The best known is the rapper, whose extensive Wikipedia page has been partly copied below.
Mason Durell Betha (born August 27, 1975),[1] better known by stage name Mase (often typeset as Ma$e) who was previously known as Murda Ma$e, is an American rapper, songwriter, actor and inspirational speaker. He was an artist on Sean "Diddy" Combs's hip hop label Bad Boy Records. He was introduced as Bad Boy Entertainment's next big artist during the summer of 1996 when he was featured on the remix to 112's debut single, "Only You", which peaked at number one on Billboard's Hot Dance Singles Sales chart as well as its Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay chart. With his soon-to-be-trademarked[citation needed] slow flow, Mase quickly developed a crossover fan base as he was featured on original tracks, as well as remixes, by popular R&B artists such as Brian McKnight, Mariah Carey, Keith Sweat, and Brandy, among others. Puff Daddy (Diddy) featured Mase on "Mo' Money, Mo' Problems" from The Notorious B.I.G.'s double-LP Life After Death, the album's biggest hit single. He then featured Mase on several songs on his own debut album, No Way Out: the lead single, "Can't Nobody Hold Me Down", which hit number one on the Rap, R&B, and Pop charts, as well as on "Been Around the World", which would also reach number one on Billboard's Hot Rap Tracks. By the time Mase released his own debut album, Harlem World, in late 1997, the rapper had become Bad Boy's premier artist, filling the void left by the death of Biggie Smalls. He is married to Twyla Betha and leads an international ministry.
Contents
[hide]
1 Early life
2 Career
2.1 Harlem World
2.2 Double Up and retirement
2.3 Return to music and subsequent controversy
2.4 Second comeback
3 Discography
3.1 Albums
3.2 Compilations
3.3 Official Mixtapes
3.4 Filmography
4 References
5 External links
[edit] Early life
Rapper Mase was born Mason Durell Betha in Jacksonville, Florida on August 27, 1975, moved to Harlem, New York City with his family at age five, returned to Florida at age 13, and then moved back to Harlem two years later.[1] Betha was a point guard for the Manhattan Center High School basketball team and in 1993 he performed as "Murder Mase" in a rap group called Children of the Corn which also included successful solo artists Big L and Cam'ron (at the time known as Killa Cam). Of his ten childhood friends, eight were murdered and two went to prison. While attending SUNY Purchase, Mase met hip hop producer Country, was introduced to producer Sean Combs, and dropped out of college to pursue a rap career.[2]
[edit] Career
[edit] Harlem World
Mase's first solo LP, '"Harlem World"', debuted at #1 on the Billboard 200 and Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums charts.[1]
[edit] Double Up and retirement
Mase's sophomore effort, Double Up, was released in 1999 and distributed by Bad Boy Records and sold 107,000 copies in its first week, debuting at #11. Though it reached #5 when popular rap music was dominated by Master P and his No-Limit crew. Double Up also featured much more aggressive material. Perhaps no other sign was as clear as a line in the last song of the album, "From Scratch": "If I could do it all again, I'd do it all for Christ."
On April 20, 1999, during an interview with Funkmaster Flex on New York radio station Hot 97, Mase announced his retirement from music to pursue "a calling from God." He felt he was leading people, friends, kids and others down a path to hell, stating that he left to find God in his heart and follow him.[citation needed] He declared it was time for him to serve God in his way, saying rap was not real and that he wanted to deal with reality, and that he had become unhappy with what he did, no matter how much it paid.[citation needed]
[edit] Return to music and subsequent controversy
After a five-year hiatus from the music industry, Mase made a comeback with "Welcome Back" during the summer of 2004. Prior to the album's release, the rapper was featured on Nelly's "In My Life," as well as the remix to Fat Joe's "Lean Back".
Mase's third album, Welcome Back, released August 24, 2004. The album debuted at #4 on the charts, selling 188,000 copies in the first week; the album would eventually go gold, selling 559,000 copies in the United States. Released after a five-year break from the rap scene, the album was a product of Mase's newly developed Christian persona. Portraying a "cleaner" image during this short-lived return to the industry, Mase dubbed himself "a Bad Boy gone clean," on the lead single, also titled "Welcome Back." This new approach to rap was received with mixed reviews. However, even though the album was not a commercial success like Harlem World, the singles, "Welcome Back" and "Breathe, Stretch, Shake," received moderate radio airplay and video play on BET and MTV, with the latter reaching #28 on the Billboard Hot 100; both singles were also certified gold by the RIAA.
