Thug Life: The True Story of Hip-Hop and Organized Crime

by Seth Ferranti

Overview

“Ferranti continues to amaze us with the most infamous OGs and their unfathomable street life.”—The Source

“Seth Ferranti is one of the most prolific true-crime writers of our era. He knows the street game inside and out. From the streets to the penitentiary, nobody rates better.”—“White Boy Rick” Wershe

From the penitentiary to the streets, it’s on and popping. Thug life is more than spitting rhymes or hustling on the corner.

Thugs live and die on the streets or end up in the “belly of the beast.” Rappers name-drop guns by model number and call out drug dealers by name. Gangsta rap is crack-era nostalgia taken to the extreme. It’s a world where rappers emulate their favorite hood stars in videos, celebrate their names in verse, and make ghetto heroes out of gangsters. But what happens when hip-hop and organized crime collide?

From the blocks in Queens where Supreme and Murder Inc. held court to the neighborhoods of Los Angeles where Harry-O and Death Row made their names to Rap-A-Lot Records and J Prince in Houston, whenever rap moguls rose the street legends weren’t far behind. From Bad Boy Records and Anthony “Wolf” Jones in New York to Gucci Mane and the Black Mafia Family in Atlanta to Too Short and Daryl Reed in the Bay Area, thug life wasn’t glamorous. The shit on the street was real. In the game there was a common struggle to get out of the gutter. Cats were trying to get their piece of the American Dream by any means necessary. Drug game equals rap game equals hip-hop hustler.

In Thug Life, Seth Ferranti takes you on a journey to a world where gangsterism mixes with hip-hop, a journey of pimps, stick-up kids, numbers men, drug dealers, thugs, players, gangstas, hustlers, and of course the rappers who live dual lives in entertainment and crime. The common denominator? Money, power, and respect.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781949590517
Publisher:	Hamilcar Publications
Publication date:	06/06/2023
Pages:	232
Sales rank:	539,278
Product dimensions:	6.10(w) x 9.10(h) x 1.00(d)

About the Author

After landing on the U.S. Marshals Service “15 Most Wanted” list and being sentenced to a twenty-five-year sentence in federal prison for a first-time, nonviolent LSD and cannabis offense, Seth Ferranti built a writing and journalism career from his cell block in the “belly of the beast.” His raw portrayals of prison life and crack-era gangsters have appeared in Diva, VICE, and Penthouse. From prison Ferranti published books like Prison Stories and Street Legends, which made him a celebrity in and out of penitentiaries across the United States and abroad. His incredible story has been covered by the Washington Post, the Washington Times, and Rolling Stone and he starred in the Season 1 finale of VICE’s I Was A Teenage Felon. He also wrote, produced, and appeared in the hit Netflix documentary, White Boy.

Table of Contents

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Intro

Part 1: 1980s

Back in the Day

Chapter 1: The Crack King: Too Short and Daryl Reed, Oakland

Chapter 2: The Dirty South: Rap A Lot Records and J Prince, Houston

Chapter 3: The Original Gangsta: Ruthless Records and Eazy E, Los Angeles

Chapter 4: The Drug Kingpin Behind Death Row: Death Row Records and Harry-O, Los Angeles

Chapter 5: The Gangstas from Little Haiti: Zoe Nation and Zoe Pound, Miami

Part 2: 1990s

The Glory Years

Chapter 6: The Brooklyn Don: Jay-Z and Calvin Klein, Brooklyn

Chapter 7: The Trials and Tribulations of Mac Dre: Thizz Entertainment and Mac Dre, San Francisco

Chapter 8: Gangster Turned Music Mogul: Czar Entertainment and Jimmy Henchman, Brooklyn

Chapter 9: The Ultimate Harlem Hustler: Big Boss Records and Kevin Chiles, Harlem

Chapter 10: The Tale of Puff Daddy’s Bodyguard: Bad Boy Records and Anthony “Wolf” Jones, Manhattan

Part 3: 2000s

Gangsta Rap Rules

Chapter 11: Hip-Hop Gangsta Chronicles in the 305: Rick Ross, Boobie Boys, and Slip-N-Slide Records, Miami

Chapter 12: Getting Gangsta in the Big Easy: Cash Money Records and Williams Brothers, New Orleans

Chapter 13: Loyalty Over Everything: Murder Inc. Records and Kenneth “Supreme” McGriff, Queens

Chapter 14: From Street Hustlers to Rap Overlords: Ruff Ryders Entertainment and Darren “Dee” Dean, New York

Chapter 15: A Philly Gangster Getting Out of the Game: Take Down Records and Ace Capone, Philadelphia

Part 4: 2010s

New Era Gangstas

Chapter 16: Windy City Rappers and Drug Lords: 1st & 15th Entertainment and Charles “Chilly” Patton, Chicago

Chapter 17: Getting Gangsta in the ATL: Gucci Mane and BMF, Atlanta

Chapter 18: How GS9 Invaded Flatbush: GS9 Entertainment and Bobby Shmurda, Brooklyn

Chapter 19: The Makings of a Motor City Dynasty: BMB Records and Brian “Peanut” Brown, Detroit

Chapter 20: The Story of the Snitching Studio Gangster: Tekashi 6ix9ine and the Nine Trey Gangsta Bloods, Brooklyn

Acknowledgments

Sources

Editorial Reviews

Seth Ferrranti is not only a supremely talented writer, he has also experienced crime and hip-hop firsthand. He is part of the culture.”—“Freeway” Rick Ross

“Thug Life's focus on gangsta rap and organized crime is an inspired pairing. Seth Ferranti has an incredible story, and is a great storyteller himself.”—Ben Westhoff, author of Original Gangstas: Tupac Shakur, Eazy-E, Ice Cube, and the Birth of West Coast Rap

“Seth Ferranti possesses the zeal of a strong investigative reporter with the street smarts of a hustler. Even though I’ve been writing about street crime for two decades, I can always count on Seth to surprise me.”—Ethan Brown, author of Queens Reigns Supreme: Fat Cat, 50 Cent, and the Rise of the Hip-Hop Hustler

From the Publisher