112 Leaves Bad Boy For Def Jam

NEW YORK (Top40 Charts) - Label rosters in the urban world don't come much better than that of Def Jam/Def Soul, which boasts an artist lineup including Jay-Z, Ja Rule, Ludacris, and Musiq (formerly Musiq Soulchild). The label is rumored to be considering signing Mariah Carey. And now Def Jam/Def Soul has just enlisted 112 to the ranks, a spokesperson for the R&B/hip-hop quartet confirmed Friday (February 22).

The platinum-plus group, which toured with Janet Jackson last summer, was previously signed to Sean "P. Diddy" Combs's Bad Boy label, distributed by Arista Records.

As previously reported in January, P. Diddy discussed completing his deal with Arista. "I'm finishing my deal with Arista, and I'm about to be a free agent," he said backstage at the American Music Awards. "It's about to be as if Michael Jordan was, you know, available. And we are really going to see how that thing goes down."

It is not clear if 112's departure is a result of P. Diddy's search for a new distributor. But the group left Bad Boy several months ago, according to the group's spokesperson.