Known as Forte, the group performed talent shows and performed at churches and schools around Atlanta. After Wales was able to secure an audition for the group outside of Atlanta's Club 112 in Buckhead, the boys sang for Combs and impressed him. Following another audition for Combs in front of Bad Boy producer Chucky Thompson, Bad Boy Records artist Faith Evans and Combs protégé Usher and a co-sign from Thompson and Evans, Combs signed the quartet of Michael Keith, Marvin Scandrick, Daron Jones, and Quinnes Parker to Bad Boy Records. The group then changed their name from Forte to 112, the name of the nightclub where they had auditioned for Combs.