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

(Questions? Comments? Concerns? Thoughts get listed below, suggestions get sent to the e-mail address in the sidebar.)

Ma$e - Harlem World (October 28, 1997)

I fear I may have lost you two in putting that picture up. Stay with me here; I promise I have a point.

Mason Betha grew up in Harlem, which should become obvious when you read the title of his debut album, Harlem World. However, prior to being the sidekick to the face of the Shiny Suit Era, Murda Mase was one of five rappers in the little-known-outside-of-Blogland crew known as Children Of The Corn, which was so obviously not named after the movie based on the Stephen King short story. ("Outlander!") He shared mic duties with the late Big L, Herb McGruff, Cam'Ron (known back then as Killa Cam), and Cam's late cousin Bloodshed. Oddly, every member of the group was able to find fame in the hip hop game after the crew disbanded, save for Bloodshed, who passed away in a car accident shortly after the breakup.

Mason Betha is clearly the one who hit the fucking lottery, as he signed up with Puff Daddy's Bad Boy Records imprint, dropping the "Murda" moniker in favor of calling himself Ma$e, bringing attention to the materialism that the man exemplified under the wing of money man Puffy Combs. He made his debut on a remix to "Only You", a 112 song that also featured The Notorious B.I.G., and he parlayed his crossover appeal (I say that without sarcasm, as I actually liked that remix) into guest spots on Biggie's Life After Death (on "Mo Money Mo Problems", as if you didn't know already) and Puffy's No Way Out ("Can't Nobody Hold Me Down" and "Been Around The World"). The recurring theme within all of these named tracks is that they all garnered massive amounts of radio airplay, and Puffy tried to continue that streak with Harlem World, which was packaged as a Ma$e album with a side of Murda in the background (only a small side, but still).

I'm not afraid to admit that I was a Bad Boy junkie back in 1997, and I bought Life After Death (not much of a stretch, as I was a Biggie fan), No Way Out, and Harlem World on the days they respectively dropped, and I'm willing to bet that a lot of you readers like me did the exact same thing. It was hard to escape from the dominant hand they held over radio, and, let's be honest, girls loved this stuff, and I listened to this shit so often while hanging out with friends that I pretty much tricked myself into thinking that I was a fan. I see now that No Way Out is not even close to being a great album, but some of those songs hold up extremely well today ("Victory", "I Love You Baby", "Young G's", and, sadly, "Senorita", which I'm kind of embarrassed to admit), and I'm curious to see how well Harlem World holds up (if at all), especially since a reader asked me to write about this shit a long time ago. This write-up is proof positive that I will try to meet your requests, as long as you are patient with the blog.

Harlem World ended up selling more than four million copies worldwide, and he scored at least two massive hit singles, which was enough for Puffy to recoup his investment. With Harlem World, Murda Mase was officially dead, and with his current persona, Pastor Mase, still well off in the horizon, all we had to look at was M-A-dollar sign-E.

Sigh.

1. PUFF'S INTRO (FEAT PUFF DADDY)
You don't need me to tell you how unnecessary this was, do you? I know Puffy is only trying to set the tone for Harlem World, but wouldn't this have made more sense if Mason handled the intro his damn self?

2. DO YOU WANNA GET $?
Let the crossover begin. The beat is commercial enough to gain radio airplay, and Pastor Mason's lyrics are stupid enough to justify a wide audience. This is brainless rap music right here. That said, this isn't entirely horrible, as Ma$e plays his role properly, and the hook is pleasant enough. This track won't do much to silence the supporters of Murda Mase, though.

3. TAKE WHAT'S YOURS (FEAT DMX)
Whereas this track will. Nashiem Myrick's beat is much more dramatic than it has any right to be (sequenced this early on Harlem World, anyway), and Mason adjust accordingly. This is the second song in a row (out of only two real songs) on which Ma$e mentions The Notorious B.I.G.: hopefully this doesn't become a recurring theme. DMX is limited to the chorus, but a little bit of him on here goes a long way. I liked this song back in the day, and it's still kind of appealing today. Funny, that.

4. MADD RAPPER (INTERLUDE) (FEAT THE MADD RAPPER)
After Biggie's Life After Death, these Madd Rapper interludes progressively became less and less funny. I know that D-Dot somehow parlayed this character into an album of his own, but that doesn't make this interlude a must-hear or anything.

5. WILL THEY DIE 4 YOU? (FEAT PUFF DADDY & LIL' KIM)
Ma$e jacks the beat from DMX's “Get At Me Dog” (or, more specifically, "Everything Good To You (Ain't Always Good For You)" by B.T. Express, which was also sampled for EPMD's "Get The Bozack") with bland results, mainly because Puffy is the rapper with the lead-off verse. Even though Ma$e actually says “You think I'm sweet? Taste me!”, which is fucking hilarious both in and out of context (especially out), this song is ultimately pointless. The title sounds like something Biggie would have used had he ever recorded a third album. Huh.

6. LOOKIN' AT ME (FEAT PUFF DADDY)
Features some early production work by The Neptunes; it took this and Noreaga's “Superthug” for them to break through onto the radio (although I also liked SWV's "Use Your Heart", but I know I'm in the minority with that one). Pastor Mason isn't suited to beats such as this, but he makes an admirable attempt anyway, and if one were to magically delete Puffy's ad-libs and hook, this song would probably sound much better. As it stands, I liked this track back in the day, but today I would prefer an instrumental break instead.

