Tuesday, March 12, marked the one-year anniversary of Craig Mack’s death of heart failure at age 47. He died in Walterboro, South Carolina, where he was a member of Overcomer Ministry.
Many have described the church as a cult, and Mack’s former producer and longtime friend, Alvin Toney, says the minister, Ralph Gordon Stair, had taken advantage of the late rap star. These allegations will be explored in an upcoming documentary on Mack’s life called “When God Comes.”
The project started shooting just before he died and it mainly focus on Stair, who was arrested on sexual assault charges in December 2017.
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“He was ready to die,” Toney said in an interview with the New York Daily News. “If you’re going through a lot of things, and things aren’t going your way, it’s easy for somebody to maneuver your mind. You hear somebody say a certain thing and you think that’s the way to go. I think that’s why Craig fell into that.”
Mack reportedly first heard Stair on the radio while he was contemplating shooting someone over music business gone bad.
“He listened to Brother Stair and it pulled Craig back from doing something negative,” Toney said.
Photojournalist Andrew Theodorakis is helming the Craig Mack doc and he told the Daily News that the project is “a lot more than just the Craig Mack story.”
He added, “This is about human interest and about two people: Brother Stair and Craig Mack.”
“Craig was happy” at the end of his life, Toney said, noting that toward the end, Mack knew he “messed up” by joining the ministry.
Mack’s 1994 hit “Flava in Ya Ear” help put Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs’ Bad Boy label on the map, and on Tuesday, Combs posted a short tribute to the late hip-hop star.
“We love you and miss you Craig. BAD BOY 4 LIFE 🙏🏿🙏🏿,” he wrote on Instagram.
