Accidental Demise – The Mac Daddy Story (Kris Kross) HT

 

   You know, the South has been running hip-hop for a while now, but I Remember the east coast and the west coast was on top selling millions of records until these two 11 and 12 year old kids from Atlanta, Georgia came out and took the world by storm and their name was Chris Cross. Mac Daddy and Daddy M.

They were one of the first rap groups to put Atlanta on the map. And when I say that right, I’m talking about they were the first major group to do it from Atlanta. And you can’t forget Jermaine Depri  was only 19 years old himself. He was a team himself. You know, out of all the kid rappers that came out at that time, like the Youngsters, Another Bad Creation, Quo, Quo was signed  to Michael Jackson’s label, illegal, Malik and Jamal, Shaheim, the Rugged Child, G.

 Ali, and so on. None of them were bigger or more successful than Chris Cross. Watching them become stars at that age made me believe that I can do it. They were recognized as the youngest hip hop group to achieve golden platinum status. Chris Cross, they were trends setters. The big baggy clothes, braided plats in their hair, everything was backwards, the sports jerseys and jackets, you name it. They were different.

But the industry though is a beast. Price of fame is something else. And they were real young when they came into the game. They were exposed to the money, sex, drugs early on and the ups and downs in the music industry in which played a role in the downfall of Mac Daddy dying at that young age. Wow. I would have never thought  he died that young man.

 And believe it or not, Mac Daddy wore his pants backwards to the day he died. He was crisscross for life. So, let’s get straight to the story. Right now, Mac Daddy’s birth name is Chris  Kelly, and he was born on August 11th, 1978 in Atlanta, Georgia. Now, growing up, Mac Daddy had always told his mother that he was going to be rich and famous someday.

 He always used to tell her that. And it was in the first grade where he met Chris Smith aka Daddy Mack and they became best friends. In an interview they had done on a cine hall, they stated that people in the neighborhood gave them the names Mac Daddy and Daddy Mac because the girls loved him so much. You know, some of the other famous people now that went to school with him at that time was rapper Young Dro and super producer Polo the Dawn, but you know, Crisscross, they love hip-hop and Ice Cube at that time was their favorite

rapper. So, they knew all the lyrics and everything. Tribe Called Quest, they was real hip-hop heads at that young age. Now, around the age of 12 years old, they had met Jermaine Depri. Now the story goes now see at that time Jermaine Depri was only 17 years old and he was working with a female hip hop trio called Silk Times Leather.

 But anyway Jermaine Depri had saw them at the Green Brian Mall in Atlanta and he thought they was already famous or something because everybody in the mall were just going crazy over these two little boys. You know they was fresh they closed. They had they had just came from the barber shop. They had flat tops and everybody was just going crazy  over them.

 And you know, Jermaine Depri said the little girls and grown women were all over them too. And he asked them if they were celebrities and they told him that they weren’t celebrities, they was just cool like that. Next thing you know, Jermaine the Priest started thinking to himself like, “If I write some rhymes for these two little kids right here, they could become some famous rappers because they already had the star quality.

” So, you know, he hooked up with them and the rest is history. And it was Mac Daddy’s mom who suggested their name be Chris Cross. But here’s the crazy part now. Jermaine Depri wanted to bring in a third member for the group as a DJ. And guess what his name was? His name was Chris, too. But that Chris didn’t work out because he wasn’t from where they was from and it was just some issues or something going on because see Mac Daddy and Daddy Mac was from the hood.

Then, you know, Jermaine Depri started working on that album. And after two years of writing and producing on the album, it was finally ready. And that’s when Jermaine Depri sent the demo to a guy named Joe the Butcher, who owned a record label, Rough House Records, and he signed them to his label. But you know, Jermaine Depri had another idea for their image, which was wearing their clothes backwards because the group ABC, another bad creation, were wearing their clothes inside out.

