Hip Hop Reacts To Craig Mack's Death

By Isha Thorpe

March 13, 2018

New York Daily News is reporting that rapper Craig Mack died at the age of 46 on Monday (March 12).

According to the news publication, Mack -- who was one of the first signees of Puff Daddy's Bad Boy Records in the mid-1990s -- passed away from heart failure in a hospital that wasn't too far from his Walterboro, S.C. house. Mack's producer and friend Alvin Toney confirmed the shocking news to the newspaper. “God bless my friend. He was a good friend of mine,” he said.

Toney continued: “Nobody got to understand his story,” Toney said. “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.” The producer also added that Mack was sick for some time now and was ready for whatever happened to him.

Before Puff signed the likes of The Notorious B.I.G., Lil Kim, and Mase; Mack was on Bad Boy. Many hip hop fans know the late MC's most popular track "Flava In Ya Ear," which reached the Billboard Hot 100 chart. The remix would have guest bars from Biggie Smalls, Rampage, Busta Rhymes, and LL Cool J.

Since this news broke, hip hop heads have been offering their condolences. In an exclusive statement to REVOLT TV, Diddy said: "Craig Mack you were the first artist to release music on Bad Boy and gave us our first hit. You always followed your heart and you had an energy that was out of this world. You believed in me and you believed in Bad Boy. I will never forget what you did for hip-hop. You inspired me, and I will continue to try to keep inspiring others. We will always love you."

Take a look at more reactions from Mack's fellow rap industry figures below. Rest in Power, G.

Rest in power Craig. May the almighty embrace your soul & lift up your family and friends. it was a pleasure to know you & rock with you. You $tepped away from the game & did it your way.. I always respected that.#RIPCraigMack
— LLCOOLJ. (@llcoolj) March 13, 2018

Rest in Beats Craig Mack
— Chuck D (@MrChuckD) March 13, 2018

Rest In Peace Craig Mack. ✊🏽🙏🏽
— Joe Budden (@JoeBudden) March 13, 2018

RIP Craig Mack THE LEGEND 🙏🏿
— juicy j (@therealjuicyj) March 13, 2018

R.I.P. Craig Mack x R.I.P. Biggie !!!! pic.twitter.com/UtBPEDt609
— TERMANOLOGY (@TermanologyST) March 13, 2018

#CraigMack killed the 90s with 1 song and 1 remix. 👂🏽. Untouchable. RIP.
— M.I.A (@MIAuniverse) March 13, 2018

Rest In Peace Craig Mack. 🙁 pic.twitter.com/lIzTmMzYte
— Mad Skillz (@SkillzVa) March 13, 2018

RIP Craig Mack.
— Freddie Gibbs (@FreddieGibbs) March 13, 2018

Craig Mack. Thank You For Making One Of The Most Influential Songs Of My Youth. Rest In Peace.
— Evidence. (@Evidence) March 13, 2018

rip craig mack
— dumbass (@kevinabstract) March 13, 2018

R.I.P C Mack !! welcome to your NEW LIFE brother ! Before BADBOY..You was Hit Squad ! My Tour Brother !! Blessing and Prayers to the MACK family ! He will be truelly missd !

A post shared by Official Redman IG (@redmangilla) on Mar 13, 2018 at 3:06am PDT

1994. I was 12 years old. i studied this album a lot! The beats & rhymes had their own style and were just so cutting edge. I remember when he came back out in 99 with “Wooden Horse” and i was amped. Unfortunately the big return never happened. (I randomly played a new joint from him 6 months ago too). Rest In Peace Craig Mack. You know we paying homage Thursday @shade45 ... @bugout.mp3 you put me on early to him.

