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Stevie J

Maury Phillips, Getty Images

"You know Ma$e is my little brother and it's a lifestyle that Hitmen and Bad Boy [Records] share so our day-to-day is about inspiring each other. When Ma$e came to the studio, the first time we met, I was working on a couple projects and he came in there with this little cocky attitude like, 'Yo. I don't know what you doing but Puff sent me in here to hear some beats.' And I'm like, 'Yo, who is you nigga?' Then it was like, 'Aiight, cool. I like this little dude...' Plus he just came out with this nice aura and energy about himself. From there, it grew into, 'I wanna know how y'all be walking around with all that money in your pocket...' That's when we began to show him.

"Myself, D Dot [Angelettie] and Puff were in the studio during the bulk of the recording. It was a great energy with the people we were around then and the project itself just made the energy even higher. I guess my favorite moment while recording 'Harlem World' would be me beating him at basketball and he got a little uptight. Yeah, yeah, he was an All-American and all that [in high school], but I'm talking about what it really is [laughs]. I hope he's ready for round two. When we were working in LA, recording the album, we'd take a break and play ball at the crib."