Bad Boy Entertainment, doing business as Bad Boy Records, is an American record label founded in 1993 by Sean "Puffy" Combs. During the mid-1990s, the label signed hip hop and contemporary R&B artists, beginning with the Notorious B.I.G. Following his commercial success, the label signed other acts, including Faith Evans, Mase, 112, Total, The Lox, Shyne and Carl Thomas. At its 1997 peak, Bad Boy was worth an estimated US$100 million.
Cam'ron Giles, known mononymously as Cam'ron, is an American rapper. Beginning his career in the early-1990s as Killa Cam, Giles signed with Lance "Un" Rivera's Untertainment, an imprint of Epic Records to release his first two studio albums Confessions of Fire (1998) and S.D.E. (2000); the former received gold certification by the RIAA. After leaving Epic, Giles signed with Roc-A-Fella Records in 2001 to release his third studio album, Come Home with Me, the following year. It received platinum certification by the RIAA and spawned the singles "Oh Boy" and "Hey Ma", which peaked at numbers four and three on the Billboard Hot 100, respectively. His fourth studio album, Purple Haze (2004) was met with similar success and likewise received gold certification by the RIAA.
Harlem World is the debut studio album by American rapper Mase. It was released on October 28, 1997, by Bad Boy Records and Arista Records. The album was nominated at the 41st Annual Grammy Awards for Best Rap Album. It went on to sell 4.9 million copies and going quadruple platinum in the United States.
8Ball & MJG is an American hip hop duo from Orange Mound, Memphis, Tennessee. They met at Ridgeway Middle School in 1984. In 1993, the duo released their debut album Comin' Out Hard. They went on to release On the Outside Looking In (1994), On Top of the World (1995), In Our Lifetime (1999), Space Age 4 Eva (2000), Living Legends (2004), Ridin High (2007) and Ten Toes Down (2010).
Lamont Coleman, known professionally as Big L, was an American rapper, songwriter, and record producer. Emerging from Harlem in New York City in 1992, Big L became known among underground hip-hop fans for his freestyling ability. He was eventually signed to Columbia Records, where, in 1995, he released his debut album, Lifestylez ov da Poor & Dangerous. On February 15, 1999, he was fatally shot nine times in a drive-by shooting in Harlem.
Total is an American R&B girl group and one of the signature acts of the Bad Boy Records imprint during the mid-1990s. The group consists of founding members Kima Raynor, Keisha Spivey, and Pamela Long. Total is best known for their feature on Mase's "What You Want", as well as their hits "Kissin' You", "Can't You See", and "What About Us?" and "Trippin'", both featuring Missy Elliott. Long also sung the chorus of The Notorious B.I.G.'s hit song "Hypnotize", although she was not officially credited. Total made their first appearance singing the hook on The Notorious B.I.G.'s debut single, "Juicy", widely considered one of the greatest hip-hop songs of all time.
Amir Junaid Muhadith, better known by his stage name Loon, is an American former rapper. He is best known for his work with rapper Puff Daddy and tenure at his label, Bad Boy Records; Loon most notably guest appeared on his 2002 singles "I Need a Girl " and "I Need a Girl ," which peaked at numbers two and four on the Billboard Hot 100, respectively.
Mason Durell Betha, better known by his mononym Mase, is an American rapper. Best known for his work with Sean "Puff Daddy" Combs' Bad Boy Records, he signed with the label in 1996 and quickly found mainstream recognition as Combs' hype man. He guest appeared on Combs' 1997 single "Can't Nobody Hold Me Down", which peaked atop the Billboard Hot 100, while his singles as a lead artist, "Feel So Good" and "What You Want" both peaked within the top ten of the chart. Released in October of that year, his debut studio album, Harlem World (1997) peaked atop the Billboard 200 chart, received quadruple platinum certification by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), and spawned his third top ten single as a lead artist, "Lookin' at Me". Furthermore, his guest performances on labelmate the Notorious B.I.G.'s single "Mo Money Mo Problems" and Puff Daddy's "Been Around the World" peaked at numbers one and two on the Billboard Hot 100, respectively, that same year.
Welcome Back is the third studio album by American rapper Mase. It was released on August 24, 2004, by Bad Boy Records and Universal Records. The album debuted at No. 4 on the charts, selling 188,000 copies in the first week. The album received gold certification by the RIAA, signifying sales of 559,000 copies in the United States.
American rapper Mase has released three studio albums and twenty-two singles, including ten as a featured artist.
Richard Frierson, known professionally as Younglord, is an American record producer. He was an early member of The Hitmen, the in-house production team for Puff Daddy's Bad Boy Records. He has contributed to the 1997 albums No Way Out by Puff Daddy and Harlem World by Mase, both of which debuted atop the Billboard 200. During his work with the group, he was solely credited on Big Pun's 2000 posthumous single "It's So Hard". In 2014, Frierson founded The Truth Licensing, a commercial music provider for various media.
