For any hip-hop fans that grew up in the mid-90s, did you ever think there would be a time when an artist from Bad Boy would sign with Death Row or vice versa?
Mase is looking to become the first. In a TikTok video, the Harlem World rapper revealed that he’s in the process of signing a deal with the legendary west coast rap label.
In the video he said, “I’m on Crenshaw — just passed Pico, just passed Slauson — and I’m out here to meet with Snoop so I can do another joint venture with Death Row Records. I’ll be officially the first one signed to Bad Boy and Death Row. And we gon’ get the 2Pac thing rekindled. Let’s see where we go with that.”
This is a surprising revelation to any hip-hop fan considering the two labels were bitter enemies and rivals in the mid-’90s, which unfortunately culminated in the murders of 2pac and Notorious B.I.G. in 1996 and 1997 respectively.
When Snoop Dogg acquired Death Row in February, he shared his plans to make the legendary hip-hop imprint an “NFT label.” At the time he said, “ We will be putting out artists through the metaverse. Just like we broke the industry when we was the first independent [label] to be major, I want to be the first major [label] in the metaverse.”
In April, Snoop removed all albums released under Death Row from streaming services, claiming that “those platforms don’t pay.”
Under Bad Boy, Mase released three albums between 1997 and 2004; Harlem World, Double Up and Welcome Back. He also appeared on many of the most popular songs released under the label including “Mo Money Mo Problems” and “Can’t Nobody Hold Me Down.”