7. WHITE GIRL (INTERLUDE)
…

8. LOVE U SO (FEAT BILLY LAWRENCE)
This sounds like the blueprint for almost all of Bad Boy's radio hits, so it's weird that this was never a single. I ended up feeling empathy for vocalist Billy Lawrence's situation: whatever happened to her? She was kind of cute!

9. THE PLAYER WAY (FEAT EIGHTBALL & MJG)
Southern rap duo Eightball and MJG found that their audition tape for Bad Boy Records (a label they would later find themselves joining) was commandeered by Pastor Mason for an album track for Harlem World. Okay, that's not (entirely) true, but that story is far more interesting than whatever really happened. Strangely, Ma$e steps his rap game up on here in an effort to keep up with his guests, making this actually kind of enjoyable, which is weird, since I never cared for this song when I first heard the album.

10. HATER (INTERLUDE)
…

11. N----Z WANNA ACT (FEAT BUSTA RHYMES)
Other than Ma$e's boast at the beginning, “I get hard when I want to” (apparently Viagra is not necessary for the Pastor to get his freak on), I actually liked this song back in the day. And I still kind of do. Busta is left on hook duties only, which he ends up sharing with Ma$e anyway, but his high energy is a good contrast to the Pastor's sleepy flow and Dame Grease's instrumental, which is quite good. I also swear that Damon Dash is on the receiving end of some trash talk somewhere on here.

12. FEELS SO GOOD (FEAT KELLY PRICE)
The first single, which essentially informed the tone of the album and its intended audience. I was always pissed that Puffy and Ma$e straight jacked Kool and the Gang's “Hollywood Swingin'” and turned it into a far inferior song, but I guess if Kool and the Gang got paid, I shouln't be so angry. (Yeah, right.) As catchy as this is, I hate this song with every fiber of my being.

13. WHAT YOU WANT (FEAT TOTAL)
Single number two featured Total, Bad Boy's girl group who was notable for the fact that none of them could sing for shit, but they still managed to rack up a couple of hit songs by aligning themselves with A-list rappers such as Biggie and Lil' Kim. (The female 112 they are not.) This song for the ladies serves its purpose, and it could sound a lot worse. I'm pretty sure there's also a remix of this floating around somewhere, although the only thing that is any different is the beat.

14. PHONE CONVERSATION (INTERLUDE)
…

15. CHEAT ON YOU (FEAT JAY-Z & LIL' CEASE)
The guests on this song were all selected in a lottery. That's the only reason I could think of that explains the presence of both Lil' Cease and Shawn Carter: Jay may have been BFF with The Notorious B.I.G., but he and Caesar were never that close. Also, pretty sure that Jay ended up having a problem with Mason, although that beef started because of one of Ma$e's weed carriers in Harlem World. (Yeah, he named his crew after this album: also, now that I think about it, Jay's issue with Nas started because of his own weed carrier. Huh.) Hova is in full on In My Lifetime Vol. 1 mode, and predictably blows everyone else out of the water without even really trying.

16. 24 HOURS TO LIVE (FEAT THE LOX, BLACK ROB, & DMX)
This third single (which I was surprised to see utilized as such) wonders what would you do if tomorrow were your last day on Earth. (This being a rap song, they also make you think about “Who would you screw?”) This Bad Boy Records posse cut (with DMX thrown in for good measure) is actually pretty good, except for the star attraction's contribution, which sounds as if he was intimidated by his guests. The hook is stupid, but it helps keep the concept going. At least The Lox have some fun with the idea, something that was apparently lost on Black Rob and Earl.

17. I NEED TO BE (FEAT MONIFAH)
The intro to this song reminds me of a similar skit on a J-Zone album regarding underage teen girls. Remember when Monifah had a singing career of her own? Pastor Ma$e sounds uncomfortable over this above-average D-Dot beat: it practically begs to be borrowed for someone else's mixtape recordings.

18. WATCH YOUR BACK (INTERLUDE)
…

19. WANNA HURT MA$E
The hook (which does, in fact, borrow from the Culture Club's “Do You Really Want To Hurt Me”, thanks for asking) is so terrible that you'll look beyond the fact that the verses all sound moderately decent and say this this song sucks balls.

20. JEALOUS GUY (FEAT 112)
Pastor Mason singing? What the fuck? No, never mind, I don't care anymore, Harlem World is finally over.

FINAL THOUGHTS: I'm embarrassed that I actually bought Harlem World back in 1997, as the album is weak as fuck. While a handful of tracks actually sound good today, the project doesn't hold up at all in 2009: in fact, newer listeners may find themselves wondering why hip hop fans have the nerve to complain about today's horseshit when we had music that sounded like this. There aren't many bloggers who would name Murda Mase among the nicest on the mic, and I'm not going against the status quo. There is simply no need for newer listeners to track this down, and older heads who miraculously avoided this back in 1997 (apparently you must have hung out with chicks who had good musical taste. Good job!) will overlook this shit just like the Academy overlooks comedic performances, which, ironically, Mason Betha offers on Harlem World, albeit unintentionally.

BUY OR BURN? Just burn this one already, and only if you are truly a scholar of Bad Boy's Shiny Suit Era. Everyone else can move along peacefully: nothing to see here.

BEST TRACKS: “N----z Wanna Act”; “24 Hours To Live”; “The Player Way”; “Take What's Yours”

-Max