Reader Review: Ma$e - Double Up (June 15, 1999)

(Today's Reader Review comes from Sir Bonkers, who seems to enjoy subjecting himself to albums that most people would consider not worth their valuable time. Mase's sophomore Bad Boy project, Double Up, gets the treatment today. Leave some comments for him below.)

Everybody knows Ma$e as a rapper who danced around in a shiny suit in music videos with Puff Daddy, quitting that career to become a preacher, then giving that up to sign with G-Unit Records and record some of the most violent, sexist, ungodly material of his career without ever releasing a proper album (although a mixtape did eventually surface), then reversing his stance and joining up with the church again, and then, in an effort to alienate both his church associates and his music fans, getting arrested for soliciting sex from a transvestite. Oh, and for his music itself, which consisted mostly of his sleepy drawl carefully placed over club-ready instrumentals provided by Puffy and his Hitmen production team.

His collaborations with the likes of The Notorious B.I.G., Brandy, Brian McKnight, 112, Blackstreet, Mýa and the Shiny Suit Man himself, were successful, and along with his debut album, Harlem World, Mason Betha ushered in a new era for hip hop. On the one hand, he released tracks such as “N----z Wanna Act”, “Take What's Yours”, and “Wanna Hurt Mase?”, in which he used his monotone delivery and low vocal tone to create some ice cold gangsta rap; on the other, he was getting jiggy with it on “Feels So Good” and “Love U So”, which landed his poster in the bedrooms of teen-aged girls, helping him sell a ton of units. He didn’t do too bad a job with either, although he’ll rightfully never be in anyone’s top five dead or alive. He had a cross-demographic appeal that today's pop rappers strive for, and he seemed to achieve this effortlessly.

Here’s the thing: I love both Puffy's No Way Out and Ma$e's Harlem World. Max claims that both the instrumental and the lyrics of a song must be good in order to create a good song (that's not exactly what I've said, but whatever), but I think party music is the exception. Who gives a shit about lyrics when you’re getting drunk in the club? And who cares about originality, for that matter: do I care if “Been Around The World” jacks David Bowie’s “Let's Dance”? No, I do not, because the original wasn’t nearly as club-friendly as Puff’s tweaked version (clearly we don't frequent the same clubs), and even now, more than a decade later, it still works well in that context.

Even with his success, Mason felt empty. Sure, he was rich and famous, but he wasn’t being taken seriously as a rapper, mostly because he was perceived as Puffy's puppet-slash-prositutue (which was abso-fucking-lutely true). I’m not saying Ma$e would have been worthy of a DJ Premier beat at this (or any) point of his career, but he wasn't that bad at what he did, which was entertain the mainstream. Still, his second album, Double Up, is notable because he abandoned the idea of promoting it in order to find God (and yet it still went gold, somehow). My guess is that Ma$e felt like Puffy's whore during the recording of Harlem World, but somehow believed that, thanks to that prior album's success, he would be allowed to release some 1980's sample-free boom bap in the vein of Ready To Die, because he had garnered his own fanbase that would mature alongside of him. After listening to Double Up, one has to believe that he must have been disappointed: Gary Numan, Fleetwood Mac, Madonna and Shalamar (and probably tons of others) find their original tracks thrown into a blender and poured over the Hitmen’s drum machines.

There is one fundamental difference between Harlem World and Double Up: all of the A-list guests are missing in action this time around. There is no DMX, no Busta Rhymes, and no Jay-Z. (Of course Puffy pops up on a few tracks, but while he is a famous rapper with multi-platinum albums under his belt, he still doesn't count.) R&B acts Total and Carl Thomas show up, but that’s only because they were also signed to Bad Boy. The biggest name on Double Up is Teddy Riley’s R&B outfit Blackstreet, which makes one wonder just what happened. I suppose everyone else rightfully believed the Shiny Suit Era to be over, and as such, felt that they had no business popping up on a Ma$e album, or maybe they could simply cash a bigger check working on Puffy's Forever instead.

Anyway, I’ve wasted way too much Interweb space on a project that will probably be little more than an outdated footnote.