Mase for a short time had recorded for G-Unit. He has since said that working with the group was not something he regrets, but that the message he was sending was a mistake. He joined G-Unit to appeal to a different audience so they could see that they could change just as he did, thinking that "in order to get people where I'm at, I have to go back to where I once was." Under G-Unit, he released a "Crucified 4 The Hood: 10 Years of Hate," a mixtape from the DJ Whoo Kid series, but an official album was never released. According to 50, Diddy refused to let Mase out of his contract with Bad Boy for anything less than $2 million. Uncertain that Mase's album would sell well enough to make up for that type of investment, 50 gave up on trying to bring Mase onto G-Unit.
[edit] Second comeback
Following the formula that worked for him 13 years earlier, Mase has begun to appear on popular R&B artists' remixes. In early June 2009, he was featured on the last verse of "Uptown Boy" by Harry O, signed to The Inc., which also features Ron Browz. Weeks later, Mase appeared on a street remix for Drake's "Best I Ever Had." Mase stated that since the death of Michael Jackson it has lit the fire inside him and he is ready to come back. He appeared on Power 105.1 to have a phone conversation with "The Prince of New York" DJ Self to discuss his latest attempt at a comeback. During this interaction, former-friend-turned-rival, Jim Jones, called in to make peace and hinted at the possibility of the two working together in the near future. Mase would then use that very radio show as his outlet to release new music throughout the rest of the summer as he'd have a new song or feature premiere every Friday on DJ Self's show. On July 3, 2009, Mase appeared on the remix to Trey Songz' hit single "I Need A Girl," where he shouts out "And Diddy told them that '10 years from now we'll still be on top. I thought I told you that we won't stop," referring to the line on "Mo' Money, Mo' Problems."
In October 2009, Mase appeared on a live on-air interview on V-103 with appearance release forms to Bad Boy Records which he gave to Diddy in the middle of the interview for his signature. Diddy signed the forms and was quoted: "He has the freedom to go do whatever he wants to do." However, the forms do not end Mase's contractual obligations to Bad Boy Records, but rather allow him to appear on songs with artists from other labels.[3]
Feels So Good
Mase Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Party people in the place to be (uh-huh)
It's about that time for us to (yeah, uh-huh)
Yo, what you know about goin' out
Head west, red Lex, TV's all up in the headrest
Try and live it up, ride you a bigger truck
Piece all glittered up, stick up kid, nigga, what?
Hoes' ride, get your nut 'til I can't get it up
I'm a big man, give this man room
I'd a hit everything, from Cancun to Grant's tomb
Why you standin' on the wall? Hand on your balls
Lighting up drugs, always fightin' in the club
I'm the reason they made the dress code
They figure I wouldn't wild when I'm in my fresh clothes (come on)
Dress as I suppose, from my neck to my toes
Neck full of gold, baguettes in in my Rolls
Wreck shows, collect those, extra O's
Buy the E, get a key, to the Lex to hold
East, West, every state, come on, bury the hate
Millions, the only thing we in a hurry to make
Whether friend or ex-friend in a Lex or a Benz
Let's begin, bring this BS to an end (come on)
Bad, bad, bad, bad boy (yeah)
You make me feel so good (bad boy)
You know you make me feel so good (yeah)
You know you make me feel so good (that's what we do)
Bad, bad, bad, bad boy (come on)
I wouldn't change you if I could
I wouldn't change you if I could (yeah)
I wouldn't change you if I could (ah-ah, come on)
You can't understand, we be Waikiki
Sippin' DP 'til the TV look 3D
Little kids see me, way out in DC
With a Z3, chrome BB's, they wanna be me
Nigga's talkin' shit they ought to quit
I'm fortunate they don't see a fourth what I get
And those be the same ones walkin' while I whip
Just started seeing cars 'cause they auctioned it
So while you daydream, my Mercedes gleam
And I deal with hoes that pose in Maybelline
One time you had it all, I ain't mad at y'all
Now give me the catalog
I'll show you how daddy ball (that's right)
Six cars and power to fire big stars
Sit up CEO style, smokin' on cigars, nigga
It's like y'all be talkin' funny
I don't understand language of people with short money (come on now)
Bad, bad, bad, bad boy (yeah)
You make me feel so good (come on)
You know you make me feel so good
You know you make me feel so good (that's what we do)
Bad, bad, bad, bad boy (yeah)
I wouldn't change you if I could
I wouldn't change you if I could (come on)
I wouldn't change you if I could (ah-ah)
Do Mase got the ladies? (Yeah, yeah)
Do Puff drive Mercedes? (Yeah, yeah)
Take hits from the 80's? (Yeah, yeah)
But do it sound so crazy? (Yeah, yeah)
Well, me personally, it's nothin' personal
I do what work for me, you do what work for you
And I dress with what I was blessed with
Never been arrested for nothin' domestic
And I chill the way you met me
With a jet ski attached to a SE, smoke my Nestle
No mad rap-ASCAP, where my check be?
