I remember going to Louisville, KY to visit my father and grandmother for the summer. One night me and my brother couldn’t sleep, so we went into our father’ s room and turned on the tv and searched until we found BET. The first video that came on was this song called “Flava in Ya Ear” by an artist called Craig Mack. It was stuck in my head for months. The beat sounded like nothing I’ve heard at that time. The rapping was unorthodox. It was so simple, yet complex at the same time. In between the “You’ll fit inside my stomach with the eggs and grits between”, and “Craig Mack is the flav that rocks from here to Tibet”, there was the extortionist like adlibs in the background saying “SHAKE ‘EM DOWN MACK!” I was amazed. Still am. Off that one song along I purchased Project: Funk Da World. Whether it was the arrogant “Get Down” and “Flava in Ya Ear”, there was the grounded “When God Comes”. Then if that wasn’t enough, there was the smooth “Making Moves with Puff”. It was a consistent project that made me think that he would be around for a long time. The last time I saw or heard anything about him, he had found Christ and was staying in my home state (South Carolina). I could say a million things, but the one thing I will say is that Craig Mack did one thing that a lot of artists couldn’t do: he made a huge impact and had his moment in the Sun. Thank you brother Mack for making beautiful Hip Hop. Vibrate On.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GNFqMx0gY7I]
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y7oqzZQGUa8]
