Mase's Harlem World : Where Are They Now?
Catch up with the all-stars behind this shiny-suit classic.
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Mase's Harlem World: Where Are They Now? - Behind the shiny suits and the ministries, Mase has actually been behind some great music. Fifteen years ago, on Oct. 28, 1997, he dropped his crowning achievement, Harlem World. With several classic singles and more than 3 million records sold, it was a defining moment for rap's late-'90s Bad Boy era. But he didn't do it alone. Mase recruited several high-profile rappers, singers and producers to make an impact — and it worked. Here, 15 years later, BET.com catches up with the all-star squad behind Mase's Harlem World. —Alex Gale (Photo: Bad Boy Records)
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Ma$e - Mase's road since his breakthrough debut has had ups, downs, lefts, rights, you name it. Right after dropping his sophomore album, Double Up, in 1999, Mase retired from rap and became a minister. Five years, later he returned to music, dropped the gold-selling Welcome Back, linked with G Unit and then disappeared again. In 2009, he reemerged, dropping several cameo and mixtape verses, and started a public campaign to convince Diddy to release him from his contract. In 2012, Mase returned again with a verse on the remix to Wale's "Ambition" and a cameo on G.O.O.D. Music's "Higher." (Photo: Michael Buckner/Getty Images for Mercedes-Benz)
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Diddy - You might've heard of this guy Diddy, who plays a co-starring role on Harlem World, executive-producing, producing, rapping and swagging on several tracks. In the years since, he's become one of music's biggest moguls, launched several brands, topped the Forbes Rap Kings list, released several platinum albums and, overall, been one of the most famous people on the planet. (Photo: WENN.com)
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DMX - DMX's appearance on grimy standouts "24 Hrs. to Live" and "Take What's Yours" helped him reach superstardom in the coming years, with five consecutive No. 1 albums — a record. The next several years have been filled with legal troubles, drug troubles and marital troubles, but not much music. In 2012, on the comeback trail, he released his first album in six years, Undisputed. (photo: John Ricard / BET).
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Billy Lawrence - Billy Lawrence's appearance on "Love You So" added to a long list of overlooked achievements by the singer-songwriter: releasing two mid-'90s albums, singing with MC Lyte and Mandy Moore, writing songs for Jennifer Lopez, TLC and others. She's been out of the public eye for years for around a decade now. (Photo: Billy Lawrence/Facebook)
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8Ball & MJG - MJG and 8 Ball were already Memphis legends when they appeared on "The Player Way," and they cemented their legacy further with several albums in the years to follow. After working with Bad Boy, they moved on to T.I.'s Grand Hustle, and dropped their last album, Ten Toes Down, via that imprint in 2010. (Photo: Rick Diamond/Getty Images)
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Busta Rhymes - Busta Rhymes delivered the elbow-throwing hook to "N---az Wanna Act" at the same time he was becoming a real star, with his platinum sophomore album, When Disaster Strikes, dropping the same year as Harlem World. Busta's been a mainstay on mixtapes, radio waves and charts ever since. He's currently signed to Cash Money, and released a free album, Year of the Dragon, via Google Play in August. (Photo: Larry Busacca/Getty Images For The Recording Academy)
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Total - Total were Bad Boy's signature girl group when they appeared on the hit single "What You Want." But it didn't last long: they only released one more album, 1998's Kima, Keisha and Pam, before splitting up. Member Pamela Long, however, is still active, and released an album, Undeniable, this year. She also recently tweeted that Total was back in the studio together. (Photo: Courtesy Bad Boy Records)
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Lil Cease - Lil Cease's verse on "Cheat on You" alongside Mase and Jay-Z was one of the few highlights of a career that faded after Notorious B.I.G. was murdered just seven months before the release of Harlem World. Cease released one album, The Wonderful World of Cease A Leo, in 1999. In recent years, he's not so "Lil" anymore: He released an online workout series, and finally returned to the mic in earnest with 2010's Everything Is Hardbody. (Photo: Roger Kisby/Getty Images)
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Jay-Z - Jay-Z spits on "Cheat on You" with Lil Cease. Since then, he's been a little busy — you know, becoming the greatest rapper of all time. (Photo: Allison Joyce/Getty Images)
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The LOX - The LOX kill it on grimy highlight "24 Hrs. to Live" with Black Rob and DMX, a perfect platform for them to launch their own debut, Money, Power & Respect, a year later. The Yonkers trio had a bitter split from Bad Boy soon after, decamping from the label in 1999 and releasing their second album, We Are the Streets, via Ruff Ryders in 2000. Jadakiss, Styles and Sheek have all launched solo careers with different levels of success since then. They're currently working on a new album — without a label home, though — which will be executive-produced by Swizz Beatz and DJ Khaled. (Photo: Phil McCarten/Getty Images)
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Black Rob - Fellow Bad Boy Black Rob helped make "24 Hrs. to Live" a classic, and three years later he released his criminally slept on debut, Life Story. Jail and drug abuse slowed him down though. He didn't release a follow-up until 2005, then signed with Duck Down for last year's Game Tested, Streets Approved. He's followed that up with a handful of guest verses and Internet leaks. (Photo: Black Rob/Twitter)
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Deric "D-Dot" Angelettie - Deric "D-Dot" Angelettie, the so-called Madd Rapper, headed up his own interlude and produced three songs on Harlem World. Three years later, he released an entire album under the Madd Rapper name and continued to land credits with 50, Mary J. Blige and others. In recent years, he worked as a consultant to the 2009 Biggie biopic Notorious, and has been working with Freeway and Fred Da Godson.
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Monifah - A year after Monifah guested on "I Need to Be," she reached the apex of her career, the gold-selling Mo'hogany. In August, years after mostly disappearing following her 2000 album, Home, she appeared in the TV One reality show R&B Divas, in which she publicly revealed that she's a lesbian. (Photo: Astrid Stawiarz/Getty Images)
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112 - R&B group 112 helped close out the album with "Jealous Guy." The same year, they won a Grammy for their contributions to Diddy's "I'll Be Missing You." After releasing three hit albums with Bad Boy, they bounced from the label in 2002. They dropped two albums before going on a rocky hiatus to work on solo projects. Earlier this year, they reunited for a concert in Atlantic City, and are now planning to perform together again later this year. (Photo: Rick Diamond/WireImage for BMI)
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