Bad Boy Records rapper Craig Mack was most known for his 1994 hit single, “Flava in Ya Ear.” Raised in Trenton, New Jersey, Mack was one of the early artists signed Bad Boy.

“Flava in Ya Ear” was one of the label’s first big hits and helped establish the label as a major force in the Hip-Hop industry. The song was later remixed with verses from artists like The Notorious B.I.G., LL COOL J and Busta Rhymes, further solidifying its impact.

Despite the success of “Flava in Ya Ear,” Mack’s career never reached the same heights again. His debut album, Project: Funk da World (1994), was well-received but overshadowed by the meteoric rise of Biggie, who was also on Bad Boy. Mack released his second album, Operation: Get Down, in 1997, but it didn’t achieve significant commercial success.  Mack later stepped away from the music industry and became involved in a cult-like religious community. He passed away in March 2018 at the age of 47.

At the time, his family attributed his death to congestive heart failure, but a recent Rolling Stone article says otherwise. It reads: “While Mack’s family honored his wishes and repeated his assertion that he had congestive heart failure, Mack’s cause of death was HIV/AIDS, according to his death certificate, and he had refused to seek treatment.”

Friend Andrew Carn told the publication he thinks Mack was diagnosed in New York, leading him to the Overcomer Ministry in South Carolina, where he used the church as a “shield to ward off the shadows of his past.”

“I believe he was very much in denial, but that’s him living his truth to the end,” Carn said. “I know that sounds really crazy, but you have to know him to understand that. As much as that bothers me, I understand why he did what he did. He lived his truth.”

Many saw it as Mack’s way of cleansing his sins. As friend Chris Jennings put it, “[He] was getting his soul right to meet God.”

In late 2014, Mack was telling people he’d been diagnosed with congestive heart failure. But due to his religious beliefs, seeking medical was seen as “not putting faith in God’s ability” to heal. But Jennings said Mack was once hospitalized and took some medication before refusing to take anything else. Soon, it was impossible to hide just how gravely ill he was. Gaunt, bedridden and barely able to speak, he was nearing the end.

Mack wanted to stay in his home with no medical intervention, and his family honored his wishes.

Mack’s ex-wife, Roxanne Hill-Johnson, is confident the trouble in Mack’s life started with Diddy, who allegedly prevented him from having a long, successful music career in the mid-90s.

“I do feel like Puff’s the trigger — he f##### my family up,” she said. “Puff kicked it off; he was the catalyst.”