1. INTRO (FEAT. DIDDY)

While I liked the soulful instrumental by Mario Winans, there was no real reason for Puff to reintroduce Ma$e, as he was still a part of our collective short-term memory at this point.

2. STAY OUT OF MY WAY (FEAT. TOTAL)

While Amen-Ra provides some really nice drums, he loses points as soon as the synth line of Madonna’s Lenny Kravitz-helmed, Public Enemy-jacking “Justify My Love” creeps in. All of this could have been forgiveable, as the instrumental remains passable and Pastor Mase does a fine job himself, had it not been for R&B trio Total's vocals lying uncomfortably on top of everything. “What You Want” this is not.

3. GET READY (FEAT. BLACKSTREET)

This would be Double Up’s answer to “Feel So Good” and the only single released off this album. To be fair, this piece of club-ready fluff (which steals from Shalamar's “A Night To Remember”) is a guilty pleasure, and not just because this is the type of song Ma$e is best known for. Our host doesn’t say anything worth mentioning, but he keeps the flow moving.

4. MAKE ME CRY

Kanye West is a Ma$e fan, and the high pitched vocal sample of a Fleetwood Mac song featured on here does remind me of his early production style somewhat, but otherwise, the Joe Hooker beat is sterile, which is exactly how a radio song is supposed to sound, I guess. Still, this isn't very enjoyable, as Ma$e's gloomy lyrics don't mesh well with the music.

5. AWARD SHOW [SKIT]

Useless in so many ways.

6. SAME N----Z (FEAT. CARL THOMAS)

While Carl Thomas’s singing contrasts nicely with Mason’s monotone, this song ultimately bored the shit out of me, thanks to Nashiem Myrick’s lackluster instrumental. What’s interesting, though, is when the Pastor asks, “What [he] need[s] a hooker for? [He’s] getting head from [Brandy].” (The name is censored on the album, but it’s pretty easy to figure out what he's saying.) Also, his anti-religion sentiments are mildly entertaining, for obvious reasons.

7. NO MATTA WHAT (FEAT. DIDDY & CHERI DENNIS)

This electro-fied Prestige-produced club banger is catchy as fuck. The hook, performed by Diddy and Cheri Dennis, doesn’t suck, which is a nice surprise, and M-A-dollar sign’s lyrics don’t really detract from the overall effect. If this was released as a single, it could have set clubs on fire, especially over here in Europe. Everybody remotely Bad Boy-affiliated gets shouted out near the end by Puff, too, including The Lox. Wait, The LOX were still on the Bad Boy roster when Double Up came out? Seriously?

8. IF YOU WANT TO PARY (FEAT. CHERI DENNIS)

Bad Boy songstress Cheri Dennis, whose debut album achieved quadruple-zinc status in 2008, makes her second out of three appearances on Double Up on here. She sounds completely indistinct on here, which means with proper coaching, she probably could’ve been as popular as Ashanti. Alas, it wasn’t meant to be. According to Wikipedia, she is still signed to Bad Boy, too. Maybe she gives great head or something? Puffy? A little help?

9. JAIL VISIT [SKIT]

Groan.

10. FUCK ME, FUCK YOU (FEAT. MYSONNE)

While Harlem World had a few songs for "the streets" (I like violent, dark and misogynistic hip hop if it's well made, and I do not consider myself "in the street"s in any fashion, although I do smoke pot, but I live in Amsterdam, so what did you expect?), M. Betha’s delivery was as sleepy on those efforts as it was on “Mo' Money, Mo' Problems”. On here, though, he sounds genuinely agitated. It’s not really clear if this is a good thing: Ma$e does sound more passionate behind the mic, but is this what we really wanted to hear? Personally I feel this lacks the cool that made “N----z Wanna Act” or “Wanna Hurt Mase?” so convincing. Also, the hook, courtesy of Bronx stalwart Mysonne, blows killer whale dick.

