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Can Mase Do It Again?
July 1st-August 15th Pop Article
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Mason Betha was the baby face rapper who made his Bad Boy debut alongside Puff Daddy in the song "Can't Hold Me Down" from Puffy's debut solo CD "No Way Out." Mase was also featured on the popular cut "Mo Money, Mo Problems." Soon after he was known as the guy in the shiny suit with the cute baby face and deep dimples.
Mase's string of hits continued after the release of his solo LP Harlem World which spawned the hits Feel So Good and "What You Want" featuring Total. Mase was on track to be one of the top young rappers in the game. Following his solo LP he was the mastermind behind his group Harlem Worlds debut CD. For those of you who didn't know, Loon was a member of Harlem World.
Things went awry with Mase and Bad Boy around the time of Mase's sophomore Bad Boy release Double Up. The promotion was way wrong. The CD went nowhere which is pretty much unheard of when you have a platinum selling album especially one coming from the hit machine known as Bad Boy records.

Not long after it was reported that Mase was retiring from hip hop. Soon after it was learned that Mase had moved to Atlanta and was going to college. Then after that Mase emerged as Minister Mason Betha. He denounced his former lifestyle. No one knew why Mase really left the game. Rumors flew like crazy. People speculated that he was being extorted or that he was the victim of death threats. There was no big court battle between Mase and Bad Boy even though he was still under contract with the label. Mase just walked away from the game. 
Mase is the god father of the slow rap game. Some say Fabolous and up and coming rappers like Lloyd Banks owe their style to Mase. Mase has nothing but love for the rappers who were influenced by his style, in an MTV article when asked about the Mase Juniors out there Mase says "I think that was a beautiful thing. You know, I'm flattered to know that somebody appreciates the work that I put out. So that's the best way to answer that.

Mase's comeback single "Welcome Back" went to radio in May and completely took off becoming one of the most added songs to radio. Based by the success of the comeback song the people still love Mase. In the first part of his career, Mase was so much seen as Puffy's little sidekick. In his comeback single their is not even a mention of Puff although Mase does continue to rep for Bad Boy referring to himself as "a Bad Boy gone clean." However, Diddy himself does appear in the "Welcome Back" video as a reporter.

In a recent MTV.COM article Mase hinted that he would like to step away from the collaborations although a collaboration between him and Nelly is what sparked his return to the game.

Mase is an extremely spiritual young man. He still has his ministry. There haven't been many rappers who are ministers. By the time that Hammer became a minister his rap career was pretty much on the skids. Mase has promised that his new music will be fun, not sexually oriented and and he won't curse. It's not everyday that someone can be out of the game for so long and to just get back into heavy rotation. Only time will tell if Mase is going to be big again, but one thing for sure he seems like he is quite content with his life and the game this time around.

Mase's album is due out on August 24th.

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