Produced by Megahertz (Dorsey Wesley), it was released as the second single from the album in July 2001 and reached number 33 on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart.

Jason Birchmeier of music website Allmusic explains that the song summarises the claim "that [the] Bad Boy empire is in fact still an empire",[3] while Entertainment Weekly reviewer David Browne similarly points out the lyric "It's official/I survived what I been through" as a declaration of strength.

[4] Soren Baker of the Los Angeles Times identifies "Bad Boy for Life", in addition to previous single "Let's Get It", as particularly important to the success of the album.

[5] The music video for "Bad Boy for Life" was directed by Chris Robinson, filmed in June 2001 and released in early July, and features a number of cameo appearances including guitarist Dave Navarro, drummer Travis Barker, actors Ben Stiller and Richard Dunn, rappers Xzibit, Ice Cube, Snoop Dogg and Fonzworth Bentley, boxer Mike Tyson, television host Pat O'Brien, basketball players Shaquille O'Neal and Baron Davis and rap rock band Crazy Town.

Jesy Nelson's 2021 debut single "Boyz", featuring Nicki Minaj, prominently samples the baseline and the final lyrics of the song.