Craig Mack
Craig Mack, a rapper turned minister, best known for his 90’s hit ‘Flava in Ya Ear’ has passed away at age 46.
The Bad Boy rapper skyrocketed in the 90’s but left fame and fortune to become a minister. Sources close to him say he was extremely religious. According to the New York Daily News, he worked at his local place of worship, the Overcomer Ministry Church.
Mack resided in a home in Walterboro, South Carolina where he was found, reports say he died of natural causes.
Mack was born in Brentwood, Long Island, in 1971. In a 1995 profile in The New York Times, Mack said he was hooked on rap by his cousins at age nine and began to write his own lyrics at age 12.
He then became a close friend with the NY rap group EPMD –tagging along with them on tour. In 1980 he adopted the name MC EZ and earned a record contract with the newly formed Bad Boy records. He had met Diddy outside the club Mecca in Manhattan.
After breaking through with “Flava in Ya Ear” and its accompanying gold-certified album Project: Funk da World, Mack struggled to replicate his initial success. He left Bad Boy Records and released Operation: Get Down in 1997 but did not score a hit from the album.
He eventually became a minister in South Carolina and according to a 2012 video, he had left his old life behind. Though he had walked away from the stage a years ago, reports say in recent months Mack had been working on a return to music and had just finished his new album in collaboration with Method Man and Mr. Cheeks.
Mack who is said to have died of heart failure, is survived by a wife and two adult children. Not much is known about his family life but keep coming back for updates.
