Cameron Ezike Giles, better known by his stage name Cam'ron, is an American rapper. Beginning his career in the early-1990s as Killa Cam, Giles signed with Lance "Un" Rivera's Untertainment, an imprint of Epic Records to release his first two studio albums Confessions of Fire (1998) and S.D.E. (2000); the former received gold certification by the RIAA. After leaving Epic, Giles signed with Roc-A-Fella Records in 2001 to release his third studio album Come Home with Me the following year. It received platinum certification by the RIAA and contained his highest-charting singles to date: "Oh Boy" and "Hey Ma", which peaked at numbers four and three respectively on the Billboard Hot 100. His fourth studio album, Purple Haze was released in 2004 to continued success, receiving gold certification by the RIAA.
Honey is a 2003 American dance film directed by Billie Woodruff. It stars Jessica Alba, Mekhi Phifer, Romeo Miller, Joy Bryant, and David Moscow, with a cameo by Missy Elliott and featured performances by Tweet, Jadakiss, Ginuwine, and Blaque.
O is a 2001 American romantic thriller film, and a modern adaptation of William Shakespeare's Othello, set in an American high school. It stars Mekhi Phifer, Julia Stiles, and Josh Hartnett. It was directed by Tim Blake Nelson and written by Brad Kaaya. The film contains many different styles of music, ranging from rap to opera. It was filmed in Charleston, South Carolina in the spring of 1999. Originally intended for release for October 17, 1999, it was shelved following the Columbine High School massacre; O was finally released on August 31, 2001. The film grossed $16 million at the United States box office, which was seen by distributor Lions Gate Films as a "box office success".
Mekhi Phifer is an American actor. He portrayed Dr. Greg Pratt on NBC's long-running medical drama ER from 2002 to 2008, and had a co-starring role opposite rapper Eminem in the 2002 feature film 8 Mile. He was a recurring cast member on the Fox crime show Lie to Me in the role of Ben Reynolds before season 3, and also starred as CIA officer Rex Matheson in Torchwood: Miracle Day.
Sherwin David "Wood" Harris is an American actor. He first garnered attention for his role as Motaw in the Jeff Pollack film Above the Rim (1994), prior to portraying high school football player Julius Campbell in the Walt Disney Pictures film Remember the Titans (2000) and Jimi Hendrix in the Showtime television film Hendrix (2000). He attained further recognition for his portrayal of drug kingpin Avon Barksdale on the HBO crime drama The Wire (2002–2008). Harris also played the role of cocaine dealer Ace, based on the life of Azie Faison, in the crime film Paid in Full in 2002.
Mason Durell Betha, better known by his mononym Mase, is an American rapper. In the late 1990s, he recorded on the Bad Boy Records label alongside its founder Sean "Puff Daddy" Combs to significant mainstream success. In 1997 and 1998, Mase had a total of five platinum singles, five Hot Rap Songs number one singles, and six Billboard Hot 100 top ten singles, stemming from his guest features on Sean Combs' singles "Can't Nobody Hold Me Down" and "Been Around the World", the Notorious B.I.G.'s "Mo Money Mo Problems", as well as his singles as a lead artist: "Feel So Good", "What You Want" and "Lookin' at Me". Both "Can't Nobody Hold Me Down" and "Mo Money Mo Problems" topped the Billboard Hot 100.
Clockers is a 1995 American crime drama film directed by Spike Lee. It is an adaptation of the 1992 novel of the same name by Richard Price, who also co-wrote the screenplay with Lee. The film stars Harvey Keitel, John Turturro, Delroy Lindo, and Mekhi Phifer in his debut film role. Set in New York City, Clockers tells the story of Strike (Phifer), a street-level drug dealer who becomes entangled in a murder investigation.
Juan Ramón Matta-Ballesteros is a Honduran former major narcotics trafficker who has been credited with being one of the first to connect Mexican drug traffickers with the Colombian cocaine cartels. This connection paved the way for a major increase in the amount of cocaine smuggled into the United States during the late 1970s and throughout the 1980s. Matta was indicted for operating several major cocaine smuggling rings in United States in the early 1980s. He was also one of the narcotics traffickers accused of the kidnap and murder of American DEA agent Enrique Camarena in 1985.