Problem with y'all I say it directly (that's right)
Went from hard to sweet, starved to eat
From no hoes at shows to ménage in suites
Now I be the cat that be hard to meet
Gettin' head from girls that used to hardly speak (come on)
Bad, bad, bad, bad boy
You make me feel so good (uh-huh)
You know you make me feel so good (bad boy)
You know you make me feel so good (that's what we do)
Bad, bad, bad, bad boy (yeah)
I wouldn't change you if I could (ah-ah)
I wouldn't change you if I could (come on)
I wouldn't change you if I could (let's go)
Bad, bad, bad, bad boy (yeah)
You make me feel so good (uh-huh)
You know you make me feel so good
You know you make me feel so good (come on)
Bad, bad, bad, bad boy (don't stop)
I wouldn't change you if I could (ah-ah)
I wouldn't change you if I could
I wouldn't change you if I could (ah-ah)
The song "Feel So Good" by Mase featuring Puff Daddy premiered in 1997 as a part of his debut album "Harlem World." The song is generally considered to be an up-tempo, feel-good rap that encourages the listener to live life to the fullest. In the first verse, Mase raps about his luxurious lifestyle, from his clothes to the cars he owns. Meanwhile, the chorus praises Puff Daddy as a "bad boy" who makes everyone feel good.
In the second verse, Mase continues to brag about his success, saying that he is "fortunate" to be living the life he does. He suggests that people who talk poorly about him are just jealous and "be talkin' funny." Puff Daddy joins in on the third verse to rap about his own success and how he does what works for him. Overall, the song is a celebration of wealth, fame, and success, and encourages others to strive for it.
Line by Line Meaning
You ready Mase?
The singer is asking if Mase is ready for what is about to happen.
Party people
The singer is addressing the crowd and acknowledging their presence.
In the place to be
The singer is indicating that the people are in the right location for what is about to happen.
It's about that time
The artist is saying that the time has come for what is about to happen.
For us to
The artist is indicating that what is about to happen involves both Mase and himself.
Yo, what you know about goin out?
The singer is asking if the listener knows what it is like to go out and party.
Head wet, red Lex
The singer is describing driving in a red Lexus with the top down on a rainy day.
TV's all up in the headrest
The artist is pointing out that there are televisions installed in the headrests of the car seats.
Try and live it up
The artist is saying that he is attempting to enjoy life to the fullest.
Ride into
The artist is describing driving into a destination.
Bigger truck
The singer is stating that he has upgraded to a larger vehicle.
Peace all
The artist is saying that he has his jewelry and clothing looking peaceful and stylish.
Glittered up
The singer's jewelry is covered in glitter, making it shine and sparkle.
Sticker kid
The singer is referring to himself as a young man who loves to decorate his belongings with stickers.
Nigga what? Jig with the cut
The singer is saying that he is a skilled dancer who can jig to the music while also having a fresh haircut.
Sip Cris, spit it up
The artist is saying that he drinks Cristal champagne and spits it out afterwards because he can afford to waste it.
Hoes ride, get your nut
The artist is referring to women who will have sex with anyone in order to get ahead in life.
Till I can't get it up
The singer is indicating that he will continue having sex until he is physically unable to do so.
I'm a big man, give this man room
The singer is saying that he is important and deserves respect and space from other people.
I'ma hit everything, from Cancun to man's tomb
The artist is saying that he will travel anywhere in order to enjoy life to the fullest.
Why you standin' on the wall?
The artist is asking why someone is standing awkwardly against the wall instead of joining the party.
Hangin' on your balls
The artist is implying that someone is afraid to dance or socialize because they lack confidence.
Lighting up drugs
The singer is referencing drug use within the club or party culture.
Always fightin' in the club
The artist is saying that violence sometimes occurs at clubs or parties, which he doesn't agree with.
I'm the reason they made the dress code
The singer is saying that his fashion sense is so important that it influenced the dress codes at certain events.
They figure I wouldn't wild when I'm in my French clothes
The singer is saying that people assume he will be more reserved and sophisticated when he is wearing French clothes.
Dress as I suppose, from my neck to my toes
The singer is saying that he dresses to impress, from head to toe.
Neck full of gold, but gets in my Rolls
The artist is saying that he has a lot of gold jewelry but still fits comfortably in his Rolls Royce car.
Reck shows, collect those, extra O's
The artist is saying that he puts on a show, makes a lot of money, and saves the extra funds for later.
Buy an E, get a key, to the Lex
The singer is referencing drug use and saying that if you buy ecstasy, you can have access to his Lexus car.
To hold, East, West, every state
The singer is saying that he has friends and connections all across America.
Come on, bury the hate
The artist is saying that people should stop hating on each other and come together to create a positive environment.
Millions the only thing
The artist is saying that his goal is to make millions of dollars.
We in the area to make
The artist is saying that him and his crew are in a certain location to make money and have fun.
