Craig Mack
Background information
Born	Craig Jamieson Mack (1970-05-10)May 10, 1970 The Bronx,New York City, U.S.
Origin	Long Island,New York, U.S.
Died	March 12, 2018(2018-03-12) (aged 47) Walterboro, South Carolina, U.S.
Genres	East Coast hip-hop
Occupations	Rapper songwriter record producer
Years active	1988–2006 2012–2018
Labels	Mack World Bad Boy Scotti Brothers Street Life Def Squad Arista
Children	2

Craig Jamieson Mack (May 10, 1970 – March 12, 2018) was an American rapper. He is best known for his tenure withBad Boy Records, during which he released his 1994 single "Flava in Ya Ear" (1994), which peaked within theBillboard Hot 100's top ten. The song preceded his debut studio albumProject: Funk Da World (1994), which spawned his second top 40 single, "Get Down". His second albumOperation: Get Down (1997) was released byScotti Brothers Records.

Later in his life, Mack joined theOvercomer Ministry in South Carolina.^[1] Mack died in 2018 fromHIV/AIDS at the age of 47.^[2]

Craig Jamieson Mack was born on May 10, 1970^[3] inThe Bronx,^[4] and raised inBrentwood,Long Island.^[3]

He began rapping as a teenager under the name MC EZ. His first single, "Get Retarded", was released in 1988 viaFresh Records. The single was backed with and credited as MC EZ & Troup. Mack became friends with fellow Long Island hip hop actEPMD and eventually went on tour with the duo, doing jobs as aroadie. After a few years without forward movement in his recording career and EPMD's breakup, Mack took advantage of an opportunity that Alvin Toney made possible for him, to rap forSean Combs.

Mackfreestyled for Combs as a demonstration of his skills out in front of a club in Manhattan.^[5] Mack then secured a record deal with Combs's newly founded label with the help of his friendsBusta Rhymes, Len Len, Scenario and Sande Kodwaney,Bad Boy Records.

Mack is best known for his 1994 hit single "Flava in Ya Ear", which was released under his real name. Theremix of the single was the breakout appearance ofThe Notorious B.I.G., as well as one of the first solo appearances byBusta Rhymes.^[6] While Mack was technically the first rapper to release music on Bad Boy Records,^[3][7] the success of The Notorious B.I.G.'s debut albumReady to Die, which was released a week before Mack's debut albumProject: Funk da World, overshadowed Mack's early success on the label.^[6]

Although Sean Combs mentioned in a 1994 interview onMTV'sYo! MTV Raps that he was working with Mack on his second album, which was to be released sometime in January 1995, this proved to not be the case. Present at the interview, which included The Notorious B.I.G., Mack appeared puzzled by the statement. In 1997, Mack released a second album without Bad Boy. None of the singles charted and Mack was unable to repeat his success. In an interview, The Notorious B.I.G. says he appeared on the remix of "Flava in Ya Ear" for political reasons for Combs.^[8] In 1995, Combs toldThe New York Times that "Craig is hip-hop'sGeorge Clinton, because his stuff is really off the wall."^[3]

After a few attempts to return to success in the early-2000s, it was said that Mack was working on his third studio album in 2002, which was set to be released in 2007.^{[citation needed]} In 2002, Mack appeared in the music video for Puffy's single "I Need a Girl (Part One)".^[9] The single "Mack Tonight" was released for the album in 2006.

Mack was absent from the hip hop industry until in 2012, when a video was leaked on YouTube saying he had joined a Christian ministry, surprising family members and fans.^[10][11] From 2012 until his death, Mack resided in the Overcomer Ministry located inWalterboro, South Carolina.^[1] The Overcomer Ministry is a secluded Christian commune that has been described as a cult,^[12][10] and whose leaderBrother Stair has been charged with various crimes, including assault and sexual conduct with a minor.^[12]

The Overcomer Ministry's YouTube channel released a video, "Craig Mack Testimony", on May 22, 2016,^[13] in which Mack appears in the middle of the church to rap about Christianity through a remix of "When God Comes".^[14] The last part of the video entails a full version of the song with better production quality and a beat. The song expresses his personal beliefs. Mack planned to stay in the ministry and said that he had no intentions to come back to mainstream rap.^{[citation needed]} The song mentions that he "moved [his] family toSouth Carolina", which did not align with other reports expressing the family's concerns for his choices.^[15] According to the video, Mack felt he was doing "wickedness" in New York, and "righteousness" in South Carolina.^[16]

In November 2012, Beazylife Distribution released a new Craig Mack mixtape,Operation Why2K? – Hosted by B-Eazy, throughDatPiff.com.^[17] In 2017,The Mack World Sessions was released, containing 18 previously unreleased tracks.^[18] Dutch record label MECSMI released theThat's My Word mixtape, hosted by DJ Tape Deck King, via DatPiff and YouTube on August 20, 2018.^[19] In November 2018, 'That's My Word' posthumously won Mixtape of the Year at Bout Dat Online's Audio Dope Awards.^[20] This marked the first time Mack had won an award since "Flava In Ya Ear" won Single of the Year at the 1995Source Awards.^[21]

Mack was married to Roxanne Alexis Hill-Johnson and had two children, a son and a daughter.^[22] Among his close friends was rapper and beatboxerBiz Markie.^[22]

Mack died at his home on March 12, 2018. The cause of death was originally reported ascongestive heart failure, which Mack had claimed as a health problem in 2014.^[2] According to rapperErick Sermon, Mack called his friends around six months before death^[22] to bid farewell as his health was declining.^[23] After his death, tributes were posted to social media by musiciansLL Cool J,DJ Scratch, and others.^[5]

It was later revealed Mack died ofHIV/AIDS.^[2] He had known of the diagnosis but had refused treatment.^[2] Mack's family had followed his wishes in reporting the heart failure account rather than reporting the HIV/AIDS diagnosis.^{[24][25][26][2]}

• 1970 births
• 2018 deaths
• African-American Christians
• African-American male rappers
• 21st-century American male rappers
• 20th-century American male rappers
• 20th-century American rappers
• Rappers from the Bronx
• East Coast hip-hop musicians
• Pop rappers
• Bad Boy Records artists
• Brentwood High School (Brentwood, New York) alumni
• African-American songwriters
• Songwriters from New York (state)
• American hip-hop record producers
• African-American record producers
• People from Brentwood, New York
• People from Walterboro, South Carolina
• Record producers from New York (state)
• Scotti Brothers Records artists
• 20th-century African-American musicians
• 21st-century African-American rappers
• American male songwriters
• AIDS-related deaths in the United States

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