 And you know, when they had done it, they didn’t like it at first, but when they had went to the mall to see how everyone would react to them wearing their clothes backwards, everybody loved it. And when it came to their hair, like I said earlier, when he met them, they had flat tops, but he made them change into the twisted braids, the plats, and that was the icing on the cake.

 And let  me tell you something, they took the world by  storm, y’all. March 31st, 1992, when they released their debut album titled Totally Crossed Out, it hit number one on the Billboard 200 chart and it hit number one on the top R&B hip hop albums chart, selling over 4 million copies. Wow. Now, first single titled Jump sold over 4 million copies and it hit number one on the US Billboard Hot 100, number one on the US Hot Rap Songs Billboard charts, number one on the US Cashbox Top 100 chart. It went number one in

Zimbabwe. It went number one in Switzerland, number one in Australia, number one in Canada, number one in Europe, number one in Finland, number one in Ireland and New Zealand. Wow, that’s crazy. That the music video for Jump that shot straight to number one on MTV and sold over a 100,000 copies as a VHS video.

Now, the crazy part is they were still only in the sixth grade and still going to the same school. But then MacDaddy, MacDaddy transferred to another school called Calvert. You know, Calvert, that was a private school that taught child stars, young athletes, sons and daughters of political figures, and other homebound or travelbound young  kids.

 But they also had to get tutors. They had toodles on the road with them because they was traveling everywhere. And you know there was some controversy, little controversy behind the song Jump because you know the  rap group House of Pain claimed Jermaine the Priest stole the idea from their number one hit song called Jump Around.

 But Jermaine the priest stated that that ain’t true because crisscross Jump was released on February 9th  and Jump Around House of Pain Jump Around came out 3 months later on May 5th. That’s the year in 1992.  You know Jermaine Depri also said he got the idea from um Black Sheep when he did the engine number nine um song this or that.

 Now, another controversy about that song was that they say Tre from Naughty by Nature had actually written the song, but that’s not true either. What it was, you know, Naughty by Nature, they just felt that Jermaine Depri just copied their song OP. You know, the whole jump thing at the end when Tresh did it at the end of the song, plus, you know, he used the same sample that Naughty by Nature used, which was the Jackson Fire sample for the song ABC.

Now, another problem they had with that song Jump was they had this the group ABC who was also from Atlanta, you know, another bad creation and they were signed to Michael Bivvens. You know, ABC wore their clothes inside out and that’s when Crisscross wore their clothes backwards. But according to Michael Bivvens, he said he was the first one to wear his clothes backwards.

 If you look at the BBD Poison album cover, wow, he he did. If you look at the cover, he had that jacket on backwards. Now, they also had beef with the rap  group Illegal, which was the duo Malik and Jamal, who dissed them on a couple of their songs and stated that they had an altercation with Chris Cross and Jermaine  Depri.

And another group they had, they had a beef with the youngsters, too. But at the end of the day, Chris Cross outs sold all of them and had a way bigger career. Now, after the song Junk made them stars, their second single title, Warm It Up, hit number three on the US Hot R&B hip hop songs Billboard charts and was certified gold.

 And they, you know, they had a couple more singles like I missed the bus and it’s a shame. The song I used to like um when I used to pump when I had this um cassette was the way of the rhyme. That was my joint right there. The way  of the rhyme. But you know Chris Cross was so popular at that time with their debut album that their music videos appeared in the Sega Genesis video game called Make My Video Crissc Cross.

 I kind of remember that game system too. The Sega Genesis video uh music maker game. They was also featured in a episode on a TV show called A Different World. I remember seeing that episode. I think I had recorded that on a VCR tape back in the day. And they had landed a spot on Michael Jackson’s 1992 European Dangerous World Tour as well.

 Now, there was also made a cameo appearance in Michael Jackson’s music video for the 1992 number one single called Jam alongside rapper Heavy D and basketball NBA great Michael Jordan. Wow. Them boys was doing it, man. You know, Chris Cross is the only rap act to ever open up for Michael Jackson. They’re the only rap act to ever open up for Michael Jackson.

