The 1980s crack era has reared its ugly head again in the form of James "Wall" Corley, hip-hop hustler icon and street legend, who was arrested last month and accused of being the ringleader of a big-time cocaine ring (see AP article below). Wall Corley is no stranger to the drug game, in fact he is one of the originators. As the accompanying ... [Continue Reading]
Boston George
George Jung transported tons of cocaine from Colombia to the United States for Pablo Escobar and the Medellin Cartel. His story was featured and dramatized in the movie Blow that starred Johnny Depp and the investigative book Kings of Cocaine. He has also been profiled in various magazines and was interviewed for a F.E.D.S. magazine cover ... [Continue Reading]
American Gangster History: The Supreme Team, Southside of Jamaica Queens, New York City, circa 1985
Who? What has become known as the Supreme Team was a crew organized in the early 80s in the vicinity of the Baisley Park Houses, a public housing project in Jamaica Queens, New York by a group of teenagers, who were members of a quasi-religious sect known as the Five Percenters. The “Peace Gods” as they were known for greeting each other with the ... [Continue Reading]
New Documentary Details the Life and Times of Street Legend Frank Matthews
In 1974, Frank Matthews, history’s first African American drug kingpin, jumped bail in New York City with $15 to 20 million and ostensibly a beautiful girlfriend. Nearly four decades later, the fate of Frank Matthews, the money and the girlfriend, Cheryl Brown, remain a complete mystery. “It’s as if Matthews dropped off the face of the earth,” ... [Continue Reading]
Some fiends scream about Supreme Team/a Jamaica, Queens thing- Nas, Memory Lane (Sittin’ in the Park), Illmatic (1994)
One of the most lionized and lauded drug crews in rap, the Supreme Team has gone down in hip-hop’s lyrical lore as one of the baddest to ever do it in the 1980s crack era in New York City. Their stomping ground, Baisley Projects in the Southside of Queens became ground zero for both crack and hip-hop. They were ghetto superstars in the extreme in ... [Continue Reading]
Junior Black Mafia Revisited
The Junior Black Mafia terrorized inner-city Philadelphia in the mid to late 80s. Since their arrests and convictions in federal and state courts their legacy has lived on in street lore and popular culture. Books have been written, fiction and nonfiction, movies made and magazine articles profiling the crew have appeared detailing their exploits ... [Continue Reading]
The Boobie Boys
The Boobie Boys have gone down in gangster and lyrical lore as certified legends versed in the strength of street knowledge and hood justice. One of Miami’s most savage drug gangs, they allegedly killed to establish their turf and to retaliate against rivals. Murder was their game and they massacred enemies recklessly, executions and gangland style ... [Continue Reading]
Holding Down the Neighborhood
In the chronicles of gangsta lore the big city drug barons get all the love. The New York City drug crews, Detroit kingpins, Washington DC coke dealers, LA gangbangers and Chicago gang organizations receive all the shine, newspaper headlines and publicity. Just like the big market sports teams they remain in the public’s eye. Rappers like 50 Cent, ... [Continue Reading]
The New World of Islam
In the 1960s and 1970s a quasi-militant Muslim sect, the New World of Islam (NWOI), emerged as a force to be reckoned with. Its main base was in Newark, New Jersey, known as Temple 25 on South Orange Avenue. The religious group was suspected of having staged more than 100 area armed robberies to raise money to further the cause of the New World and ... [Continue Reading]
Peter “Pistol Pete” Rollock
Pistol Pete and the Blood affiliated Sex, Money and Murder gang were the scourge of the Soundview section of the Bronx back in the day. In his teens and into his early twenties Pistol Pete acquired a reputation as a ruthless killer, who made millions in the drug game in the late 80’s and early 90’s. He was known as one of the most feared and ... [Continue Reading]
