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Music

Former Bad Boy Records Rapper Craig Mack Has Died

The New York rapper best known for his "Flava in Ya Ear" single was found in his South Carolina home Monday.
Photo by Johnny Nunez/WireImage

Craig Mack, the one time Bad Boy Records stand out, died in his Walterboro, South Carolina home Monday night. The New York rapper died of heart failure, his former producer Alvin Toney confirmed to the New York Daily News.

Mack was best known for his Grammy-nominated hit song "Flava in Ya Ear," one of Bad Boy's early mainstream successes. The 1994 single sold over a million copies and its remix featured a young Notorious B.I.G, LL Cool J, Busta Rhymes and Rampage. His debut album Project: Funk da World was certified Gold, but Mack was never able to duplicate that success later in his career. In 1997, after leaving Bad Boy, he released Operation: Get Down under Volcano Entertainment, which did not feature a hit single.

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In 2012, a video surfaced online that showed him joining a South Carolina church and officially retiring from rap. In last year's Can't Stop, Won't Stop: The Bad Boy Story documentary, while trying to reunite former stars from his label, Diddy attempted to bring Mack on tour but the Long Island rapper declined due to his religious beliefs. But early in 2018, he must have had a change of heart because he contributed a verse to long time friend Erick Sermon's track "Come Thru," which also featured Method Man and Mr. Cheeks.

Many hip-hop figures have taken to Twitter and Instagram to pay their respects to Mack. He is survived by his wife and two children.

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