Craig Mack Almost Joined Death Row Records: “Puff Was Pissed”
Craig Mack was Bad Boy Records’ first star, but a new investigative report from Rolling Stone revealed that he was not a happy camper as part of the label. The Bronx rapper was reportedly in talks with Suge Knight to join Death Row Records, which made Diddy very angry.
Mack’s career plummeted after his big 1994 hit “Flava In Ya Ear.” His sophomore album Operation: Get Down was delayed until 1997, thus making him unhappy as a member of Bad Boy. The late rapper attempted to file bankruptcy to get out of his deal but was unsuccessful due to strict bankruptcy laws at the time.
Mack found an alternative option in speaking with Knight about signing to the East Coast division of Death Row Records. He was flown out to Los Angeles, offered a $200,000 advance and $1.25 million recording budget. Bad Boy learned about the offer and made specific requests to grant him permission to leave: Mack had to withdraw the bankruptcy filing and give them a portion of what he would make from his deal with Death Row.
EXCLUSIVE: Craig Mack put Sean “Diddy” Combs’ label Bad Boy on the map with “Flava in Ya Ear” before disappearing to devote his life to a doomsday prophet.
Mack's loved ones are now sharing never-before-heard parts of his life before his death in 2018: https://t.co/eBkC2DeDQA pic.twitter.com/fBukv68SFp— Rolling Stone (@RollingStone) August 16, 2024
Craig Mack seemed primed to leave Bad Boy, join Death Row Records, and reignite his career only for 2Pac to be murdered in 1996. “He was scared,” his ex-wife Roxanne Alexis Hill-Johnson said. “Puff 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 bastard and really stuck it to him for doing that.”
A Bad Boy spokesperson has denied Hill-Johnson’s claims, stating that Mack simply had “his own vision for his career” as a counter. “While Mr. Combs brought him many opportunities and encouraged him, their creative differences led them to part ways,” they said. “Craig chose to leave Bad Boy to pursue his own interests and was free to sign with any label, which he did with his second album. We wished him nothing but the best, and he was unrestricted in pursuing all opportunities. Up until his untimely passing, Mr. Combs remained supportive of him, and any other narrative is simply false.”
Hill-Johnson stood firm on her claims. “I do feel like Puff’s the trigger — he f**ked my family up,” she said. “Puff kicked it off; he was the catalyst.” Mack passed away in 2018 from congestive heart failure, though some people claimed he suffered from HIV/AIDS. Before his death, he retired from music and joined a religious group called Overcomer Ministry in South Carolina.
Craig Mack was the first artist to leave Bad Boy, filing bankruptcy to escape his contract. He nearly signed with Death Row, backing out after Tupac's death.
His music career took a nosedive. “Puffy became a vindictive bastard and really stuck it to him,” his former lawyer says https://t.co/FqHT940PZS— Cheyenne Roundtree (@cheyenne_round) August 16, 2024
This is the second investigative report this year by Rolling Stone that has scathing accounts of Diddy’s anger and behavior. The first came out at the end of May, the same month CNN shared footage of him assaulting Cassie in 2016. The report covered his time as a student at Howard University, where he would harass women, and several of his transgressions within the music industry.
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