Ma$e Speaks On 1997 "Imaginary Player" Diss From JAY-Z

BYHayley HynesUpdated on20.5K Views
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Ma$e & JAY-Z

Looking back now, Ma$e admits he might have been a little "out of pocket" with his response to Hov.

While many were eager to tune into Ma$e's Million Dollaz Worth of Game interview to find out more about the shady $5,000 deal he made with Fivio Foreign, the podcast episode is loaded with other interesting moments – including one in which the Florida native finally addressed rumours that JAY-Z dissed him on a track nearly two and a half decades ago.

On 1997's "Imaginary Player," Hov rapped, "Those ain’t Rolex diamonds, what the f*ck you done to that?" which Ma$e (and others) perceived to be a line aimed at the former Bad Boy.

The next year, he responded with "What we hear is platinum that, platinum this / Platinum whips, nobody got no platinum hits" on his "Love Me" verse, though now, he admits he was a bit "out of pocket" at the time.

"I think I said something on a record and people kind of put it towards Hov, when really I was just trying to be the best," Ma$e told Gillie da Kid and Wallo during their chat. 

"Cause me and Hov and Busta, we all dropped on the same day. And after my joint sold, I was just talking crazy everywhere, so I might’ve got out of pocket. I was 19, 20, I’m feeling it!"

The interview also found Ma$e recalling being early to the bust-down trend thanks to the inspiration he found in a custom piece for Biggie Smalls done by Jacob The Jeweler.

"Jacob had did a watch for Big where it had diamonds in the middle and I told Jacob, ‘Yo Jacob, I wanna do diamonds on the whole watch," the 46-year-old recalled. "Once I got the Rolex, I was like, ‘Yo this is crazy.’ When he said, ‘Those are Rolex diamonds,’ they were still real diamonds; they just wasn’t factory."


Ma$e then confirmed, "[JAY-Z] was talking about me because, at that time, I don’t think nobody saw nobody get that flamboyant with the Rollie."

Elsewhere in the conversation, the "Feel So Good" artist discussed his beef with Cam'ron, admitting to being left feeling really hurt by the situation – read more about that here, and check out Ma$e's full appearance on Million Dollaz Worth of Game below.

[Via]


About The Author
Hayley Hynes is the former Weekend Managing Editor of HotNewHipHop, she stepped down after two years in 2024 to pursue other creative opportunities but remains on staff part-time to cover music, gossip, and pop culture news. Currently, she contributes similar content on Blavity and 21Ninety, as well as on her personal blog where she also offers tarot/astrology services. Hayley resides on the western side of Canada, previously spending a year in Vancouver to study Fashion Marketing at Blanche Macdonald Centre and Journalism at Mount Royal University in Calgary before that. She's passionate about helping others heal through storytelling, and shares much more about her life on Instagram @hayleyhynes.