 That’s crazy, y’all. That’s big time. That Michael Jackson Dangerous Tour grossed over $100 million at that time. Also remember seeing them in the TLC music  video too called uh Hat to the Bat. But that Totally Crossed Out album also won them a American Music Award for favorite new rap hiphop artist and favorite soul R&B new artist.

 and they were nominated for a Grammy for best new artist and  best rap performance by a duo or group for Junk. But, you know, they ended up losing to Arrested Development single Tennessee. The song they had Tennessee was big. So, they lost to Arrested  Development. Now, they did win the Nickelodeon Kids Choice Awards for favorite male singer group and favorite song.

 Plus, they also recorded the Rugrats rap. Who remember that? the Rugrats rap for the cartoon Rugrats on Nickelodeon. And you know, them being so successful at that time made Colombia and Sony give Jermaine Depri his own label and that’s when he started SO Death Records. Now, after their first album set the world on fire, they hit the studio, started working on their second album, and they wanted more hardcore gangster music on this one.

 They wanted a more hardcore gangster sound this time around because, you know, gangster rap was taking over. Dre and Snoop had the industry on fire at the time. Plus, you know, Chris Cross was growing up, too. they were more mature and exploring new things in life. So for this next album they they wanted to get be different.

 And on August 3rd, 1993, they released their second album titled The Bomb, which hit number two on the US top R&B hip hop albums Billboard chart and it was certified platinum. Now, the first single titled All Right with Reggae artist Supercat hit number one on the US Hot Rap Songs Billboard charts and  hit number one in Portugal.

 Plus, it was certified gold selling over 500,000 copies. Now, like I said earlier, they had beef with the Philly rap group called The Youngsters at the time. And you know, MacDaddy had a line in there, you know, he had a line in the song that he he dissed him. Now, the second single they released was called I’m Real, which was probably one of my favorite joints off that album.

That was my joint right there. I’m Real. I still play that to this day. And their third single title, The Bomb, featuring The Brat. I love that one, too. I love the remix, though, with the Brat when they shot the video for The Bomb. That was the Bratz debut to the hip-hop world, y’all.

 and how she got down with crisscross. Story goes it was she had did a it was a rap contest uh MTV Ed Lover and Taiwan had threw in Chicago. The brat ended up winning and she end up meeting Chris Cross. That was I think that was the prize Chris Cross meet them. She met them. She rat for him and they liked her. They told Jermaine Depri and the rest is history.

 Jermaine Depri signed her to S Soo Death Records. Now that same year in 1993, Chris Cross was featured in the movie titled Who’s the Man? Who remembers that movie? Starring MTV rap host Dr. Dre and Ed Lover. I love that movie, too. I haven’t seen that in a long time. I also remember seeing them in Run DMC’s music video called Down with the King. That was my joint, too.

and he had did the Sprite commercial. Now also around that time in 1993, you know, uh Mac Daddy was about 14 15 years old. And according to rapper dad’s Dillinger, who was Snoop Doggy Dog’s cousin and part of the rap group The Dog Pound, he stated in an interview that Mac Daddy and Jada Pinket Smith allegedly had a sexual relationship going on at that time.

Story goes they, you  know, dad’s like they was at the hotel and uh Mac Daddy was like, “Jay Pink is at the door and he told Daz, “Don’t leave. Take the weed. Just chill.” And Daz and his crew were like, “He just gave us an ounce of weed. We going to kick it right here.” Then he said, “Mac Daddy came back and said, “Yeah, that was that was Jada Pinket.

” You know, Jada Pinket was around 22 years old at that time, man. Mac Daddy was about 14 or 15 years old. Wow. You know, dad said, uh, Jada Pinket was entangling then, you know, the whole thing about her and singer August Alcena entanglement while she and her husband Will Smith were separated. But anyway, you know, they started working on their next album.