Better friend or ex-friend
The singer is saying that he could either be your best friend or your ex-friend, meaning he can either help you make money or not.
In a Lex or a Benz
The artist is saying that he can either roll up in a Lexus car or a Mercedes-Benz.
Let's begin
The singer is indicating that it's time to start whatever activity is about to occur.
Bad, bad, bad, bad boy
The singer is referring to Puff Daddy and acknowledging his bad boy reputation and image.
You make me feel so good
The singer is saying that Puff Daddy's presence and energy make him feel great.
I wouldn't change you if i could
The artist is saying that he accepts Puff Daddy for who he is and wouldn't try to change him even if he could.
You know you make me feel so good
The artist is repeating the previous line to emphasize how good Puff Daddy makes him feel.
Do Mase got the ladies? Yeah, yeah
The singer is asking if Mase is successful with women, and answers affirmatively.
Do Puff drive Mercedes? Yeah, yeah
The singer is asking if Puff Daddy drives a Mercedes car, and answers affirmatively.
Take hits from the 80's? Yeah, yeah
The artist is asking if Puff Daddy still smokes marijuana that was popular in the 1980s, and answers affirmatively.
But do it sound so crazy? Yeah, yeah
The artist is saying that even though their actions may seem unconventional, it is not as crazy as people may think.
Well me personally
The artist is transitioning to talking about himself.
It's nuthin' personal
The singer is saying that any decisions he makes are not intended to offend someone personally.
I do what work for me
The artist is saying that he makes choices that benefit himself.
You do what work for you
The singer is saying that everyone should make choices that benefit themselves.
And I dress with what I was blessed with
The singer is saying that he dresses according to his own personal style and preferences.
Never been arrested
The singer is saying that he has never been arrested for anything.
For nuthin domestic
The artist is saying that he has never been arrested for committing a crime in his own home or related to his personal life.
And I chill
The artist is saying that he is relaxed and not bothered by anything.
They way you met me
The singer is saying that he hasn't changed since the day he met someone or a group of people.
With a jet ski
The singer is describing one of his hobbies or activities, which is riding a jet ski.
Attached to a SE
The artist is saying that he has attached his jet ski to a specific type of vehicle called an SE.
Smoke my Nestle
The artist is saying that he smokes marijuana.
No mad rap
The artist is saying that he is not angry or upset at anyone in particular.
Ask Cat
The singer is addressing someone named Cat and asking them a question.
Where my check be?
The artist is asking where his money is or how much he will be paid for something.
Problem with ya'll
The singer is saying that he has an issue with some of the other people around him.
I say it directly
The singer is saying that he speaks his mind and doesn't hold back or sugarcoat anything.
Went from hard to sweeps
The singer is saying that he went from struggling to make money to being very successful.
Started to eat
The artist is saying that he is now able to enjoy the finer things in life and has become successful.
From no hoes at shows
The artist is saying that he used to have very few women interested in him at his shows or events.
To manaj in suites
The singer is saying that he now has multiple women interested in him and is able to enjoy a luxurious lifestyle.
Now I be the cat
The singer is saying that he is now the one who is successful and surrounded by women, whereas before he was not.
That be hard to meet
The artist is saying that he is now difficult to approach or meet due to his fame and success.
Gettin' head from girls
The artist is saying that women are now interested in having sexual interactions with him.
That used to hardly speak
The artist is saying that women who were not interested in him before are now interested in him and want to have sex.
Bad, bad, bad, bad boy
The singer is referring to Puff Daddy and acknowledging his bad boy reputation and image.
You make me feel so good
The artist is saying that Puff Daddy's presence and energy make him feel great.
You know you make me feel so good
The singer is repeating the previous line to emphasize how good Puff Daddy makes him feel.
Lyrics © BMG Rights Management, Universal Music Publishing Group, Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Royalty Network, Songtrust Ave, Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd., Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: Mason Betha, Deric Angelettie, Sean Combs, Rafael Vigil, Joe Galdo, Larry Dermer, Ronald Bell, Dennis Thomas, Robert Mickens, George Brown, Robert Bell, Claydes Smith, Allen Westfield
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@johnschroeder1545
mase deserved more recognition than p diddy, cmon everybody needs to hear that....
@adrianmshana8940
Here in 2024 after Diddy's allegation 😅
@TheCannabisZone
Cool. I heard this song when it came out. Loved ma$e. This track used to be one of my faves as a child.
@mkrosova
He knew!
@mkrosova
What did Jlo know?
@Mimi92293
😂😂😂
@DaveG707
Bad boy you make me feel so good.
@pb4ugo08
I personally think Mase has one of the best flows of all time. So calm and insanely smooth
@MrB831
facts!! fabolous owes him his royalties.
@carlvictory654
Facts 💯💯