The recent New York Times article on Jay Z and the movie “American Gangster”
has got everyone talking.
I was on the courtroom set of “Law and Order” when I read the article.
I called Damon Dash, who is working with us on “Mr. Untouchable” and
was Jay Z’s former partner at Roc-a-Fella records. He had just recorded
an intro to the mix tape by Hi Tek for our film which is opening on October 26th.
Damon had seen a preview of “American Gangster” and he felt it was
good but didn’t really capture the Harlem he grew up in.
“I hope American Gangster is this season’s The Departed,” I
said. “But it’s Hollywood make believe. We got the real thing!!! How
could Jay Z not realize that?”
“He’s from Brooklyn Marc,” Damon answered.
Now I realize Damon and Jay had quite a bitter falling out. Their feud is an eerie
echo of the competition between Mr. Untouchable, Nicky Barnes, and American Gangster,
Frank Lucas, as noted by a perceptive blogger on Missinfo ( http://www.missinfo.tv/?p=287)
last week. The battle between the heroin kingpins of the seventies and today’s
hip hop moguls is all about power, ego, respect, and legacy. It is fascinating
that Jay Z has been inspired by the Frank Lucas story and Damon has been obsessed
with the Barnes story for years. Today’s successful hip hop entrepreneurs
recognize they are some how connected to yesterday’s drug kingpins. It’s
the story of Godfathers and sons.
In this case I’m obviously biased, but Damon is the one keeping it real
while Jay Z, who I admire, seems to have been inspired more by Denzel’s
portrayal and Ridley Scott’s direction, than the facts about Frank Lucas.
Frank Lucas was from South Carolina and had a crew known as the “country
boys.” He may have had a heroin connection in South East Asia but he was
not the man. He was not the business innovater who vertically integrated the drug
market and changed retail marketing with the “New York quarter.” He
was not the man who organized other New York kingpins into a syndicate called
“the council.” He was not the man who declared independence from the
Mob. He was not the drug dealer who the President of the United States saw on
the cover of the New York Times Magazine and then demanded be busted. He was not
the black godfather. Nicky Barnes was.
Why did Hollywood make a movie about Frank Lucas? Good question. Damon says that
a few years ago he pitched the Nicky Barnes story to Denzel Washington and Denzel
said he would never play a rat. So let’s get something straight about this
snitch debate. Frank Lucas was a snitch way before Nicky ever cooperated. He was
busted and cut a deal to save himself and testified for the government. Now Nicky
Barnes also flipped and ended up testifying against his former patners in the
Council and many others. But unlike Frank Lucas and more recently Sammy Gravano,
Barnes did not snitch to get out of prison. He did it for payback.
Now obviously Barnes, the Council, Frank Lucas, another kingpin of the era, Frank
Mathews, and many others, all sold heroin, an illegal drug that caused much destruction
and devastation. But this discussion is not about right and wrong. It’s
about the myth of the gangster as the way from urban poverty to a piece of the
American Dream. It’s about who controls the street- the ethnic succession
from the Irish, to the Jews, to the Italians, to African Americans.
Now two giants of the hip hop generation, Damon Dash and Jay Z, are leading the
way back to the source - the birth of the black gangster myth. Each has his own
take. Now it’s time for everyone else to join the debate.
Well said
Comment by BK19 — September 25, 2007 @ 4:37 pm
Hi this is Mary-Jane Robinson, and I am the producer of Mr. Untouchable. When I started this project back in 2003 I had never heard of Nicky Barnes. Today, I have read thousands of court documents, endless articles, numerous film scripts and manuscripts; I’ve had hundreds of conversations and meetings; listened to hours of audiotape and even sat down and talked to the man himself. Today, I know pretty much everything there is to know about Nicky Barnes but I still don’t think I ‘know’ Nicky Barnes.
Nicky Barnes has taken on an almost mythical status. His name means different things to different people. To some he is a business mogul to be admired and perhaps imitated; for others he is simply a snitch and must be reviled; some have given him Godfather-like status; while still more deplore him for the misery he sold and the lives that he ruined; he is a teacher, poet, father and killer.
Hollywood likes to deal in absolutes and so far all attempts to turn Nicky’s life into a viable movie script have failed. Perhaps he is too complex with too many incongruous variables to be reduced into a two hour fictional movie (Frank Lucas’s largely fantastical story is much easier to grapple with than Nicky). Mr. Untouchable’s strength is that it dares to show the many sides of Nicky Barnes without the pressure of a Hollywood ending – because life just isn’t like that and neither is Nicky!
Comment by Mary-Jane — September 25, 2007 @ 7:48 pm
Hopefully after Oct. 26th people will know the real story…
Comment by K — October 11, 2007 @ 10:56 am
Here is a real attempt to understand how some people, whom we know are evil, bad, etc. (Hitler, Cheyney anyone?) can be so attractive to so many. Why did people follow Nicky? Why did people vote for Dubya? We need to see all sides of these people to understand - and not just condemn. So for all those who go to this film ready to hate Nicky - please do, but also understand that knowledge (not to mention money) is power. Know your enemy.
Comment by Ellin — October 11, 2007 @ 11:28 am
EVIDENTALLY FRANK LUCUS HAD TWO SIDES. WHEN I WAS YOUNGER I KNEW HIM AS FREEHEARTED,RESPECTFUL MAN AND READY TO HELP YOU IF YOU NEEDED HELP. HE USE TO WORK CONSTRUCTION WITH MY FATHER NAT FROM 141 ST. THEY USE TO CALL HIM ‘NEW YORK NAT’. FRANK LUCUS USE TO COME TO MY HOUSE TO GAMBLE ON THE WEEKENDS WITH MY FATHER. THEY WERE GOOD FRIENDS . HE LIKED ME, I KNOW HE REMEMBER ME BECAUSE I WAS THE ONE THAT GOT AWAY. MY NAME IS JOANN. I WAS SHOCKED TO LEARN ABOUT HIM IN THAT WAY. I DO REMEMBER GOING TO HIS APARTMENT IN HARLEM WITH MY FRIEND, AND HE HAD A ROOM WE ALL STEPPED INTO WITH NOTHING BUT SHOES, HATS. SUITS, COATS IT WAS AMAZING. I HAD NEVER SEEN ANTHING LIKE THAT. THIS WAS IN THE LATE SIXTIES. ANOTHER THING THAT STICKS OUT IN MY MIND IS WHEN HE GAVE ME $100 BILL FOR NOTHING. THAT WAS A LOT IN THE SIXTIES. I DO REMEMBER HE QUIT CONSTRUCTION WORK. BEFORE ALL OF THIS. HE USE TO HAVE A SMALL RED CAR. THE NEXT TIME I SAW HIM HE HAD A MECEDES. I WOULD LIKE HIS E-MAIL, IF HE HAS ONE. I AM DEFINATELY SEEING THE MOVIE THE FIRST DAY IT COMES OUT.
Comment by JOANNRYAN — October 20, 2007 @ 12:54 am
is frank lucus still alive?
Comment by sharonda carson — October 27, 2007 @ 6:18 pm
Frank Lucas is very much still alive. Get next weeks copy of New York Magazine and read for yourself all about his historic phone conversation with Nicky Barnes. These two OG’s are still holding on.
Comment by Mary-Jane — October 28, 2007 @ 4:53 pm
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FactCheck demolishes each of them, especially Giuliani’s assertion that New York City was suffering “record crime” until he became mayor….
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