Who was Craig Mack? Late Bad Boy rapper was reportedly trying to join Death Row Records

Late rapper Craig Mack was all set to exit Bad Boy Records and join Death Row Records instead. Rolling Stone, in an extensive investigative report published on August 16, revealed that the late American rapper and record producer, who died in August 2018, once considered leaving Diddy's record label, Bad Boy Records, to join Suge Knight's Death Row Records.

Bronx-born, Long Island-raised artist Craig Mack gained recognition in 1994 for his breakout solo single, Flava in Ya Ear. The single was also the first hit from Sean P. Diddy Combs' newly established Bad Boy Records. The track stayed 14 weeks at #1 on the Hot Rap Songs Chart.

Mack instantly gained popularity in the hip-hop scene and became a symbol of the rap aesthetic in the 1990s. His solo album Project: Funk Da World was certified gold. However, Mack struggled to replicate the success he met with his first album and the ever-changing rap industry. After exiting Diddy's record label, Craig released another album with Street Life Records in 1997.

By the 2000s, the rapper relocated to the south, joined a South Carolina Religious Community and ministered in songs like When God Comes. In a 2012 YouTube video, Mack was seen worshipping at the Overcomer Ministry commune, a hyper-conservative religious outfit in Walterboro, S.C.

In the video, Ralph Gordon Stair, the pastor, was seen leading the service and addressing rumors of Mack joining the community. The pastor said,

"Craig Mack is dead!" We have somebody that used to be Craig Mack, and he didn't join anything! God joined him!"

The Flava in Ya Ear rapper died in 2018 at 47 at his home in Walterboro, S.C., due to heart failure while in a South Carolina hospital. While addressing his death at the time, Alvin Toney, Project: Funk Da World producer, in a statement to The New York Daily News, said,

"Nobody got to understand his story. 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."

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Why did Craig Mack want to leave Bad Boy Records?

According to the report, Mack was in discussion with Suge Knight, co-founder and former CEO of Death Row Records. Suge flew him to Los Angeles and allegedly offered him a $1.25 million recording budget along with a $200,000 advance.

To exit Bad Boy Records, Mack reportedly tried to file for bankruptcy after his album Operation: Get Down was shelved by the production company until 1997. However, after Diddy reportedly got wind of the deal, Mack was forced to withdraw his filing. While recollecting the events, Craig Mack's first wife, Roxanne Alexis Hill Johnson, told Rolling Stone that Diddy was "pissed."

"Puffy was pissed (Mack was) leaving Bad Boy and the fact that he was going to go with Suge. From what I understand, Puff was enraged. Puffy became a vindictive b*st*rd and really stuck it to him for doing that."

However, as per a spokesperson for Diddy's record company, Diddy "brought him many opportunities and encouraged him," but their "creative differences led them to part ways."

Craig Mack left Bad Boy Records in 1995 and released his second album, Operation: Get Down, in 1997 with Street Life Records and his third album, The Mack World Sessions, in 2017 with his own label, Mack World.