Mase Recalled Beefing With Big L Over Rap Lyrics And How It Led To Him Getting Robbed For His Rolex

Although hip-hop is 50 years old, allowing plenty of time for all kinds of histories to be remembered, there are still new stories to share and discover every day. Case in point, Mase‘s tale of an unexpected feud with fellow Harlemite the late Big L, and how it led to Mase taking a “big L” of his own, which he recounted on the latest episode of his and Cam’ron‘s podcast, It Is What It Is.

Mase explained how the rivalry started, recalling, “[Big L] started using a few of my lyrics… So I checked the n****.” After the confrontation, he said, he bumped into another rapper, Fat Joe, who was in a group with Big L called Diggin In The Crates (they have one album out together, D.I.T.C., released in 2000, and it’s really good. You should check it out). Joe refused to get into the confrontation, so L resorted to asking other mutual acquaintances to handle things.

Eventually, Mase was confronted by a stick-up boy (alongside basketball legend God Shammgod), and in order to get away, he took off his brand-new iced-out Rolex — his first one ever — and threw it away, hoping to distract the robber. However, they were saved by some police — but Mase never got his watch back. He later learned that Big L put the assailant up to the robbery. Check out the story below and the full episode above.