Mase close to signing with SRC Records

By: Yves Erwin Salomon

Last year rapper and ordained minister Mase announced that he was joining the roster of 50 Cent's G-Unit Records. Unfortunately Mase was still contractually obligated to Sean "Diddy" Combs'Bad Boy Records, and Combs and 50 Cent were unable to work out a deal. It appears that the G-Unit deal is dead, as SRC Records head honcho Steve Rifkind recently announced that he's close to finalizing a deal with the rapper.

Rifkind told XXL magazine, "We are closing the Mase deal. His album is crazy. We are doing a production and distribution deal with him. We don't have a date for the album yet, but it will be out by the end of the year. It's all brand new material."

SRC Records roster currently includes: Akon, David Banner, Pharoahe Monch, and the Wu-Tang Clan.

Before his retirement in 1999, Mase released two albums: 1997's quadruple-platinum Harlem World, and 1999's certified-gold Double Up. The rapper released his gold-certified comeback album, Welcome Back, in 2004.