Mase

Mason Durell Betha , better known by stage name Mase , is an American hip hop recording artist and minister. He is best known for being signed to Sean Diddy Combss label Bad Boy Records.

Mase was born Mason Durell Betha in Jacksonville, Florida on August 27, 1977. Growing up he did not know his father. Fleeing her abusive husband, Masons mother moved her children to Harlem, New York when Mason was just three years old. He spent his early teen years gambling, cutting class, chasing after girls and running the streets of 139th and Lenox however, he returned to Florida when he wasdue to concerns he was associating himself with the wrong crowds. Betha returned to New York at age 15. Basketball was his first love. He was a star player for Manhattan Center High Schoolalong with his close friend Camron. As teens, the two dabbled in rap as a hobby, briefly forming a group called Children of the Corn . Damon Dash, a fellow Manhattan Center student, was their manager for a while before leaving to pursue another rap associate Big L. Before rapping, which he always saw as a parttime pursuit, his plan was to play pro basketball, since he was a starting point guard at the State

Source: Wikipedia