Puff, Puff, Pass is a 2006 comedy crime film, also known as Living High, directed by Mekhi Phifer.
"Undertow" is the fifth episode of the second season of the HBO original series The Wire. The episode was written by Ed Burns from a story by David Simon & Ed Burns and was directed by Steve Shill. It originally aired on June 29, 2003.
"Straight and True" is the fifth episode of the third season of the HBO original series The Wire. The episode was written by Ed Burns from a story by David Simon & Ed Burns and was directed by Dan Attias. It originally aired on October 17, 2004.
Azie Faison Jr., sometimes known by the nickname AZ, is an American former drug dealer and businessman from Harlem, New York City. He attained notoriety during the War on Drugs era as an individual drug dealer during the 1980s. His five-year reign as a drug kingpin ended in 1989.
The depiction of Colombia in popular culture, especially the portrayal of Colombian people in film and fiction, has been asserted by Colombian organizations and government to be largely negative and has raised concerns that it reinforces, or even engenders, societal prejudice and discrimination due to association with narco-trafficking, terrorism, illegal immigration and other criminal elements, poverty and welfare. The Colombian government-funded Colombia is Passion advertisement campaign as an attempt to improve Colombia's image abroad, with mixed results hoping for more positive views on Colombia.
John Christopher, known as I.N.F.O. is an American record producer, born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States, who specializes in Hip hop/R&B/Pop. He has been known to work in the production duo "I.N.F.O. & NOVA". Some of the notable artists I.N.F.O. has worked with include Chris Brown, Cam'ron and The Diplomats, Birdman, Young Money Juelz Santana, Fabolous, Trae, Slim Thug, Paul Wall, Lloyd, Rich Boy, Master P., Lil Wayne, B.G., among many others. I.N.F.O.'s style is known to contain original compositions with heavy synth laden melodies and 808 drums. His more recent production can be identified with a vocal tag saying "INFO" at the beginning and ending of songs. In 2010, I.N.F.O. joined Cash Money Records as an in-house producer. I.N.F.O. also boasts a co-publishing deal with Money Mack, an entity of Cash Money Records, which is administered by Universal Music Publishing Group.
Flypaper is a 2011 American crime comedy film starring Patrick Dempsey and Ashley Judd, and directed by Rob Minkoff and written by Jon Lucas and Scott Moore. It was released on August 19, 2011.
Sumas y Restas is a 2004 Colombian drama film directed and co-written by Víctor Gaviria. The plot follows a young real estate developer who ventures into cocaine trafficking lured by the opportunity of making quick money, but his life descends in a spiral of drugs and violence. As he did in his previous films, Víctor Gaviria opted to cast non-professional actors.
Richard Thomas Porter, better known as Rich Porter, was an American drug kingpin and gangster who rose to prominence in the Harlem neighborhood of New York City during the crack era in the mid–1980s. The 2002 film Paid in Full was based on Rich and his partners Azie Faison and Alpo Martinez.
Albert Geddis Martinez, better known as Alpo Martinez, Abraham G. Rodriquez, or more simply as Alpo or Po was an American drug dealer from Harlem, New York City of Puerto Rican descent. He rose to prominence in the mid–1980s. In addition to New York, Martinez expanded his drug trade to other cities, notably Washington, D.C.
The Dirty Thirty was a police corruption conspiracy that took place between 1992 and 1995 in the New York City Police Department's 30th Precinct, serving Harlem, and resulted in the largest collection of police officers charged with corruption in New York City in almost a decade. A group of rogue officers, led by Sergeant Kevin P. Nannery, participated in various unlawful activities, including civil rights conspiracy, perjury, extortion, grand larceny and the possession and distribution of narcotics. The scandal led to a number of arrests of police officers and two suicides.
Leslie Torres is an American spree killer who, in the period from January 1 to 8, 1988, attacked 11 people in the East Harlem neighborhood of Manhattan. Five people died from the attacks and six were left severely injured. He later turned himself in and confessed to the crimes, of which he was convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment.
