american rapper and record producer craig jamieson mack was born on may 10 1970
in the bronx new york and raised in long island he would begin rhyming as a child then as a teenager
he would begin going by the name mc ez and formed a rap group called mc ez and troup they signed
with a small new york city-based independent label and released just one single called just ryman
get re***** in 1988. luckily craig had become good friends with eric sermon
one half of long island hip-hop duo epmd while growing up in the same neighborhood so he jumped
at the chance to go on tour with them as a roadie since epmd knew how much craig wanted to make it
on the rap scene they originally intended to bring him into the fold of the hit squad a collective of
east coast hip-hop artists including redman keith murray and dos fx just to name a few unfortunately
epmd called it quits in 1993 leaving craig out in the cold craig's manager alvin toney began sending
out his demos to various labels hoping to get an offer all they got was a bunch of rejections
alvin though had a connection that he took full advantage of he knew the talent director at one
of the major labels in the city and arranged for craig to do an impromptu audition for him
at a nightclub one evening that talent director from uptown records was none other than sean puff
daddy combs puff liked what he heard so much that he arranged for craig to get on a remix of a song
called you don't have to worry a track by another artist he was helping to develop at the time
r b soul singer mary j blige not too long after that puff was fired from uptown now was as good
a time as any for him to strike out on his own enter bad boy record eventually craig signed
a record deal with bad boy and he was off and running in july 1994 craig dropped the track he
would become best known for called flavor in your ear you won't be around next year
the remix of the single which was even more popular featured fellow rappers ll cool j rampage
busta rhymes and the breakout appearance of another up-and-coming bad boy artist
by the name of the notorious b.i.g the single peaked at number nine on the billboard hot 100
and soared all the way to number one on the rap chart staying there for 14 straight weeks it also
received a grammy award nomination for best rap solo performance the following year interestingly
enough craig had to be forced to make the song by puff since he originally didn't like the beat the
success of big's debut album ready to die released exactly seven days before craig's debut album
project funk the world dropping in september of that year greatly overshadowed his early
success on the label was craig used to push biggs career anything is possible
but it is interesting that big would later claim that he didn't even like craig and the only reason
he was featured on the flava in your ear remix was because puff asked him to it was strictly a
business move since puff promoted the two artists simultaneously the album's second single called
get down which came out at the end of the year also became a top 40 hit and achieve gold status
then things got weird puff did an interview in 1994 on mtv's music video show yomtv raps
craig and big were also present puff claimed that he was working with craig on his second album
and he expected it to be released sometime in january the following year which didn't end
up happening viewers can see a confused look come over craig's face as he listened to puff
clearly tell a bullface lie i'm sure you got much things in store for my videos definitely we got a
new album we're working on him to drop in january besides that we about to just drop our r b stuff
at this point it was obvious things weren't copacetic between the two years later puff's
former bodyguard would reveal that things really started going downhill after craig
changed management puff made it clear that craig had to get rid of his manager or he would get rid
of craig craig refused and that was the end of his time with bad boy in a twist of irony one of the
most notable lyrics in flava in your ear was a dig at other rappers in which he declares you won't be
around next year the line proved to be strangely prophetic after craig's departure from bad boy
music executive suge knight came calling he wanted to sign craig to his death row east label to be
run by eric b one half of the hip-hop duo eric b and rock him craig however turned down the offer
any artists out there want to be an artist they want to stay a i don't want to won't have to
worry about the executive producer trying to be all in the videos all on the record
dancing coming down bro he did release a second album operation get down with another label
in 1997 but none of the singles charted over the years craig and puff must have hashed things out
and come to some sort of an understanding since craig would make a surprise cameo appearance in
the music video for puff's song i need a girl part 1 in 2002. that same year in an interview with
mtv craig would confirm just that i don't regret leaving the label i'm just glad that i'm with my
family what happened in 94 and 95 happened in 94 and 95 and it must have happened for a reason so
to see everything come back together now it's just a good thing and a blessing me and puff both agree
we don't care what happened in the 90s we're looking at it like this is the new millennium
new things is happening in the same interview he also mentioned being close to signing a new
recording contract with puff and looking forward to getting into the studio the following week
none of that happened but at least this time craig would be used to the disappointment
no other music was heard from craig until 2006 when he released a single called mack tonight
then craig disappeared he wouldn't be heard from again until 2012 when a video of him was leaked on
youtube where he said he had joined a christian ministry surprising family members and fans he
had joined the overcomer ministry located in walterboro south carolina in the video craig
also said he was doing quote wickedness in new york and quote righteousness in south carolina
