I Think I'm, "Big Meech", "Larry Hoover"...

This post will take the phrase "The Truth Shall Set You Free" to an entirely new level!

Last night, I was introduced to a documentary about the introduction of "crack" (rock cocaine), its effects on an entire generation and how it changed America, forever. While watching this documentary, I was introduced to a few familiar names and had a chance to learn about who they were and their influence on American culture and society. I will delve deeper into those people later.

This documentary caused me to do further investigation on the "Crack Era", to gain a better understanding of the power of the drug over both users and dealers. I learned about more "prominent" figures that had a large influence on culture back then, and have a very big influence in the hip hop culture right now!

Let's take a minute to get acquainted with William Leonard Roberts II a.k.a. "Rick Ross". Haitian rapper "Rick Ross" has a current net worth of $25 million (as of July 2012). Four of his five albums have hit number one on the billboard charts (Port of Miami, Trilla, Deeper Than Rap, God Forgives, I Don't). His current album, "God Forgives, I Don't" is number one in the United States, Canada, and number eight in The United Kingdom. As the CEO for Maybach Music Group (MMG), Rick Ross has built a brand and an empire that models the empires of those you would see in movies. It appears that he has the ultimate "rags to riches" story that everyone who's faced hardship dreams about...emphasis on the word APPEARS.

 It is reported that "Ross" was born in Coahama County, Mississippi and relocated to Carol City, Florida when he was four years old. In all of the sources I viewed, his bio skips all the way to him graduating from Carol City Senior High School and attending Albany State University in Albany, Georgia. From there, it jumps to him eventually signing to a small label, then a bigger one, to eventually starting his own: MMG. I found this to be rather odd, because all my sources and all the interviews I watched left me with a very vague impression of his beginning/ rise to fame.

In 2008, a photo was leaked to the public that appeared to be "Ross" or should I say "Officer Roberts". You may be slightly confused, let me clarify. In the summer of 2008, a photo of an unidentified Correction Officer was leaked to the public. The man in the photo was identified as "Rick Ross". After vehemently denying the allegation, Ross went on to state that the phony story was being circulated by detractors upset by his success in the rap world because he came out of nowhere and just took over the streets. Although he denied all claims and accusations, a copy of his personnel record surfaced and announced that his annual salary would be $22,913.54 , further proving that "Rick Ross" was once Officer Roberts (18 months to be exact). Ross later states on "Big Boy's Morning Show"that the man in the photo is actually him. In that interview, Ross goes on to make innuendos about being involved in "the underground" and all that glamourous stuff that will get addressed.

In order to work for law inforcement, the government, etc. one can not have any type of criminal activity in their background. Knowing that, I started to wonder what was this 'persona' that he was portraying to the public? You can't be a former correction officer AND be a cocaine, slingin' kingpin that escaped the law through music.. It just does not match! So, I was forced to do further investigating... Rick Ross, who is Rick Ross? Oh, you think I'm talking about the rapper "Rick Ross"?? No, I'm talking about the persona the rapper is portraying...

Freeway "Rick Ross", born Ricky Donnell Ross, is a former drug trafficker who is best known for the 'drug empire' that he presided over in Los Angeles, California in the early 1980's. In Ricky's early days, he had a promising career as a tennis player, but lost all opportunities when it was discovered that he was illiterate and barely attended school. It was at this time where he was initially introduced to cocaine, then known as "the rich people's drug". After hooking up with suppliers in Nicaragua, Ricky and a partner started to supply cocaine to gang members for distribution. As their success grew, the two decided to go into business for themselves, this helped them to generate more profits. 6 months into dealing independently, Ricky had developed a way for addicts to smoke ready-to-go freebase cocaine, known as "Ready Rock" or "Crack". It is recorded that at the height of his success, Ricky was selling $2 million to $3 million worth of crack DAILY! In a matter of years, Ricky was the leader of Los Angeles' first cocaine ring. Through his connections in Nicaruagua, he purchased guns and surveillance  equipment and supplied funding for the fight against tyrant rulers in Nicargua.

Now that Ricky is dominating Los Angeles, he took his efforts to Kansas City, New Orleans, Oklahoma, St. Louis, Seattle, Atlanta, Miami, New York, and Detroit. To hide the abundance of money coming in, Ricky invested in lavish things as well as an auto parts store and the Freeway Motor Inn, which doubled as a meeting location for drug dealers. This tactic worked for some time, but with the flashy lifestyle Ricky and his counterparts were living it was inevitable to dodge law enforcement forever. As we all know, all good things must come to an end... As Ricky felt the heat from the law, he slowly scaled back his lifestyle and started to prepare for early retirement. Law enforcement officials created the Ricky Ross Taskforce which intercepted a call he made to a connect in Texas, that was later apprehended by police and revealed the secrets to Ricky's Empire. This revelation combined with years of investigation was enough for Ricky to be arrested and incarcerated for 10 years (plea deal). After serving 4 years, Ricky was released for testifying in a federal case and to $2 million in money and property. Ricky woould find himself back in prison facing a life sentence after being setup by the Feds and his connect in Nicaragua. He only served 20 years, and is now working on projects such as a film, modeling agency, and a reality television show.... Now that's the REAL RICK ROSS!

In the song, Blowin' Money Fast (BMF), rapper "Rick Ross" recites lyrics like:

I think I'm Big Meech, Larry Hoover,
whippin' work, hallelujah
One nation, under God,
Real niggas gettin money from the fuckin start...

Balling in the club, bottles like I'm Meech hoe...

I think I'm Big Meech, look at my timepiece
It's Audemars, hundred racks at least
Look at yourself, now look at me
You can't see nigga, I'm what you used to be..

