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Mase was a rapper who lived in a life of sin and later in life decided to pursue a career in ministries. Rapper Mase was born Mason Durrell Betha in Jacksonville, Fl on August 27, 1978. He moved to Harlem New York when he was only five. His parents sent him back down to Florida when he was thirteen when he began to fall in with the wrong crowd. He returned to New York two years later. Still following a bad crowd but also having a heart focused on rap and basketball. He played basketball in Manhattan Center High School, where he earned an athletic scholarship for basketball to SUNY. He later decided to turn down a career in basketball to pursue a rap career. Mase started out with a rap group called children of the corn when he was only 19and took on the name Mase Murder. But the group was soon ended when one of the group members died in a car accident. Mase went down to Atlanta to meet up with producer for a rap contract and that is where he met Sean “Puffy” Combs. Sean heard Mase rap and immediately wanted to sign him to his “Bad Boy” record label. Mase appeared on a lot of top chart hits which made him a prominent artist in the rap industry. It was insured that when Mase did release his own debut album all of the hip hop fans would have an idea of who Mase was already. (Mase Biography Band Biographies. Web. 13 Dec. 2010. <http://www.bandbiographies.com/mase/biography.htm) .	When his first album did drop it topped billboard charts for weeks straight. His album was an instant smash hit. His album was star studded with a bunch of hip hops top artist. The critics praised Mase for his unique style of rapping, but there were the critics who opposed him and called him a no talent sidekick. But none the less his album was still a smash hit. He continued to make smash hits and even signed an old high school friend to rap with him. He continued to appear on countless artist songs. Mase grew up in a life of poverty and was usually into trouble with his friends. He grew up with out his father. Lived on a block with ten other guys and now today eight of them died one who he carried to the hospital and the other two are in jail. Later in Mase’ rap career he was taken up on charges for soliciting a prostitute and disorderly conduct. He was later acquitted for it. (Mase Biography: Contemporary Musicians." ENotes - Literature Study Guides, Lesson Plans, and More. Web. 13 Dec. 2010. http://www.enotes.com/contemporary-musicians/mase-biography.)

On April 20, 1999 the 21 year old rapper announced his retirement from the hip hop industry, because he felt he was leading people, friends, kids and others down a path to hell. So he stated that he left to find God in his heart and follow him. He declared it was time for him to serve God in his way. He felt that rap wasn’t real and that he wanted to deal with reality. He stated that its like you become unhappy with what you do no matter how much it pays. Mase moved down to Atlanta, GA and started to attend church as a full time Christian. Later on he decided to go to college and become a pastor. Mase started to give back to his community. He began basketball programs in his old Harlem neighborhood. He helped teens get into college by donating scholarship money and doing charity events. Mase later returned to college to get a degree in psychology to counsel the less fortunate youth who grew up in the same predicament as he did. Mase later appeared along side other musicians such as gospel, rhythm and blues singers such as Debra Cox, Kelly Price and rap artist Warren G as a spokes person for the National Breast Cancer Awareness Initiative, a campaign sponsored by the Magic Johnson Foundation. Mase is now acknowledged with the title of Dr. Mason Betha. Mase continued to preach the gospel of Jesus (which was prophesized by a pastor he met when he was twelve years old, that God would use Mase to preach the gospel of Jesus). (Pages: By. "MASE BIOGRAPHY." Lyrics. Web. 13 Dec. 2010. <http://www.sing365.com/music/lyric.nsf/Mase-Biography/DA2D95E2BB7D0C3C482568C00037EC18) Mase made a return in the year 2004 to rap again but received a lot of controversy from critics for not being the same rapper he was back in the late nineties. With his return a feud was fueled between him and a long time friend (which lasted up until last year). Mase’ return album sold with expectations of having a similar theme to his last two albums. Mase then removed himself from the spotlight again and began to ghost write songs for up and coming artist. He felt that he still wanted to serve God but could not be in the spot light and be righteous at the same time. Mase made a second comeback in the year 2010, to produce music and rap again. It was stated that he said that since Michael Jackson’s death after looking at all the work he had done in his years in music, it just influenced him to reach to his people through music again. He also solved the problems he had with an old friend, who was like his brother. A fellow rapper Camron and they began to work together again right away. Now Mase is an established man in life like he said he wanted to be. He set out to do Gods work and did just that. He now resides back in his home state New York. (Music - Starpulse.com." Entertainment News | Entertainment Photos | Entertainment Video | Starpulse.com. Web. 13 Dec. 2010. http://www.starpulse.com/Music/M.html)