it's a secluded christian commune that some former members have described as a cult he also purchased
property on their compound in 2017. craig lived on the property with approximately 70 other people
in a mobile home community they maintained a farm for their food and also had a school for the
children everyone lived their life 100 of the time in the compound no one ever left for any reason
followers were even told allegedly to object to all medical intervention
and avoid the care of doctors unfortunately this was bad advice for someone like craig whose health
began deteriorating it's been said that no one is forced to stay a member of the church indefinitely
if someone wants to leave they can do so at any time craig's name could now be added
to the ever-growing list of former bad boy artists that turned a religion rappers mace
loon and shine all decided to take a variety of spiritual paths away from the hip-hop world
after leaving the label the overcomer ministries youtube channel released a video titled craig mack
testimony in may 2016 in which craig appears in the middle of the church to rap about christianity
the song also mentions that he moved his family to south carolina which didn't align with other
reports of his family expressing concerns for his choices that sentiment probably also explains why
craig turned down diddy's formerly puffy offered to join the bad boy reunion tour in 2016. during
this period craig's music was released in the form of a mixtape in november 2012 titled operation y2k
as well as the album the mac world sessions in 2017 which contained 18 previously unreleased
tracks overcomer ministry leader brother ralph gordon stare who was 84 at the time
was considered a prophet by some including craig however his extracurricular activities
painted a different picture he was arrested in 2017 and was charged with numerous accounts
including kidnapping burglary and criminal se**** misconduct with a minor allegedly he's
had a history of being a serial se**** assaulter rap*** and ped****** he's also been accused of
manipulating his followers and defrauding some members out of hundreds of thousands of dollars
several months after moving on to the overcomer compound craig died on march 12 2018 in a hospital
in walterboro south carolina from congestive heart failure he was 47 years old the year before his
death craig invited his friend and former manager alvin tony to his home for an in-depth interview
which would turn out to be his last it was obvious that craig was dying he was struggling to breathe
at times and walked with a cane it was revealed in the interview why craig disappeared from new york
and the music scene altogether years ago craig told the story of how he felt used and
disrespected by a well-known music producer after going into the studio with him to record material
for an upcoming album in 2011 after some time and naturally not seeing any money come his way
he refused to continue threats were exchanged back and forth things became so volatile and
craig became so fed up with the situation that he thought the only way to resolve the issue was to
take the person out before they took him out craig never mentioned any names however many believe
he was referring to puffy divine intervention came into play one day when craig found himself sitting
in a car with a gun in his lap he decided against what he had every intention of doing after turning
on the radio to listen to a hip-hop station and instead he heard gospel music blaring from the
speakers he believed that it was god talking to him he broke down crying and asked for forgiveness
he not only decided against taking someone's life but he also decided it was time to leave new york
that day in that car listening to the radio craig also heard a voice he felt could help him find the
salvation he was looking for that voice belonged to brother stare shortly after reaching out to him
he packed up and moved to south carolina craig was also asked about the horrific allegations
against brother stare his only reply was that he would forgive him because we forgave the
people that killed jesus ralph gordon stare passed away on april 3rd 2021 hip-hop dj and
record producer dj scratch attended craig's memorial service organized by alvin tony
in new york afterwards he posted on his instagram that it was a very weird experience because he had
never been to a funeral of a famous person before where he was the only famous person to show up
later it was revealed that puff did offer to pick up the tab for the funeral expenses
but the religious community he belonged to declined apparently none of his friends or
colleagues were permitted to attend the funeral however that didn't extend to the memorial service
his final resting place is in the overcomer cemetery located on the compound craig is survived
by his wife and two adult children a mixtape titled that's my word put together by dj tape deck
king was released posthumously in august 2018 many of the tracks were meant to be on craig's comeback
album slated to be released in the summer of 2000 however the summer came and went and nothing more
was heard about the project it would go on to win the mixtape of the year award at bout dad online's
audio dope awards a documentary titled when god comes was also in the works at the time of craig's
death featuring the rapper and his relationship with overcomer ministry leader ralph stair other
artists such as long island rappers bis marquis and both members of epmd were also expected to
make an appearance around the one-year anniversary of craig's death in 2019 the director announced
that it would be done in a couple of months however as of the making of this video it has
not yet been released a little unknown fact about craig was that he was also working on new music at
the time of his death childhood friend eric sermon wrote on twitter that he was just finishing up
craig's forthcoming album hopefully one day fans will be able to experience his final work of art
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