On Tuesday (March 13), the hip-hop world learned that Craig Mack had died at the age of 47. According to reports, the "Flava in Ya Ear" rapper passed away on Monday (March 12) due to heart failure.

Now, Erick Sermon, a close friend of Mack, says the rapper died from congestive heart failure and said Mack actually told friends six months ago that he was dying. "Craig Mack called us about six months ago and told us that he was real sick, that he might be dying soon," Sermon told TMZ.

The rapper says Mack made calls to all many of his longtime friends including Sermon and Biz Markie. "We kind of knew what was going on. He only had 25 percent of his heart that he was using and when you would talk to him on the phone he would kind of like daze off," Sermon revealed. "We knew he was dying."

Sermon also says that before Mack passed, he was working on a documentary to tell his life story. "Craig Mack wanted to tell his story before he left and it's kind of weird that he died, 'cause I guess he wanted to get it off his chest first and then he passed away."

While Mack hadn't been in the limelight for quite some time—last surfacing in a 2016 video taken at a controversial church in South Carolina—Sermon says the documentary will reveal just how bad of a shape the rapper was in.

"Once you see the documentary, you'll see what Craig was like," he said. "Craig was in no shape to perform—he was walking with a cane and got real slim."

Check out Sermon's interview below.

See Photos of Craig Mack Over the Years

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