DIDDY handpicked on his TV show MAKING THE BAND 4 has left the hip-hop mogul’s record label.

Day26 was established on the programme in 2007 but, two years later, the five-piece is desperate to ditch their reality TV roots and establish themselves as artists in their own right – and they’ve quit Combs’ Bad Boy Records to find their own footing. Willie Taylor of Day26 tells The BoomBox, “Bad Boy is always our family, but we’re with Atlantic (Records) right now.

“We really want to get people focused on the artistry, on the music. I think a lot of people lost it with the entertainment of the show. So now, we really want to show people what we’re all about, that we do our thing whether it’s on stage, in the studio, writing and producing – we do it all.”

The group is planning to hit the studio in early 2010 to record their third album.