 Chris Cross started working on their next album. Now, they were about 16 to 17 years old. And on January 9th, 1996, they released their third album titled Young Rich and Dangerous, which hit number two on the US Top R&B hip hop albums Billboard charts and went certified gold. Now, the first single titled Tonight’s The Night hit number one on the US Hot R&B singles Billboard charts.

 Now, their second single, I love that one. The second single was called Live and Die for Hip Hop featuring Aaliyah. Rest in peace to Aaliyah. That song hit number 11 on the hot rap singles charts. You know, during that album though, Mac Daddy, what we noticed was Mac Daddy had baldled his head because for a long time, the rumors were he had cancer because he started losing his hair.

 But he stated in an interview that he had a skin disease called alipcia. And he said that those rumors that they was putting out there about him being  having cancer and all that were very hurtful because people thought he had cancer and it wasn’t true. Some were even saying that he had died from cancer at that time but he had alipcia.

Alipcia is an autoimmune disorder that causes hair to fall out often in clumps in the size and shape of a quarter. The amount of hair loss is different for everyone. Some people lose hair only in a few spots while others lose a lot. For some hair, you know, the hair grows back but falls out again later and others it grows back for good.

 But anyway, now after that third album, Young, Rich, and Dangerous, it wasn’t a mega hit, but it still went certified gold. It still did good. But after that album, they kind of kind of disappeared, you know, from the from the limelight a little. Well, they kind of just disappeared. You know, it was around 1998 when they decided to take a break and move on to pursue other things.

 But that same year, 98, MacDaddy was featured on DJ Nab’s album titled In the Lab with DJ Nabs, the live album. In 1999, their friend and artist named Chris Terry aka Cote who was featured on two songs on their Young Rich and Dangerous album ended up dying in a car accident. That was they wanted to focus on him. Cote Chris Terry with their label, but he died in a car accident.

 You know, after that, Mac Daddy and Daddy Mac went to Woodward Academy in College Park, Georgia. Mac Daddy studied mix engineering and focused on his label called C Connection Records. Daddy Mac studied marketing and business management and founded One Life Entertainment. Now, in 2010, Mac Daddy released a mixtape titled The Arrival, but you can’t find that mixtape nowhere online, though.

 But I did see another solo album from him called the MAC album. In February 2013, Mac Daddy and Daddy Mack reunited on stage to perform at Jermaine Depri  So Death Allstars 20th anniversary concert at Atlanta’s Fox Theater. Now, once they did that show, they started getting calls from people to perform again and go on tour.

But then a few months later on May 1st, 2013, MacDaddy died from a drug overdose. Die from a drug overdose, y’all. You know, the story goes, you know, just days before his death, Mac Daddy was seen on video footage with some friends partying and rapping the lyrics to some of his songs. You know, ever since he and Daddy Mack did the reunion show a couple months earlier at Jermaine Depri’s Social Death All-Star 20th anniversary concert, he was ready to reintroduce himself to the world. You know, like I said, there

was a there’s video footage of him rapping his songs, and that was around about 700 a.m. Then a 911 call had been made by his mother that he wasn’t breathing. And when paramedics arrived, they found him unresponsive on a couch in his Atlanta home, but he was declared dead at a local hospital after unsuccessful attempts to resuscitate him about 3 hours later.

Wow, that’s terrible, y’all. You know, reports say a woman who identified herself as Mac Daddy’s friend told an investigator that Mac Daddy had taken a mixture of heroin and  cocaine the night before and that she brought Mac Daddy home to recover from his drug use. Now, Mac Daddy’s mother also reported that he had been feeling nauseous prior to falling unconscious.

And it isn’t clear whether he taken more drugs to counteract the symptom thought to be early stages of heroin withdrawal. He was screened for drugs at the hospital after being pronounced dead. Now when they did his autopsy, they found no signs of foul play or trauma and his death was ruled an accidental overdose. Wow.

