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Craig Mack, who rose to prominence with his 1994 hit single "Flava In Ya Ear," died March 12, 2018. Above is a representational image of a mic in a recording studio. Pixabay

American rapper and 90s hip hop star Craig Mack, who rose to fame with his hit single "Flava In Ya Ear" in 1994, died Monday night at the age of 46, fellow hip hop stars confirmed the news on social media.

Mack, 46, was part of Puff Daddy's Bad Boy Entertainment in the 1990s and gained prominence with the record label at that time. Although his first single was released under the name "MC EZ" in 1988, he was best-known for his hit 1994 single that was released under his real name.

Mack’s producer Alvin Toney confirmed the news of his death to New York Daily News: "God bless my friend. He was a good friend of mine. ... He was prepared for whatever comes, to go home to the Lord. He was prepared to do that. He wasn’t scared. He was ready.”

The rapper reportedly died at a hospital near his home in South Carolina on Monday night.

Legendary hip hop DJs Funkmaster Flex and DJ Scratch and others in the same field took to social media to confirm the hip hop star's passing and offer condolences.

Mack’s 1994 hit single “Flava In Ya Ear” has come to be considered a hip-hop classic, and it also appeared in a recent car commercial as motivational music. Mack was himself considered to be an icon of the early '90s heyday of Bad Boy Records’ breakout years.

The rapper’s follow-up album “Operation: Get Down,” released by Street Life records in 1995 was unable to spawn a single anywhere near to the success of “Flava In Ya Ear.” Mack had separated from Bad Boy Records in the same year. “Operation: Get Down” reached No. 46 on the Billboard 200, but was a commerical failure when compared to his first album.

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After the huge commercial success of the original single, the song’s remix introduced hip hop fans to “The Notorious BIG,” whose debut “Ready To Die” turned out to be even more successful by outselling Mack’s “Project: Funk Da World” by a significant amount. “Project: Funk Da World” finally peaked at No. 21 on the Billboard 200 and No. 6 on Billboard‘s U.S. R&B charts and then certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America.

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