A post shared by Statik Selektah (@statikselekt) on Mar 13, 2018 at 12:31am PDT

Man. To be In hip hop culture & live past the age of 50 is a fight to the finish for real. All due respect to #CraigMack. For some reason w exception of a RARE few, like #ProtectYaNeck, #ScenarioRemix —maybe #ShutEmDown remix—-I kinda think #FlavaInYaEar was the hip hop freestylers’ 1st viral instrumental choice. I mean there was always the lunchroom desk & beatboxing. But hip hop really didn’t do straight up instrumentals til like—1988/1989 on 12 inches (lots of DUBS, kinda there to assist mc’s in concert spitting verses w vocal guides?) but I’m just saying the weekend Flava came out I NEVER heard a dj play a joint like 7 times in a row (rare times were #RebelWithoutAPause & #IKnowYouGotSoul) but this was different: 1st of all this single slowed the east coast down DRASTICALLY (1987-1993 east coast was HYPED! on 100bpm-115bpm)—-Flavor was the sound of weed. Not the previous panic crack era music. Like 93 bpms—just perfect to kick a Freestyle: sparse in arrangement & foooonky—-it’s weird that the flagship song of such a commercial radio dominated label was one of the grimiest underground joints ever. I was actually in London at the time when dj 279 premiered that joint at a party. He played that instrumental like 20 mins straight and I saw like 9 simultaneous ciphers happening in the club. Man I was jealous of that beat. I know #Juicy wound up the winner in that race but man we cannot forget one of the greatest hip hop single debuts in the culture. That song was the gym routine mc’s brushed their skills on. All due respect to brother Craig Mack w/o him & his cant lose single who knows what empire #BadBoy woulda become. Rest In Peace Boyeeeeee.

A post shared by Questlove Gomez (@questlove) on Mar 13, 2018 at 12:06am PDT

My thoughts and prayers go out to his family as well as the bad boy family. God gives us so much time in this world to make a change or to inspire those to be better than us. #craigmack did that and more. May God bring peace and love to his family and love ones. #ripcraigmack #newflavortoyaear #badboy #legendsneverdie

A post shared by Twista (@twistagmg) on Mar 13, 2018 at 12:09am PDT

Man. Summer of 1994 was everything when this dropped.... Rest In Peace to the Genesis of Bad Boy... #CraigMack

A post shared by 9th Wonder (@9thwonder) on Mar 12, 2018 at 11:56pm PDT

I just got a disturbing phone call. I cannot believe this dude is gone. He just reached out a couple of weeks ago for me to speak on his documentary about his life. Because Craig was my rodie on tour. He would set up & break down my turntables every night on tour. Rest In Peace Lil Bro.

A post shared by Turntable Whisperer (@djscratch) on Mar 12, 2018 at 11:25pm PDT

😔😔😔 i cant believe it

A post shared by Pete Rock (@realpeterock) on Mar 13, 2018 at 3:06am PDT

#RIP #CraigMack 1971-2018 The man who rapped "Whatcha gonna do When God Comes?" has unfortunately passed away yesterday on March 12, 2018 Several reliable sources have contacted me saying that it is true that #CraigMack passed away yesterday, March 12. I'll tell you what's so disappointing about his passing away... about 3 months ago or so, I finally got ahold of him and we talked on the phone for over an hour. Most of the call was me trying to persuade him to start making music again. He felt like after giving his life to God that maybe he shouldn't rap again. I begged him and explained to him that he had every right to still praise God through his music. I told him that as long as it was genuine and not a blasphemous gimmick, he could still reach souls and spread his message. Finally, he gave in and said "Ok Mo Bee, i'll do it." I sent him 5 or 6 tracks and then I never heard back from him. I made a follow-up call and still no Craig. Maybe he knew he was about to die but just didn't want to tell me. One of the reliable sources I spoke to not long ago tonight told me that he had told somebody "I'm not gonna be here much longer." God rest his soul. Now I'm thinking about the record we recorded together called "When God Comes." He wanted to be ready. That was always on his mind. I pray that today he has finally made it into the Kingdom Of Heaven because that's all that mattered to him. I'm so in denial. Can't believe he's gone. Bless you, my brother. No more suffering. No more pain. The Lord has called you home and finally said well done. EMB

A post shared by Easy Mo Bee🐝 (@therealeasymobee) on Mar 12, 2018 at 11:38pm PDT

Photo: Getty Images

TopicsCraig Mack