An above-average rapper blessed with a bit of luck and connections as well as talent, Craig Mack practically made Puff Daddy's Bad Boy label with a remix of his 1994 hit "Flava in Ya Ear." Based in Brentwood, Long Island, Mack cut his first single while still a teenager, though nothing came of it. He was working as a go-fer for hometown heroes EPMD when he hooked up with Sean "Puffy" Combs, who offered him a spot on a Mary J. Blige remix in 1992. Impressed, Combs offered him a contract on his Bad Boy label, distributed through Arista.