Did anybody else catch last night's episode of American Gangster on BET? In case you're not familiar, it is a series based on the past lives of some of society's most infamous African American Drug Lords, if you will. Quite honestly, it's the best show on BET to date. Anyway, last night's episode featured the real Frank Lucas, who Denzel Washington plays in the upcoming film, American Gangster, hitting theaters tomorrow. Now, by no means do we want to glorify his lifestyle or applaud anything the real Frank Lucas did during that era. We are well aware that many lives were lost and families suffered because of his careless, violent actions. However, I must admit it is intriguing to hear someone recount factually about a world most of us only see on television or in the movies. In fact, it's fascinating. This man was really serious about his craft, not to mention caking off BIG time! At some point, Lucas was apparently grossing one million dollars a day selling heroin... a million PER DAY! He explained how he started in the business under the wing of Ellsworth "Bumpy" Johnson, the premier gangster in Harlem at that time. When Bumpy died of a heart attack, his whole empire was left to Frank. Frank credits his success in the drug game to his shrewd business sense. He found a way to cut out the middle man and buy his heroin - which was more potent than anything else in Harlem - directly from a source overseas. He talked about his trip to Thailand and Vietnam, all to find a connect for the drugs. Once he hit the states with a better product at a cheaper price, the rest was simple. He quickly became the primary source of heroin in Harlem. He had rival dealers, even the mafia buying from him! That's insane! Ok, that's enough. You'll see what happens in the movie tomorrow...
Whilst we're at it, here's something else we came across. Last week, Mark Jacobson with New York Magazine did an interview with both Frank Lucas and Leroy "Nicky" Barnes, another notorious drug kingpin (shout out to Miss Info for the post). They talk about everything from how they met, detailed descriptions about the business, crooked cops and even their thoughts about what the hip-hop world thinks about snitching. As many of you may know, rapper Cam'ron had an interview with Anderson Cooper of 60 minutes back in April this year where he talks about the no snitching code of the streets. It turns out Nicky Barnes was watching! Here's what Barnes and Lucas had to say about that:
"NB: When it comes to testifying, I testified against the guys who were in the Council along with me.
FL: Like Guy Fisher.
NB: Yeah, Guy Fisher, Frank James, Wally, Coco, Kenny, and you know, a couple of other guys. When I went into the joint, I gave Guy Fisher a woman of mine and told him to look out for her, take care of her. I didn’t expect him to start fucking her.
FL: Guy Fisher’s a punk. What do you expect out of a fucking punk?
NB: I expected him to do what I was askin’ him to do. Not to betray me. Look, he had women of his own who were as attractive as mine.
FL: You had good-looking women, Nick!
NB: I don’t know why he had to bone her, and I don’t know why the other Council members let him live after they knew he did it. That’s why I cooperated. If I couldn’t get out, I could still pull those motherfuckers in with me."
"NB: ...When I realized they left me on the battlefield to die, I said, “Fuck it!” … I said, “I’ll pull those motherfuckers in, let them see what it’s like.” I would rather be out here in the witness program than to be in jail with them. Why would I wanna be in there with them kinda niggers? I don’t regret it. I saw this show on CNN, with Anderson Cooper. Cats were talking about “Don’t snitch, no matter what happens.” Well, I can’t see how a guy can be considered strong if he lets a bunch of assholes walk all over him and he doesn’t respond, just because of some code that a bunch of idiots have cooked up. Anderson Cooper asked this rapper, “Suppose a child was molested and you knew who this molester was. Would you tell the police?” He said, “No.” So that’s what I’m sayin’—the street guidelines are just moron bullshit."
Wow... take that Cam! Anyway, visit nymag.com for the full article. You will most definitely be entertained!
via missinfo.tv & nymag.com
Labels: Entertainment