Craig Mack Nearly Signed With Death Row After Bad Boy

Craig Mack was so desperate to get out of his Bad Boy deal in the mid-90s, that he considered signing with the imprint’s West Coast rival, Death Row Records, a new report claims.

In a detailed feature about the “Flava In Ya Ear” rapper, Rolling Stone spoke to his family about his final days at the label he essentially put on the map. Per the outlet’s findings, initially filed for bankruptcy to get out of his deal after his sophomore album, Operation: Get Down.

In the midst of the legal procedure, Craig Mack reportedly took a meeting with Suge Knight, who eventually flew him out to Los Angeles, and offered him a $1.25 million recording budget and a $200,ooo advance.

However, once Diddy caught wind of the proposed deal, Mack was reportedly forced to abandon his bankruptcy claim and essentially  buy out his Bad Boy contract in order to walk away. Once 2Pac was killed in September 1996, however, Craig Mack had a change of heart.

According to the rapper’s ex-wife Roxanne Alexis Hill Johnson, even with the proposed deal off the table, Diddy’s anger over the perceived betrayal did not subside.

“Puff was pissed [Mack was] leaving Bad Boy and the fact that he was going to go with Suge,” she said, adding that her ex-husband was afraid of his former boss. “From what I understand, Puff was enraged. Puffy became a vindictive bastard and really stuck it to him for doing that.”

In 2012, Craig Mack officially retired from mainstream music. He went on to join a religious cult in South Carolina called Overcomer Ministry, and remained a member of the organization until he died of congestive heart failure in 2018.

Hill-Johnson remains convinced that Diddy somehow sabotaged Craig Mack’s career and was the catalyst to his downfall.

“I do feel like Puff’s the trigger — he fucked my family up,” she further told Rolling Stone. “Puff kicked it off; he was the catalyst.”

In a statement to the publication, a Bad Boy representative painted a different picture, blaming creative differences for the fallout between the rapper and his former label boss.

“While Mr. Combs brought him many opportunities and encouraged him, their creative differences led them to part ways,” the statement read. “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.”