11. DO IT AGAIN (FEAT. DIDDY)

I was waiting for Puff Daddy to hijack a song, and it finally happens on here. It’s hard to listen to this without the mental image of the “Mo' Money, Mo' Problems” video. Not that this song comes close to that song’s shiny suit glory: the drastic quality difference between the two could be attributed to Biggie’s presence on the latter, as I choose to believe B.I.G. would have rather shot himself in the face than contribute to this pile of horseshit. Even if he had joined this party, it wouldn't have helped matters much, as this song is essentially about how many times Puffy can bust a nut, so there you go.

12. ANOTHER STORY TO TELL

This track, ostensibly some sort of follow-up to Biggie's “ I Got A Story To Tell” off of Life After Death, is adecent Buckwild-helmed narrative about groupies. It's also the inspiration of one of Kanye's lines from “Gold Digger”.

13. BLOOD THICKER

Meh.

14. YOU AIN’T SMART

Everything about this song is sleep-inducing.

15. ALL I EVER WANTED (FEAT. CHERI DENNIS)

Sort of a sequel to “What You Want”, I guess. Cheri Dennis sounds exactly like Mýa (you know, the girl who caused a rift between Curtis and Jayceon) over this poppy Nashiem Myrick creation. As far as love raps go, this is passable, because it has an air of sincerity and all the elements are in well-placed. Still, this lacks any sort of edge.

16. MAD RAPPER [SKIT]

I guess Bad Boy Records officially changed the spelling of the character's name, because on Double Up and Puffy's Forever (and The Lox's Money, Power, & Respect), “Madd” only has one “d” in it. Not like it matters, I suppose.

17. FROM SCRATCH (FEAT. HARLEM WORLD, SHYNE & MYSONNE)

This was interesting. It’s a conceptual posse cut, like “24 Hours To Live” off of Harlem World, but this time around there isn't an all-star cast, just Ma$e’s merry band of altar boys and everybody’s favorite go-to club sniper. The song revolves around what you would do if you were able to start your life all over again. Harlem World, Mason's weed carriers, doesn’t suck nearly as much as you’d expect, except for Loon, which is most certainly why Puff was so convinced that he could be the replacement for Ma$e on the roster after our host left to find Jesus. Shyne’s first line, “If I could start from scratch, I'd sign to Def Jam”, is unintentionally hilarious, especially as that was where he ended up when he released his sophomore disc full of pre-trial scraps, Godfather Buried Alive, after getting fucked over by Sean Combs in court. Our host quips, “If I could do it all again, I'd do it all for Christ”, and he apparently tried to follow through on that promise, quite possibly doing so immediately after recording his verse for all I know. All of this takes place over a rather cinematic Mario Winans instrumental.

18. GETTIN’ IT (FEAT. FUNKMASTER FLEX)

For the last song on Double Up, Mason speeds up his flow for the first and only time in his career, while radio personality Funkmaster Flex rides shotgun over a decent instumental. This was pretty good.

FINAL THOUGHTS: It makes sense why Mase didn’t want to promote Double Up, and not because it’s entirely awful, although yeah, it’s pretty fucking terrible, more so than Puff Daddy’s Forever (please keep in mind that I do like both Murda Mase and Puff Daddy’s respective debuts). Ma$e's problem with this project, as well as mine, is that this is basically Harlem World 2.0, which didn't seem to be the direction he wished to go. However, for the first time ever, the Pastor sounds like he actually cares about what he’s doing, although Ma$e's artistic growth might just be getting mixed up with his annoyance with Puff Daddy's consistent input. Still, he comes across as a better overall rapper than he used to be, and he sounds as though he's gained more life experience on several tracks. Sadly, thanks to the Shiny Suit Man's overall intentions, Double Up never stood a chance, and Ma$e's overall bitter tone certainly takes most of the enjoyment out of listening to this. With Double Up, we receive a few well-executed club tracks, a couple of interesting experiments that miss the mark, and lots of truly shitty filler.

BUY OR BURN? For fans of Ma$e and overall Bad Boy nostalgia, a burn will suffice and is highly recommended, although I highly doubt you will listen to Double Up in its entirety more than the once. Everyone else wouldn’t have gotten this far into the write-up anyway.

BEST TRACKS: “Get Ready”; “No Matta What”; “Another Story To Tell”; “From Scratch”; “Gettin' It”

-Sir Bonkers

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