 The Falton County Medical Examiner concluded that Mac Daddy’s death was an accident caused by the combined toxin effects of heroin, cocaine, ethanol. Now, some of his closest friends and family stated that Mac Daddy had changed dramatically in recent  weeks following Chris Cross big comeback concert in Atlanta back in February.

And they say his eagle blew up along with his wallet and he started hanging out in clubs again, chuming up with the bigname Atlanta rappers and the drugs came back in full force as a result. You know, his mother stated that MacDaddy wasn’t a junkie. She said he wasn’t a junkie, y’all. She said yes, he smoked weed, but the heroin thing was just something that happened about 6 months ago before he died.

 She said he started using and he just he just couldn’t shake it off him and he was getting help for his addiction. She said his real addiction was alcohol. And you know when it comes to  the music industry, she made this statement. She stated that it took MacDaddy a long time to mature because he started off so young in the industry and a lot of bad things he was doing were encouraged by adults.

H wow. The industry and the price of fame will destroy you if you’re not careful, y’all. You know, Daddy Mack, you know, he was devastated losing his his his friend, best friend, brother. You know, he released a statement saying, you know, Chris Kelly, Mac Daddy was my best friend. He was like a brother.

 I love him and will miss him dearly. Our friendship began as little boys in first grade. We grew up together. It was a blessing to achieve success, travel the world, entertain crisscross fans all around the world with my best friend. It is what we wanted to do and what brought us happiness.

 I will always cherish the memories of the C connection. You know, Jermaine Depri put out a statement saying, “To the world, Chris was Mac Daddy, but to me, he was a son I never had. As much as you think I taught him, he taught me. God has blessed me to be in the presence of so many naturally talented people, and Chris was one of them.

 To millions of fans worldwide, he was the trend setting backwards pantswearing one half of Chris Cross who loved making music. But to us, he was just Chris, the kind, generous, and funloving life of the party. Wow. You know, at his funeral, about 300 friends and family paid their respects. Jermaine Depri and the brat, they came to the funeral wearing backwards pants.

And you know the sisters Latasha and Tama Scott of the R&B group Escaped, they performed at the service. Daddy Mack, you know, like I said, he just he took losing his he took losing his best friend real hard at that funeral. And you know, Mac Daddy’s mother steadily just cried all through the service, man. You know, they said she said, “Please don’t close that casket.

” She begged the deacons, referring to the coffin, “Just don’t close a baby in that casket.” Wow. Sad, man. That is a shame, man. You know, every year his family and friends celebrate and honor his legacy at an event called the Live and Die for Hip Hop Celebration, honoring the life and legacy of Chris Kelly of Chris Cross. And in 2023, his family raised funds to award a scholarship to a graduating student from MacDaddyy’s alma mater, Atlanta Institute of Music in East Point, Georgia’s Tri Cities High School.

 You know, that scholarship they uh got was awarded to a student passionately pursuing a performing arts or healthc career. Now, Daddy Mack, what he’s been up to lately, he still does music and has released music over the years. He was he was doing some hip-hop mixed with rock type of stuff.

 And you know, he play all guitars, types of guitars, bass, electric, acoustic, and everything.  And he also has a website called Urbang Music where you can see his paintings, you know, he has his own clothing line and other things he does. and he also did a documentary titled Gas Clutch. But you know, Chris Cross man um I think in my opinion definitely needs a biopic movie.

 They need a movie because they had major success at 12 years old. These kids was doing it on a major level at that age. They were never I don’t know man they open the doors for all the kid rappers that came after them like Bwow and all of them. Me personally I don’t I don’t think we will ever see in this lifetime another kid rap group do it the way they did it.

I’m telling you their journey was unbelievable. You had to be there. They were the only rap act to open up for Michael Jackson. That’s crazy. Chris Cross, man. Uh, Macdaddy, man. 34 years old. I never thought he would die that young, man. 34 years old. Rest in peace, Chris Macdaddy Kelly from the group Chris Cross.