Did Brandy and Ma$e Break Up Over Shyne Love Triangle?
Brandy became a household name in the ’90s. She not only starred on the popular sitcom Moesha, but she also released several chart-topping hits including “Best Friend,” “Baby,” “The Boy Is Mine,” “I Wanna Be Down,” and “Have You Ever?”
In 1998, Brandy recorded “Sittin’ On Top Of The World” with Bad Boy rapper Ma$e and they reportedly began dating. Years later, the public learned that another Bay Boy recording artist, Shyne, started talking to Brandy while she was still seeing Ma$e and that caused friction between the men.
Shyne revealed that Sean “Diddy” Combs stepped in to address the situation and let him know he can’t just swoop in and have Ma$e’s girl.
“We had to have like a family meeting,” Shyne recalled. “It was like, ‘Yo, what are you doing? You’re like Kobe coming to the Lakers … you can’t go after Shaq’s joint.'”
The “Bonnie-n-Shyne” artist admitted that Brandy later humbled him during an argument they had, telling him, “Yo, you’re nobody. You ain’t sell one record. You think you stylin’, you think you’re that, you’re nothing. You haven’t sold a record.”
Shyne added that “hit me like the hand of God, because she was right.” He decided then to get in the studio and start working. Meanwhile, Brandy and Ma$e’s relationship fizzled out, and some fans have wondered if the love triangle with Shyne was the reason for their split.
According to reports, the R&B songstress and “Feels So Good” hitmaker’s relationship actually came to an end because of their career demands and conflicting paths. While Brandy was still working on Moesha and focused on selling millions of records, Ma$e felt like the lifestyle was pulling him in a totally different direction. In 1999, at the height of his fame, he announced his retirement from music to follow a “calling from God.”
After becoming a minister, Ma$e made a return to the hip-hop industry. In 2004, he released the Welcome Back album in which he portrayed a “Bad-Boy-gone-clean” image. He later joined G-Unit for a mixtape.
These days, Ma$e co-hosts the podcast It Is What It Is with fellow rapper Cam’ron, and on March 16 they had Shyne on as a guest.
The men discussed their past rivalry over Brandy as well as some things Diddy used to say and do to try and pit them against each other.
Ma$e also relayed a story about how Shyne beat up Diddy’s security guard, explaining, “So now Puff is really tight ‘cause he beat up the security” and the label’s camp “lost respect” for the security guard, who Shyne said was 6’6” — and, by connection, they lost respect for Diddy too.
In 1999, Shyne and Diddy were involved in a nightclub shooting. Many believe that Shyne was the fall guy as he was charged and Diddy walked away scot-free. After nearly a decade in prison, Shyne was released. He got into politics and ran for office in his home country of Belize, becoming a leader in the United Democratic Party and served as Leader of the Opposition.
