OG Maco Dead At 32

Atlanta rapper OG Maco has died. Reports of Maco’s death circulated earlier this month, and his family put out a statement that he was still alive, “in critical but stable condition.” Now TMZ reports that Maco has died. Maco suffered a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head earlier this month, and he passed away after several weeks in a coma. Maco was 32.

OG Maco was born Benedict Chiajulam Ihesiba Jr., and he grew up in Atlanta’s College Park neighborhood. He started rapping under the name Maco Mattox and released his debut mixtape Marty McFly in 2011. He broke out with the freaked-out, off-kilter 2014 single “U Guessed It,” reportedly recorded when he was upset with his sound engineer. That song became a viral hit, reaching #90 on the Hot 100 and getting a remix with 2 Chainz. On the strength of “U Guessed It,” Maco jumped out of the Atlanta hipster-rap underground and into the mainstream, signing with Quality Control and becoming a part of XXL‘s 2015 Freshman class alongside figures like Fetty Wap and Vince Staples.

“U Guessed It” arguably set the stage for the frantic, erratic SoundCloud-rap that followed, but OG Maco never truly capitalized on its success. In that song’s aftermath, Maco collaborated with people like the Migos and Diplo, but he never made another hit. He also suffered from injuries and health issues. In 2016, Maco lost an eye in a car accident. In 2019, he revealed that he was suffering from the skin-eating disease necrotizing fasciitis.

Check out some of OG Maco’s work below.

If you or someone you know needs help, you can call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1–800–273–8255 or go to SuicidePreventionLifeline.org to chat with someone online.