Bossalinie is the second studio album by American rapper C-Murder, released by No Limit Records, Priority Records, and EMI on March 9, 1999. It entered the Billboard 200 at number two of the week ending March 14, 1999, after selling over 175,611 in its first week. It stayed on the chart for 11 weeks and was certified Gold by the RIAA. The album features production by Beats By the Pound and guest appearances by Daz Dillinger, Snoop Dogg, Nate Dogg, Kurupt, Goodie Mob, Monica, and other No Limit Soldiers.
"Breathe, Stretch, Shake" is the second single released from Mase's third album, Welcome Back. It was released on September 14, 2004, produced by Rick Rock and featured P. Diddy on the chorus. "Breathe, Stretch, Shake" was slightly more successful on the Billboard charts than the album's previous single, "Welcome Back", peaking at 28 on the Billboard Hot 100. It was certified gold on June 27, 2005, just about a month after "Welcome Back" accomplished the feat.
DukeDaGod is an American rapper and record producer. He is a member of The Diplomats and the VP of A&R for Diplomat Records. He was born George Moore in Harlem, but is better known by his stage name. He released his first album More Than Music, Vol. 1 in summer of 2005 under Diplomats/Koch Records.
The Movement is the only album by American hip hop group Harlem World. It was released on March 9, 1999, through So So Def Recordings and Columbia Records. The recording sessions took place at The Hit Factory in New York City, at Krosswire Studio in Atlanta, and at Sweetfish in Argyle, New York. The production was handled by several record producers, including Dame Grease, Deric "D-Dot" Angelettie, Jermaine Dupri, The Neptunes, Trackmasters, and then-unknown Kanye West and Just Blaze. It features guest appearances from Ma$e, Carl Thomas, Drag-On, Jermaine Dupri, Nas, Nauty, Rashad, the Boys Choir of Harlem, the Teamsters, and Kelly Price. The album was a success, making it to 11 on the Billboard 200 and 5 on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums and was certified gold on April 12, 1999. Two singles were spawned from the album, "I Really Like It" and "Cali Chronic". The album is now out of print.
"I Really Like It" is the debut single by rap group Harlem World from their debut album, The Movement. It features the group's mentor Mase and R&B singer Kelly Price and was produced by Mase, Supa Sam and Just Blaze. the track contains a sample of "Popcorn Love" performed by New Edition and an interpolation of "I Like It" performed by DeBarge. "I Really Like It" managed to make it to 3 different Billboard charts having peaked at 61 on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles & Tracks chart, 31 on the Hot Rap Singles chart and 18 on the Rhythmic Top 40.
"Feel So Good" is the debut single by American hip-hop artist Mase. It was released in October 1997 through Bad Boy Records and Arista Records as the lead single from his debut album, Harlem World, and it appeared on the Money Talks soundtrack. The song was produced by D-Dot and Sean "Puffy" Combs and featured vocals by R&B singer Kelly Price on the chorus. The single was the most successful of the three singles released from the album, having peaked at number 5 on both the Billboard Hot 100 and the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs, and number-one on the Hot Rap Singles chart. "Feel So Good" was certified gold just about a month after its release on November 12, 1997; it was later certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). Chris Tucker, Mase and Sean appears in the music video, which was directed by Hype Williams. They drive around the city in a Mercedes-Benz and a group of female dancers are also shown dancing with them.
"What You Want", also known as "Tell Me What You Want", is a song by American rapper Mase, featuring vocals from Bad Boy Records labelmates, R&B group Total. It was released as the second single from the former's debut album, Harlem World by the aforementioned label and Arista Records on December 3, 1997. The song was co-written Mase and Bad Boy label boss Sean Combs, produced by Nashiem Myrick of the label's in-house production team The Hitmen, and contains a sample of "Right on for the Darkness" by Curtis Mayfield. As with Mase's previous single, "What You Want" proved commercially successful, peaking at number six on the Billboard Hot 100 and becoming his second consecutive top ten single; it received gold certification by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA).
This article summarizes the events, album releases and album release dates in hip hop music for the year 2010.
"24 Hrs. to Live" is a song performed by American rapper Mase featuring colleagues The Lox, Black Rob and DMX, taken from his debut album, Harlem World (1997). It was released to radio airwaves on February 20, 1998, as an album cut and managed to chart solely on urban radio airplay. The same year, an all-female version of the song featuring Queen Pen, Lil' Kim, Foxy Brown and Missy Elliott was discussed; however, plans for the project fell through, resulting in a cancellation. Mase later clarified in an interview that the female version was shelved due to his frustration with Foxy Brown not getting along with Lil' Kim or Queen Pen, also adding that he had "to move on with [his] life."
