Mase was born Mason Durell Betha in Jacksonville, Florida, on August 27, 1975, as a fraternal twin born almost two months premature.[1] His twin sister's name was Stason; the twins had four older siblings. Growing up, Mase did not know his father. Fleeing her abusive husband, Mason’s mother moved her children to Harlem, New York, when Mason was three or four 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 was 13 due to concerns that he and his friends were misbehaving. He moved back to New York at age 15. He played basketball for Manhattan Center along with his close friend Cam’ron. As teens, the two dabbled in rap as a hobby, briefly forming a group called Children of the Corn ("corn" stood for "corner"). Damon Dash, a fellow Manhattan Center student, was their manager for a while before leaving to pursue another rap associate Big L. After graduating high school in 1994, Mason went to the State University of New York at Purchase in Westchester, New York, on a basketball scholarship.
He returned to Harlem after only a couple of semesters, intent on pursuing a career in rap. Stason introduced her brother to Cudda Love, a road manager for rapper Biggie Smalls. In 1996 Cudda took Mason down to Atlanta, where Jermaine Dupri and Sean "P. Diddy" Combs were attending a rap convention. Shortly after meeting and rapping for Combs at the Hard Rock Café, Ma$e signed a $250,000 deal with Bad Boy Entertainment and joined labelmate Notorious B.I.G. in publishing hip-hop music.[5] Within a week Mase was featured on and also was in the video for 112's "Only You" with Biggie.
