Did you know that before the rise of The Notorious B.I.G, Craig Mack was widely regarded as Bad Boy Records’ breakthrough artist?
Mack scored an important hit in 1994 with his debut single, ‘Flava in Ya Ear’, which peaked at #9 on the Billboard Hot 100 and #4 on the Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart. The song also climbed to #57 on the Official UK Singles Chart and helped the budding Bad Boy Records to expand worldwide.
B.I.G, on the other hand, released his own debut record, ‘Juicy’, barely a week after the Mack’s ‘Flava’ on August 8th 1994 and although the song is widely regarded as a classic, it did not match the success of the latter. In fact, ‘Juicy’ only peaked at #27 on the Hot 100 and #72 in the UK.
Interestingly, B.I.G. was featured on the remix to ‘Flava’ alongside LL Cool J and Rampage. Additionally, the revamped version of the song was also included one of the first major appearances by Busta Rhymes.
Watch the videos for the ‘Flava’ and its remix below. If you’re wondering why the beat sounds familiar then your instincts are correct because Jennifer Lopez sampled the song for her ‘Ain’t it Funny (Remix) (Ft. Ja Rule)’.
‘Flava in Ya Ear’
‘Flava in Ya Ear (Remix)’
that remix is a classic, one of my favorite hip hop songs