Mason Betha, as he is known to by his mother and close acquaintances is a Harlem based rapper, which I'm sure you were able to tell from the awful cover art. Like I mentioned a few lines ago, the shiny suit, blingy Ma$e wasn't always as such. Murda Mase was one of the prominent members in the Harlem rap group, consisting of five members: the legendary Big L, Herb McGruff, Cam'Ron, Bloodshot, and himself. Weirdly enough, all members reached a level of success, where I shouldn't have to explain to you who they are. The only real exception to that would be Mason's cousin Bloodshot, who sadly died in a car car after the group disbanded. None came close to the fame and fortune of our host, though.
Murda Ma$e was the one who really fucking outdid himself. You all know him today from his days on Bad Boy Records, where Puff Daddy made him a bonafide star. Still confused? That's his ass laying down the first verse on "Mo Money, Mo Problems", so hopefully you're all caught up. The fact that he dropped the "Murda" from his name, and opted to add a dollar sign to replace the "S", should tell you all you need to know about the changes in his lyrical content. The first time the world got a glimpse at this Ma$e was in a 112 song called "Only You", which also featured a guest appearance from Biggie. His hype continued to build through guest appearances on "Life After Death" and Puffys record "No Way Out". You can say whatever you want about Puffy, but during his prime, no one could market artists the way he could. I hate it, but the mans still making money off the career of Christopher Wallace. Every song he was featured on was a hit and received major radio play, so it was only natural that he try to capitalize on his rising fame. All that back story finally brings us to Harlem World.
Well, his plan worked out picture perfectly and the album sold over four million copies. That's right, this album that you've probably never even heard of went platinum four times. Spearheaded by two big hits, Harlem world was also nominated for album of the year at the Grammys. Not to give too much away, but that alone shows that the Grammys were never exactly the most respectable of award shows. It may have been terrible, but this album was still a huge part of hip hop and needs to at least be discussed before I completely forget about it.
Lets get this out of the way...
1. Intro
I think by this point you can think up your own clever little comment as to how unnecessary an intro is. I will say that Mase himself should have taken care of this.
2. Do You Wanna Get $?
Just like that you can already tell that the crossover to the mainstream has been fully completed. The beat is polished as hell and screams for mainstream radio play. Matching it, Mase's lyrics aren't intelligent enough to not be considered mainstream. Sorry, but there's nothing that even resembles substance on here. That said, its not like this song is the worst thing I've ever heard. Mase knows what his job is and he plays it nicely. The hook gets old quickly but its catchy, which is all it was ever really ment to do. Fairly predictable start to the album.
3. Take What's Yours (Feat. DMX)
Surprisingly, this song kind of knocks. The beat is grimier than anything you would expect from someone being consigned by Puffy. At least for a brief moment, we see a return of form to the Murda Mase persona, which is just kind of comforting. DMX is relegated to chorus duties, which is fine with me. Harlem World already has enough features and the last thing we needed was another rapper to come over and outshine the actual host. This is listed as a favorite of Mase fans (if they even exist anymore), and its not hard to tell why. If you don't take a single thing away from my review, at least check this one out.
4. Madd Rapper (Interlude) (Feat. The Madd Rapper)
Did anyone actually think The Madd Rapper was ever funny? Yeah, he had his moments when Biggie was alive, but I don't even see how he made it onto Mase's album. Not terrible, but there's no need for repeated listens.
5. Will They Die For You? (Feat. Puff Daddy & Lil' Kim)
Puffy makes another appearance and you can already tell that this album was fully directed by the man. The beat is borrowed from DMX's "Get At Me Dog", which was never very good in the first place, but the new owners certainly don't do much to help it. The result is a boring, shiny, and ultimately unneeded track. Mase actually sounds pretty good but the fact that Puffy got the lead off verse rubbed me the wrong way, making this song pointless from the start. Can't imagine any of you enjoying this any more than I did. Lil' Kim also had a verse, but I'm not a fan of hers so I'll hold my comments.
6. Lookin' At Me (Feat Puff Daddy)
Leave, Puffy. A couple features would have been fine, I promise everyone knew you had your hands all over this project, but now you're just raping any chance of Mase becoming a respectable rapper. Oh well, this song is actually quite notable, as it features some of The Neptunes earliest production. Since it has more of an electronic feel to it, Mase sounds like he's completely out of his comfort zone, but he sure does try. I remember this being a standout the first time I heard the album, but only one more listen showed me how corny this shit is. I'll pass.
7. White Girl (Interlude)
Get the fuck outta here...
8. Love U So (Feat.Billy Lawrence)
This album hasn't even been as bad as I remembered, but that's all starting to change as we move into terrible song territory. I'm not sure this was even a single, which is surprisingly. I can't imagine what was going through anyone's mind when they decided to record this shit, but not release it as a single. I can't picture myself ever listening to this again, but that might end up being the case for this whole damn album.
