The same year, Mase enrolled as a freshman at Clark Atlanta University, a historically black college, and began taking classes on August 19. He said 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 had become unhappy with what he did, no matter how much money it had made him. He claimed 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. 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". In Double Up Mase's lyrics became more aggressive. Mase's second album, Double Up, was released in 1999 on Bad Boy and sold 107,000 copies in its first week, debuting at No. He and Harlem World member Blinky Blink were featured on Blackstreet & Mýa's song " Take Me There", which appeared on the soundtrack of The Rugrats Movie. He signed his group Harlem World, which included his twin sister, Stason, to the label while they were also under So So Def Recordings. In 1998, Mase formed his own record label, All Out Records. During 1997, Mase also appeared on more songs with Puff Daddy, Mariah Carey's " Honey", Brian McKnight's " You Should Be Mine (Don't Waste Your Time)", and Brandy's " Top of the World".
3 on both the Rap and R&B Billboard charts. 1 on the Rap Billboard charts, as well as " What You Want", which peaked at No. The album spawned hit singles such as " Feel So Good" and " Lookin' at Me", which both reached No. It has since achieved 4x Platinum status in the United States. 1 on the Billboard Pop and R&B LP charts, selling over 270,000 copies in the U.S. Mase's first studio album, Harlem World, debuted at No. He also appeared on many hit songs with other Bad Boy artists, including Puff Daddy's “ Can't Nobody Hold Me Down” and “ Been Around the World” and the Notorious B.I.G.'s “ Mo' Money, Mo' Problems”, which reached No. Within a week of signing to the label, Betha had his stage name shortened from Murda Mase to simply Mase to make him more marketable, and was featured on and in the video for 112's " Only You" with the Notorious B.I.G. Shortly after meeting and rapping for Puff Daddy at the Hard Rock Café, Mase signed a $250,000 deal with Bad Boy Records. Cudda took the 20-year-old Mase to Atlanta, Georgia, where Jermaine Dupri and Sean "Puff Daddy" Combs were attending a rap convention. In 1996, Mase's sister Stason introduced him to Cudda Love, a road manager for The Notorious B.I.G. Damon Dash, a fellow Manhattan Center student, was the group's manager for a while. Career 1993-97: Children of the Corn and Bad Boy record deal Īfter Betha returned to Harlem, he and his childhood friend Cam'ron began rapping as a hobby under the names Murda Mase and Killa Cam, briefly forming a group known as the Children of the Corn ("corn" short for "corner") with fellow Harlem rappers Big L, Herb McGruff and Bloodshed.
Betha eventually dropped out of college and focused on his music career full time. He attended State University of New York at Purchase, where he grew to realize he was unlikely to make the NBA and instead began focusing more on writing music, producing demo tapes and regularly performing at local nightclubs. He had hopes of joining the National Basketball Association (NBA), but was unable to make it into a Division I College due to his poor academic scores. After returning to live in Harlem at age 15, Betha began showing promise as a basketball player, becoming the leading point guard for his team at Manhattan Center high school during the 1993 season, where he played alongside Cameron Giles, who went on to be the rapper known as Cam'ron. While living in Jacksonville, Betha first began attending church.
During his early teenage years, Betha began getting into trouble on the streets of Harlem, and when he was 13 his mother sent him back to Jacksonville to live with relatives. In 1982, his mother moved with her children to Harlem, New York, where Mase spent the majority of his childhood. The father left the family when Mase was just three years old. He grew up with two brothers and three sisters, including his twin sister, Stason, born a few minutes after him. Mase was born Mason Durell Betha in Jacksonville, Florida, on August 27, 1975, as a fraternal twin born almost two months premature, to P. 2.1 1993-97: Children of the Corn and Bad Boy record deal.