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by Geoff Herbert | gherbert@syracuse.com
Craig Mack dead: 'Flava in Ya Ear' rapper dies at 46
Craig Mack, one of the first rappers to make Sean "Puffy" Combs' record label Bad Boy Entertainment a hip-hop powerhouse in the '90s, is dead at age 46.
Mack's producer Alvin Toney told the New York Daily News that the Long Island-based rapper died of heart failure at a hospital near his Walterboro, S.C., home, on Monday. He had been battling an unspecified illness for some time.
Under Puff Daddy (before he became P. Diddy and Diddy), Mack had his first hit song, "Flava in Ya Ear," in the summer of 1994. A remix of the song also featured Notorious B.I.G. and Busta Rhymes; Diddy said Mack and Biggie were the foundation of Bad Boy.
Mack also had notable collaborations with Boyz II Men, Brownstone, and Frank Sinatra.
After a sophomore album in 1997 generated little publicity, Mack faded from the music scene and ultimately retired from rapping. Erick Sermon says he had been recently working on a new album.
Toney, who produced Mack's 1994 debut album "Project: Funk Da World," said he visited Mack last week at the Overcomer Ministry church in South Carolina to film a documentary about Mack, who left rap music to pursue "a life of deep religious conviction."
"God bless my friend. He was a good friend of mine," Toney told the Daily News. "I wanted the world to know the talent he had. It was something I wanted people to enjoy, but it was cut short because he was very religious and wanted to go to church."
Mack's death is being mourned by other hip-hop stars, including Funkmaster Flex, DJ Scratch, and Biz Markie.
Note: Some videos contain explicit lyrics.
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