9. The Player Way (Feat. Eightball & MJG)
Like stated at the very beginning of the song, I don't think anyone would have guessed that Eightball and MJG would be making an appearance on here. As a talented but relatively unknown southern rap duo, they seem to be a polar opposite when compared to Mase. Apparently that wasn't true at all, as they not only appear on this track, but would later sign with Bad Boy in 2000. I guess looks can be deceiving, or dollar signs are awfully persuasive. The only thing notable about the actual song is that Mase actually really steps his shit up and outshines his guests, which is how it should be. The whole song still isn't very good, though.
10. Hater (Interlude)
This album's skits seem to be even more unneeded than most other albums.
11. Niggaz Wanna Act (Feat. Busta Rhymes)
Mase isn't very good on here and spits some really cheesy ass lines, but I actually really enjoyed this song. All Busta does is work the hook, but even there he shares it with our host. He is still appreciated, though. Mase's guru-esque monotonous flow becomes more than boring after a while and the burst of energy that Busta provides justifies his appearance on the song. The instrumental is also pretty lazy, but it goes together with the feel of the song decently enough. Still think this would have benefited a bit from an actual verse from the feature.
12. Feels So Good (Feat. Kelly Price)
A pretty popular song, as it was released as the very first single. I guess it pumped up everyone anticipating an album from the Puff Daddy version of Mase, but the remaining Murda Mase fans were dealt an overwhelming three minutes of sadness. I fall under the latter, which means I hate this shit as much as the next guy. The fact that its catchy and gets stuck in your head makes it even more unbearable. It does use a little sample from Kool G. Rap, which I guess was entertaining, but its not like anyone other than myself realized it.
13. What You Want (Feat. Total)
Conveniently enough, the albums first single is followed directly the second one. Total was Bad Boys female singer that only received any amount of fame because of who she was aligned with. This might be a little harsh, but they need to realize that there are actually people out there who listen to this music and notice that this singing isn't any good. I obviously don't like this song, but I'll be the first to admit that this shit could have been a whole lot worse. That's only because of how smooth Mase is able to sound over this fairly dull instrumental.
14. Phone Conversation (Interlude)
I don't know why I even bother commenting on these stupid ass interludes.
15. Cheat On You (Feat. Jay-Z & Lil' Cease)
Don't look at me for an explanation for this weird ass collection of features. The Eightball and MJG song confused me enough but Jay-Z being paired up with Lil' Cease is even more baffling. At least Jigga has some sense behind him. Him and Biggie were always pretty close and apparently that translates to a verse on Mase's album. I'm still clueless on Cease. In the upcoming years, Jay would end up developing some sort of beef with Mase, but I think that was more directly toward some members of his crew, Harlem World. This song isn't any good but its worth checking out just to see what 1997 Hov could do compared to his current output. I'm trying to say that he destroys everyone else on the track.
16. 24 Hrs. To Live (Feat. The Lox, Black Rob, & DMX)
The third and final single makes an appearance, which I've always found confusing, in the sense that this is actually pretty good. Well, at least entertaining. More or less of a posse cut, the Bad Boy crew discusses the topic of what you would do if you only had twenty four hours to live, mostly involving who you would screw. The DMX feature is random as hell, but you shouldn't be all that surprised at this point. The only rapper that doesn't bring heat is Mase, who sounds bored as hell at the idea of death on the horizon. Still a fun little listen.
17. I Need To Be (Feat. Monifah)
Man, this song just doesn't even have a single memorable quality about it, besides the slightly above average beat, but I'm just reaching at this point. Mase does the instrumental no justice, as he delivers one of the weakest performances of the album. It does bring up the question of what the hell Monifah is doing nowadays. Avoid this one.
18. Watch Your Back (Interlude)
I didn't think it was even possible but these skits just continue to get worse. At least it feels like this album is moving by a little bit faster.
19. Wanna Hurt Ma$e
Spelling out that title has made me realize that I've been forgetting to include that dollar sign in Mase's name. I guess that's bad on my part but I hope you can see the inconvenience of adding in that character every time you drop the mans name, which occurs about once every five sentences. This song is straight up awful and shouldn't be given the time of day. The hook should make you want to burn this album. I mean that in the most literal form possible.
20. Jealous Guy (Feat. 112)
Sorry this review sucks but you've got to give me a little more if you want me to become emotionally invested. Mason's singing would normally piss me off but I don't even care enough to get mad any more. A shitty conclusion to a more than disappointing album.
Rating: 2/5
Oh man, I could go on and on as to why this album is terrible, but I'm really damn tired so I'll keep this fairly short and sweet. I'm sure this may have sounded hot when it dropped in 1997, but these tracks don't hold up at all and sound incredibly dated. We all know this wasn't the type of music Mase wanted to be releasing, that's easily indicated by his work with The Children Of The Corn. Puffy had his hands all over it and he knew this was the right business move. He was right about that. In terms of commercial appeal, this had the hit singles to succeed and the Puffy cosign certainly helped the album while it was on it's way to going quadruple platinum. Mase never managed to rap very well, this album stills has a couple really nice songs, but album itself isn't any good. I can't see any reason as to why you would need to go and track this shit down, but I won't discourage you. Mason always seemed like a good guy and I'm sure he'd appreciate your extra dollar. It'd be a crime if someone tried to sell you this for anything more.