Mase Responds to J.Lo’s Take About Who’s a Real New Yorker: ‘I’m Definitely From Where I’m From’

Jennifer Lopez says a real New Yorker has to be born in New York City. Here's what the Harlem legend had to say.

Ma$e speaks onstage during "It Is What It Is Podcast. Special guest: Sexyy Red" at ComplexCon 2025 at the Las Vegas Convention Center on October 25, 2025 in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Bryan Steffy/Getty Images for Complex

Ma$e disagrees with his fellow New Yorker Jennifer Lopez about who can claim to be from the Empire State.

J.Lo found herself in some controversy after a recent appearance on the social media video series Subway Takes when she said you can’t say you’re from New York City if you weren’t born there. “You have to be born in New York to be a New Yorker,” she said. “Yes, I know everybody wants to claim the city. Everybody wants to claim our city, but you have to be born in New York. You have to be born in one of the five boroughs to be a New Yorker.”