Critical Mass

“I know he recently reinvented himself by dropping the ‘Young’ and just going by ‘Mass’,” says 40oz Chris of the San Diego rapper formerly known as Young Mass. Mass was recently arrested near Las Vegas for the second time in ten months. The 24-year-old was detained on January 27 for first-degree kidnapping, one count of using coercion and/or force, and a domestic violence charge of battery. All charges are pending investigation.

The arrest stems from an incident involving a woman who appeared in Mass’s video for “They Aint Gon’ Last,” the first single (via Island Def Jam Digital) from his planned album Carnage 2012. Referred to in a police report as “Stacey,” the brunette is seen in the video “singing” a repeating chorus about “a million dollars” and “fighting like Rottweilers,” while accepting an envelope stuffed with money.

Lyrics include Mass rapping, “Had that ass screaming like I whipped it with a pistol, she hit me with the info, text me, ‘Baby, I’m a nympho.’”

Mass — real name Derrick Lee Stanton, Jr. — was previously arrested in Las Vegas in early 2010, reportedly on a domestic issue and for giving false information to the police. His current Nevada attorney, David Negrete, did not reply to requests for additional information. At this writing, Mass is being held at the Clark County Detention Center (where O.J. Simpson was booked in 2007) with a court date set for March 30.

“We’re all worried about this,” says Chris. “He says he’s innocent and is taking this case to trial.”