Atlanta-raised emcee OG Maco was hospitalized on Thursday (Dec. 12) after an apparent suicide attempt. The famed rapper, who was born Benedict Chiajulam Ihesiba Jr., is currently on life support at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles.
TMZ reported, “Maco was found unresponsive and was rushed to a local hospital and immediately into surgery. A firearm was also retrieved at the scene.” Friday night (Dec. 13), Maco’s manager, who goes by Poppa Percccc, confirmed to TMZ Hip Hop that his longtime friend is not dead, but asks for prayers from friends, fans, supporters and associates.
“He’s still on life support, still fighting,” his manager told AllHipHop Saturday (Dec. 14). “They are doing multiple tests on his brain and trying to let the swelling go down a bit, let his head heal a little bit, so they can do a procedure. Only immediate family is allowed at the hospital, but we’ve been getting updates.”
In response to blogs falsely reporting that the “U Guessed It” rapper passed away, long-time collaborator and friend Kino Beats expressed, “All these b**ch a** blogs got something to say but ain’t have no response when we was reaching out.. Fake a** industry fake a** people fake a** love,” on his Instagram Story.
One user tweeted, “Life has been trying to kill OG Maco ever since he got famous. I feel so bad for him.” He then further explained, “Got into a bad wreck that made his eye pop out of its socket, had a real bad flesh-eating skin infection that hospitalized him. Had all these rappers stealing his style and never got credited. It was just so bad and sad. I’m sure theres more that I missed.”
OG Maco is known for influencing a wave of young talent from all over. He was one of the first artists signed to Quality Control and has contributed to the success of popular artists such as Mac Miller, Larry June, Doja Cat and countless others.
In 2016, after losing an eye in a serious accident, he stated, “I don’t mind. Just remember I never did a thing to you. To see a world where the do-ers and dreamers are ridiculed more than losers and conformity is worse than missing an eye.”