573/13/2018
Former New York rapper Craig Mack, best known for his 90s smash hit single “Flava In Ya Ear,” died at age 46, on March 13, 2018. Mack died of heart failure at a hospital near his Walterboro, S.C. home, according to his producer.
“God bless my friend. He was a good friend of mine,” said Alvin Toney, who produced Mack’s debut album “Project: Funk Da World” and his “Get Down Remix.”
“Nobody got to understand his story,” Toney told the NY Daily News. “I wanted the world to know the talent he had. It was something I wanted people to enjoy, but it was cut short because he was very religious and wanted to go to church.”
Tony said Mack told him during his visit that he had been ill for some time and knew he wouldn’t live long.
“He was prepared for whatever comes, to go home to the Lord,” Toney said. “He was prepared to do that. He wasn’t scared. He was ready.”
Mack is survived by his wife and two children, both adults, Toney said.
As a boy, Mack dreamed of making it big like LL Cool J and Run DMC, according to a New York Times profile of Mack. He began penning his own lyrics at age 12.
With the help of Sean “Diddy” Combs that dream came true.
The Bad Boy Entertainment founder met the aspiring artist at the Manhattan club Mecca and promised to sign him if he could freestyle to Mary J. Blige. Mack did not disappoint.
Soon, Mack’s star-studded hit, “Flava In Ya Ear,” was born. The song went on to earn a Grammy nomination for best rap solo but lost to Queen Latifah’s “Latifah’s Had it Up 2 Here.”
A remix to the song featured other hip-hop all-stars, Notorious B.I.G., LL Cool J and Busta Rhymes.
As a boy, Mack dreamed of making it big like LL Cool J and Run DMC, according to a New York Times profile of Mack. He began penning his own lyrics at age 12.
With the help of Sean “Diddy” Combs that dream came true.
The Bad Boy Entertainment founder met the aspiring artist at the Manhattan club Mecca and promised to sign him if he could freestyle to Mary J. Blige. Mack did not disappoint.
Soon, Mack’s star-studded hit, “Flava In Ya Ear,” was born. The song went on to earn a Grammy nomination for best rap solo but lost to Queen Latifah’s “Latifah’s Had it Up 2 Here.”
A remix to the song featured other hip-hop all-stars, Notorious B.I.G., LL Cool J and Busta Rhymes.
Mack appeared in the music video for Diddy’s 2002 hit “I Need a Girl Part 1,” but he was missing when Diddy reunited his Bad Boy crew for the 2015 BET Awards.
It was the first public appearance people have seen of Mack in awhile after he left the label to pursue his Christian faith …at a South Carolina church. Some say that he became a pastor. Others rumors swirled around that he had been brainwashed into a troubling church.
In a rare 2012 interview, an interviewer inquired about what Mack was doing now.
“What did you used to do,” the interviewer asked.
Black Americans are at greater risk for cardiovascular disease and stroke than White Americans.
Black women (49%) and Black men (44%) have higher rates of heart disease than White men (37%) and White women (32%).
Between the ages of 45 and 64, Black men have a 70% higher risk and Black women have a 50% greater risk of developing heart failure than White men and women.