Mase tells story about the time he says Big L almost got robbed

In his last episode It is what it isMase opened up about the times he and late friend and collaborator Big L were at odds.

Both hailing from Harlem, New York, both rappers were part of a group called Children of the Corn that formed around 1993, but before that, Big L was already making waves in the New York underground rap scene, finally released his solo debut. Lifestylez ov da Poor & Dangerous in 1995. However, the younger Mase signed with Bad Boy a year later in 1996 and became a huge mainstream star. That's when the rift between the friends began, according to Mase.

“That was when I first came up. Because, you know, before we came up L was the guy.” Adding, “He took us all over the place… to Bobbito and different places to rap, and then when I came up it was like the whole wave changed, like that's what it's like when I come up. So me and L would get into it.”

Mase then went on to say that he noticed some similarities between himself and some of Big L's rhyme schemes. “He started using some of my lyrics, like different compositions that I was using,” he said. Adding, “That's when you rap two words at once, so I checked the n—a.”

After saying the conversation wasn't productive, Mase revealed he later confronted Fat Joe – who was in another DITC rap crew with Big L – at popular nightclub The Tunnel. “I told L, 'I'm going to knock you out, n—a. You imagine, n—a. You know I know you, n—a.' God bless [the dead]”, he recalls with a laugh. “He went and got Fat Joe on me, he went and got some Bronx n—cause he couldn't find anybody.” Adding, “The next thing I know I'm in The Tunnel and n—a fat Joe comes up to me,” he says. “Then Joe sees me and Joe says, 'I'm not doing anything in this n—a. This is Mase, this is something you have to do.”

Fat Joe confirmed this story on the podcast Hotboxin with Mike Tyson last year.

The Harlem rapper then reports a second time when the two friends started arguing over a woman. He said he was hanging out with childhood friend Dallas Mavericks assistant coach God Shammgod in their old neighborhood when the two were confronted by a hit-and-run kid. Mase said he had just bought his first Rolex and had it frozen. “A Spanish n—just out of nowhere, like, 'Yo, give it up, give it up, n—ah, I'll kill both of them.'

After pausing for a bit, Mase said he slowly took off his watch, threw it off the tires of a car and he and Shammgod fled the scene. Fortunately, the police were in the area and managed to arrest the child and found the watch.

However, Mase claims that he started getting calls from friends who were in the same prison as the robber and eventually discovered that Big L was behind the robbery. “N—like he got mad at the dude in jail and then they beat the n—h so bad, he told us who did it.”

With all that being said, Cam and Mase were laughing the whole time and still consider Big L their “brother.”

Stories start around 50 minutes. You can watch it here.