Grammy-nominated rapper Craig Mack, who performed the 1994 hit “Flava in Ya Ear” for Sean “Diddy” Combs’ Bad Boy label, has died at age 46.
The New York Daily News confirmed his death with Alvin Toney, who produced Mack’s breakout album.
Mack succumbed Monday to heart failure at a hospital near his home in Walterboro, South Carolina, the producer said. He had been ill for some time.
“It was a pleasure to know you & rock with you,” tweeted LL Cool J, who performed on Mack’s remix for “Flava in Ya Ear” with Notorious B.I.G., Busta and Rampage.
“I wanted the world to know the talent he had,” Toney told the Daily News. “It was something I wanted people to enjoy, but it was cut short because he was very religious and wanted to go to church.”
“I am so sad,” Rampage wrote of Mack’s passing on Twitter.
The New York City-born rapper hit it big in his debut album for Bad Boy, “Project: Funk Da World,” which also generated a second single, “Get Down,” Billboard noted.
But he left Bad Boy and his next album, 1997′s “Operation: Get Down,” failed to ignite. It would be the rapper’s “final full-length musical effort,” Billboard wrote.
Mack later appeared in Diddy’s music video for “I Need a Girl Part 1,” “but his solo career never regained momentum,” Rolling Stone said.
The music magazine noted a video in which Mack, who became a minister, said he traded a life of “wickedness” for “righteousness.”
However, Mack did make a guest appearance on Erick Sermon’s recent “Come Thru,” featuring a host of well-known rap artists.
Mack is survived by his wife and two grown children, according to the Daily News.
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