Master P has confirmed that he's retiring from music after accepting a job as the President of Basketball Operations at the University of New Orleans. Speaking with People ahead of his Essence festival performance, he admitted that the set will be his final show. He ended up taking the stage at the event on on Sunday night.
“My last show has to be with Essence. It has to be big. A celebration," he told the outlet. "It’s a blessing now to be able to transition into doing something that’s bigger than me. Being a servant is my most important job. I feel like hard work got me here, even though I didn’t know I was going to get this far in life. God spared my life and put me on this journey. That chapter closed itself with maturing and growing up and not being afraid to grow.”
He added that the decision "was hard" to make, but explained: "I feel like this is the next phase of my life. There is a lot of negative stuff going on in hip-hop and people don’t want to talk about the positive things. They say when you know better, you do better. That’s the phase I’m on. I’m fine with growing up."
Master P University Of New Orleans
Master P originally accepted the position at the University of New Orleans back in February. During an introductory press conference at the time, he said of the gig: “We’ve come a long way. Growing up in New Orleans, when I was a kid, I looked at the University of New Orleans basketball program as probably one of the best in the country. Every kid wanted to come to the Lakefront Arena and be a part of this."
He continued: “I’m just so appreciative and blessed that God has given me this opportunity … to rebuild this program. We gonna change this. This is our culture, this is our team and this is our family. We want to give that family love out here to the city to bring the people back where it should be at.”
Master P previously attended the University of Houston on a sports scholarship and even spent brief stints with the Charlotte Hornets and Toronto Raptors in the 1998 and 1999 pre-seasons.
