Former rap star Mase, who shocked the hip-hop world in 1999 when he abruptly retired to become a preacher, is aiming for a comeback.
Mase, who was formerly a protégé of Sean “P. Diddy” Combs when he recorded for Combs’ Bad Boy Records label on Arista Records in the late 1990s, is expected to release a new album by the fourth quarter.

His first single, “Welcome Back” – which samples the theme from the TV show “Welcome Back Kotter” – has already been produced, and a video is expected to be shot soon, sources say.

When he retired, Mase still had one record left on his deal with Bad Boy. He is expected to release his comeback album with Combs, whose label is now housed by Universal Records, according to sources familiar with the matter.

However, a controversy has erupted over where Mase – whose real name is Mason Betha – will record over the long term.

Sources familiar with the matter say that rap star Nelly and his label Fo’ Reel Entertainment – also distributed by Universal Records – approached Mase about a comeback earlier this year. Combs apparently got wind of Nelly’s overtures and has sought to bring Mase back in to the Bad Boy fold.

All of the arrangements are not yet worked out, sources say, and one outcome could be for Fo’ Reel and Bad Boy to work together on engineering Mase’s comeback.

Mase is slowly returning to the music scene.

He is slated to appear on some tracks on Nelly’s next album, sources say.

He recently showed up at a photo shoot for Vibe’s August issue, which will feature Combs on the cover, and is expected to start making the rounds of the clubs, sources say.

Sources say Mase – who used to rap about money, women and dope – won’t use explicit lyrics in his new songs.

In the late 1990s, Mase was a top-selling rapper on Bad Boy; his 1997 debut album, “Harlem World,” sold almost 4 million copies, and 1999’s “Double Up” also went platinum.

Mase, Combs and slain rapper Notorious B.I.G. – who was Mase’s best friend – were a formidable threesome at Bad Boy.

In 1999, two years after Notorious B.I.G. gunned down in a drive-by shooting in Los Angeles, Mase left hip-hop life behind and moved to Atlanta.

He first studied for a year at Clark Atlanta University, where he pursued a math degree, before becoming a minister.

Mase, who grew up in Harlem, had previously studied at SUNY Purchase, where he played basketball and had dreams of NBA stardom.

He became an ordained minister in 2000 and founded Saving a Nation Endangered Church International in Atlanta.

At the time of his retirement, Mase told the Associated Press: “I mean, I was corrupting young people’s minds to get that money. I was telling guys things like, ‘If you don’t have sex with at least five women a day, you’re nobody,’ leading millions of people astray.”

“Imagine how much more I can have doing the right thing and serving God,” he added.

Mase also wrote an autobiography, “Revelations: There’s Light after the Lime,” that detailed his extravagant life as a rap star and his religious awakening.

Credit: NY Post