Rick Ross clearly has identity issues...So now you're Rick Ross, thinking you're Big Meech AND Larry Hoover?! Well, let's find out who exactly "Big Meech" and "Larry Hoover" are...

Demetrius "Big Meech" Flenory and his younger brother Terry "Southwest T" Flenory begain their drug trade in high school, selling "eight balls" (one-eighth ounces) of crack cocaine for $50 on the streets of Southwest Detroit, Ecorse, and River Rouge, Michigan. By 2000, they established a multi-kilogram cocaine distribution ring that served Alabama, California, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Massachusetts, Michigan, Missouri, North Carolina, Ohio, Tennesse, and Texas. With so much ground to cover, Big Meech had enlisted over 500 memebers into "BMF" or "Black Mafia Family". The organization tried to legitimize itself by entering the hip hop music business, starting a company called BMF Entertainment. Through BMF Entertainment, it helped promote a number of artists, including Young Jeezy, as well as BMF Entertainment's sole artist, Bleu DaVinci. Before their entrance into the music business, the Flenory Brothers were known to associate with a number of high-profile hip-hop artists, including Jay-Z, Fabolous, and Bun B.

In 2003, Meech and Terry had a falling out and went their seperate ways, Meech in Atlanta and Terry in Los Angeles. Meech remained in control of the drug trade and BMF. In a wire tapped phone conversation, the DEA over heard Terry telling their sister that Meech's lavish lifestyle may bring too much attention to their "business". By the time charges were filed, the government had over 900 pages of typed transcripts of wiretapped conversations from Terry's phone alone. In 2005, the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) indicted members of the Black Mafia Family, ultimately securing convictions by targeting the Flenory brothers under the Continuing Criminal Enterprise Statue. Both were sentenced 30 years to life (Terry will be released in 2031, Meech in 2032). Over 150 members of BMF were arrested and indicted on drug charges. Prosecutors alleged BMF made over $270 million over the course of the conspiracy.

Larry Hoover, founder and leader of the Gangster Disciples. When I read about Larry, I was blown away. Freeway Ricky Ross and Big Meech were intense but Larry Hoover had me intrigued, especially since he's serving a 200 year life sentence. The other two have a chance to enter the free world again, Larry does not.

Larry was born in Jackson, Mississippi but moved with his family to Chicago, Illinois when he was 4. As a preteen, Larry would cut school and run the streets with his friends, naming themselves "Supreme Gangsters". They involved themselves in petty crimes such as muggings and thefts; these petty crimes were the start to a vicious cycle. At the age of 19, "King Larry" and a rival gang member joinded their members together and created "Gangster Disciple Nation". Under King Larry's rule, gangster Disciples took over the south side drug trade, making over $1,000 daily.

By the age of 24, Hoover had been in and out of prison several times, and had endured six separate shooting attempts on his life. Each time, he survived, and doubled his retaliation efforts. But on February 26, 1973, Hoover went too far. He and another Gangster Disciple, Andrew Howard, shot and killed dealer William Young after a heated argument over money. Both Hoover and Howard were arrested, and sentenced to 150 to 200 years in prison.

But Larry's power seemed only to grow inside the prison walls. He began protecting other inmates, who then became devotees and new recruits for the Gangster Disciple Nation. His control over the other prisoners was recognized by the warden's office, which began looking to Hoover as a positive influence to quiet riots and uprisings within the prison system. Changing the GD of "Gangster Disciple" to "Growth and Development," Hoover's move to reform began gaining positive attention from the outside.

Prison officials, however, saw Larry's good intentions as a ploy to get out of prison and resume his illegal activities. While friends and allies on the outside lobbied to get Hoover paroled for his contributions to society, law enforcement agents say Larry was finding new ways to expand his criminal ventures. The Gangster Disciples had grown to more than 15,000 members in at least five states. Their drug profits had also risen well into the millions of dollars all of which gang members attributed to the leadership of Larry Hoover.

Transferred to a minimum security prison in Vienna, Illinois, Larry was living a luxurious lifestyle that involved new clothes, expensive jewelry, specially prepared meals, and private visitations from friends and loved ones. Suspicious authorities began wire-tapping his private meetings, and discovered that he was running the Gangster Disciple group from within the prison system. Informants revealed that all of Larry's nonprofit organizations were actually fronts for laundering drug money. On August 31, 1995, after a 5-year undercover investigation by the federal government, Hoover was indicted for drug conspiracy, extortion, and continuing to engage in a criminal enterprise. In 1997, Hoover was found guilty on all charges, and sentenced to six life sentences. Larry is currently serving his sentence at the United States Penitentiary Administrative Maximum Facility in Florence, Colorado.

Rapper Rick Ross has modeled his life and shaped his music around the lives of those who actually lived it. Although I look at this as a genius business move, its very unfortunate for fans and disrespectful to those that lived through this. Here you have men that lead lives of crime, built empires and watched them crumble, and now you have this person who knows nothing about this lifestyle capitalizing off of another man's story. Ross has done an impeccable job  at painting himself as a cocaine tootin' drug lord that outsmarted the law. However, we all know that's not how the "fairytale" ends, just look at the current situations of those that have actually lived it.

We have young men looking up to Rick Ross as the poster child for "success". They are intrigued with his lifestyle and the picture he paints with his lyrics about his "struggles" or "rise to fortune" and sadly it's all an illusion. With Ross using a business technique, such as this one, he is capitalizing off of the trials and tribulations of others while presenting false hopes to impressionable minds. Below are a few of Rapper Rick Ross' music videos:

No, I don't have any personal issues with rapper Rick Ross. This information was intriguing to me and felt I should share my thoughts with you.

Your Comments??...Your Thoughts??