Craig Mack
| Craig Mack | |
|---|---|
| Born |
May 10, 1971 Queens, New York, United States |
| Origin | Brentwood, Long Island, New York, United States |
| Genres | Hip hop |
| Years active | 1988–2006 |
| Labels |
Bad Boy Records(1993-1997) Street Life Records (1997-?) |
| Associated acts | Puff Daddy, The Notorious B.I.G., Busta Rhymes, Keith Murray, Q-Tip, Black Rob |
Craig Mack (born May 10, 1971) is a former American rapper, who gained fame on Puff Daddy's Bad Boy Entertainment record label in the 1990s. Although his first single was released under the name MC EZ in 1988, he is best known for his 1994 hit single "Flava In Ya Ear", which was released under his real name. The remix of the single was the breakout appearance of The Notorious B.I.G., as well as one of the first solo appearances by Busta Rhymes. The success of The Notorious B.I.G.'s debut album Ready to Die overshadowed Mack's early success on the Bad Boy label.
Although Puff Daddy mentioned in a 1994 interview on MTV's Yo! MTV Raps that he was working with Mack on his second album, which was to be released sometime in January the following year, this proved to not be the case. Present at that interview (which also included The Notorious B.I.G.), Mack himself appeared puzzled by the statement. Mack did release a second album in 1997, but none of the singles charted and Mack was unable to repeat his success. In an interview, Biggie Smalls says he appeared on the remix of "Flava In Ya Ear" for political reasons for Puffy. In 2002, Mack would appear in the music video for Puffy's single "I Need a Girl (Part One)".
After a few attempts to be successful in the early-2000s, it was said that Mack was working on his third studio album in 2002, which was set to be release in 2007. The single "Mack Tonight" was released for the album in 2006. Mack then disappeared in the hip-hop industry until in 2012 a video was leaked on YouTube, saying he had joined a cult, surprising family members and fans. As of 2012, Mack resides in the Overcomer Ministry located in Walterboro, South Carolina. The Overcomer Ministry's YouTube channel released a video titled "Craig Mack Testimony" on May 22, 2016, although recorded the previous day, in which Craig Mack appears in the middle of the church to rap about conspiracy and Christianity through a remix of "When God Comes". The last part of the video entails a full version of the song with better production quality and a beat. The song expresses the cult's beliefs, that Craig plans to stay in the cult, and that he respects no one who wants him to come back to mainstream rapping. The song also mentions that he "moved [his] family to South Carolina", which doesn't align with other reports expressing the family's concerns for his choices. Still, Craig believes that he was doing "wickedness" in New York, and "righteousness" in South Carolina.
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