the group first came together, Chopper was the youngest and most inexperienced, and often felt the backlash of Diddy. However, after a surprising season finale, the young Chopper was allowed back into the Bad Boy circuit with the exception that he matured.