Black Rob, Robbie O, Banco Popular or plain old Robert Ross. No matter what you call him, the Harlem native must feel that his career is almost star-crossed.

When he first got signed to Bad Boy, he had to play the bench, sitting in the wings for years while Notorious B.I.G., Mase, the LOX, Total, Faith and 112 received much of the label's attention. Then when Bad Boy CEO P. Diddy finally gave him his shot to drop his debut, Life Story, he was met with several album delays. Although it went on to sell over a million copies, early bootlegs ate the LP's sales when it finally dropped in March 2000. The biggest bane of Rob's life, however, has come via the judicial system. He said he's finally licked his problems, though, by beating weapons charges in June.

"I don't have any black clouds over my head," Rob said earlier this month, breathing a sigh of relief. "That's been my problem in this game. Whether it was [that] I had to go to jail, I just got out of jail or I was on parole and I had to wake up and go see [my parole officer]. There was just so much BS. I had to get away from all that." And if you're going to escape, why not lay low in a Jacuzzi? The Harlemite said that's what he's going to do when he's not in the studio working on his new album, which he's contemplating calling either Permanent Scars or The Rob Report. Planning to go down to Miami's South Beach next month to finish up, Rob — who has begun work on the LP with producers Ty Fife, Buckwild (who provided the track for "Whoa!"), Bad Boy in-house beatmaker Yogi and the Luniz — said he's evolved.

"I'm concentrating on putting together a lot of songs I felt I had to make," he said. "I beat the trial and I'm on parole but I'm not focusing on the trial or being in jail 'cause I did step my game up as far as living in the streets. I do have something else to talk about. Not just 'I'll rob you' or 'I'mma smack you.' My mind is advanced now." That acute mental state has secured his spot as P. Diddy's current franchise MC.

"He knows when I'm focused I'm unstoppable," Rob said matter-of-factly. "When I'm focused I could really be a factor." It's no coincidence that when P. Diddy wants to create a buzz in the streets that his label is coming with some heat, Black Rob is there. Rob's anthem "Whoa!" resuscitated Diddy's label, which had been left decimated by the commercial disappointment of PD's Forever and the departures on Mase and the LOX in 1999.

This year, Rob is playing the role of a thugged-out Energizer bunny again. His guest spots alongside his CEO on "Let's Get It" and Diddy's latest single "Bad Boy for Life" are helping to get the word out that they're coming to lock things down again. "I'm probably the most energetic person on this label," Rob said. "I'm up all night. I just came from the club. I'm built a different way. Puff always dug that about me." Funny how the tables turn. A few years ago, Rob and PD barely had a relationship. Now, the two of them have basically started a new Bad Boy family that includes G. Dep, Mark Curry, Loon and the Hoodfellaz.

"[Back in the days] I didn't know Puff like that, I didn't know Biggie like that," he said. "I couldn't go to these cats and talk about nothing, they was on another level. Just like now I'm on another level and probably a lot of the younger cats around here now feel they can't talk to me. It's just a star status thing. "But I hang with these [new] cats," he added. "I knew them for years. I brought G. Dep in the game. We can combine and make Bad Boy something real special. With the Hoodfellaz and Mark Curry, we been making records together for years. Loon, [I knew him] from Harlem. This thing right here is family for real. I can't wait 'til we start touring and brothers get to see what it's like to be out in the world and getting money."