Mase

A key player in Sean “Puff Daddy” Combs’ ’90s-era Bad Boy Records empire, rapper Mase racked up a string of hits before leaving the rap game at the height of his fame to become a preacher. • In 1997, Mase scored two No. 1 hits on the Billboard Hot 100, guesting on Puff Daddy’s “Can’t Nobody Hold Me Down” and The Notorious B.I.G.’s posthumous smash “Mo Money Mo Problems”. • Also in 1997, Mase dropped his highly anticipated debut album, Harlem World, a guest-heavy effort featuring DMX, Busta Rhymes and JAY-Z. Lead single “Feel So Good” went Top 5 and earned platinum sales. • Mase stunned fans in 1999 when he told Hot 97’s Funkmaster Flex that he was leaving hip-hop to pursue a “calling from God”. The announcement came just months before the release of his sophomore effort, Double Up. • A religiously renewed Mase returned to music in 2004 to pick up where he left off. His comeback LP Welcome Back featured the Top 40 hits “Welcome Back” and “Breathe, Stretch, Shake”. • Kanye West has been quoted as saying Mase is his favourite rapper.