Forget about baseball, because America’s favorite pastime is exploiting the poor.
If you’ve had the privilege of watching any of these 12 movies about famous dope boys, then you’ve already had the visual proof.
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Photo: Dimension Films Screen Capture
BMF: The Rise and Fall of a Hip-Hop Drug Empire
This was a heavy-handed portrayal, but it was also one of the first looks at Big Meech, Southwest T you could get outside of reading an issue of F.E.D.S. or Don Diva.
Blow
Once again, we get a film where the titular character isn’t the heaviest d-boy in the game. Yes, Blow is about George Jung, but he was a lightweight compared to Pablo Escobar.
American Gangster
It was two for the price of one, as 2007’s American Gangster provided a look at both the legendary Frank Lucas and Nicky Barnes.
Cocaine Cowboys: Reloaded
Truthfully, the entire Cocaine Cowboys series is required viewing. If you want a look at the Medellín Cartel, Griselda Blanco, and John Roberts, this is one of the best ones out there.
New Jack City
There’s been plenty of debate about if New Jack City was really based on Detroit’s Chambers Brothers drug syndicate. We know for sure there was no real Nino Brown, but there are some striking similarities (including an apartment complex named The Carter) between the Cash Money Brothers and the Chambers Brothers.
Paid In Full
The names might have been changed, but anyone who knew about the dope game in the ‘80s understood that Ace, Mitch, and Rico were just stand ins for Alpo Martinez, Rich Porter, and Azie “AZ” Faison.
Get Rich Or Die Trying
We’ll never know how exactly how much weight Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson pushed. So while it’s tempting to call Fif the heavyweight of this movie, your focus should really be on Levar and Majestic. The latter two characters were most likely modeled after Kenneth “Supreme” McGriff and Black Just of the Supreme Team.
Hoodlum
If you wanted Bumpy Johnson, Dutch Schultz, “Madame Queen” St. Clair, and Lucky Luciano all on the same screen, 1997’s Hoodlum was the flick for you.
Mr. Untouchable
Nicky Barnes has popped up in American Gangster, but Mr. Untouchable was one of the few documentaries that focused the spotlight on Frank Lucas’ protégé.
The Larry Hoover Story
It’s going to take the passage of time and the changing of a lot of money (and probably the death of some key witnesses) until you get a more definitive look at Gangster Disciples leader Larry Hoover.
Kill The Messenger
If you need an idea of how much cocaine was moving in and out of the country during the ‘80s, take note of the fact that “Freeway” Ricky Ross isn’t even the most famous drug dealer in Kill The Messenger. That distinction belongs to Danilo Blandon.
A Man Apart
Since it was based on various clips about DEA informants and the people they trailed, we’ll never know the exact dealers who inspired A Man Apart. But it’s very safe to say various scenes were taken from the headlines of the Los Angeles Times.
