Throwback Tuesday: Betha's Back!

Throughout the 1990s, the Bad Boy record label was running things in New York. In its prime, it featured plenty of show-stoppers and hit-makers such as Black Rob, The Lox, Puff Daddy (before he changed his name a half-dozen times) and some guy named Christopher Wallace that you might know as The Notorious B.I.G.

Sometimes lost in the mix is Mase, who was Puffy's top sidekick in the post-B.I.G. era. The two parlayed Diddy's business sense and beats with old-school samples combined with Mason Betha's slick rhyme scheme into one of the most successful rap duos in the game.

See, Mase had "swag" before "swag" was an overused urban term suburban white kids said because their one half-black friend said it. The Artist Formerly Known As Murda Mase paved the way for guys like Fabolous to be successful witht heir style, not to mention he was the door opener for the careers of Cam'ron and Jim Jones, which led to Juelz Santana and the Dipset movement.

He was the face of Harlem hip-hop.

However, without much of an advanced notice, Mase turned in his Bad Boy chain for the Good Book and the word of God and became Pastor Mason. That stood for only a few years before he came back as a clean rapper, and despite the luke-warm success radio psuedo-hits like "Welcome Back" and "Breathe, Stretch, Shake" before he took a major career misstep in joining G-Unit.

I still can't forgive that, specifically that line "I got hoes in the back of the church humming your name" line. Boooooo!

Let's fast forward to 2009, where Mase has declared his return to the game, inspired by the death of Michael Jackson. Sure, he has no clue who's hot. And in turn, the generation has no idea who Mase is.

But I'm sure if you team him with an album laced with the production of hit-makers like Kanye, DJ Premier, 9th Wonder and Just Blaze people will once again care about Mase.

Here's hoping Mase's return to the game is successful. He could be the breath of fresh air that a prefabricated lab-rapper could never be. And now, tracks I like by Ma$e.

1. Feel So Good
   
2. Lookin' At Me
   
3. Breathe, Stretch, Shake
   
4. Welcome Back
5. Tell Me What You Want From Me (feat. Total)
   
6. Can't Hold Me Down (feat. Puff Daddy)
7. Been Around The World (feat. The Notorious B.I.G. & Puff Daddy)
   
8. Lean Back Remix (feat. Fat Joe & Eminem)
   

Mase's Return Inspired By Michael Jackson's Death [All Hip Hop]