I want to quote every last bit of this remarkable interview between the aged Harlem drug kingpins Frank Lucas and Nicky Barnes. But since "fair use" is all up in my grill on that sort of thing, here are some excerpts and a strong recommendation to read the whole interview:
When mobsters age. So, here they are on enmity:
MJ: You guys have said some pretty harsh things about each other over the years. Nick, what's your biggest bitch with Frank?
NB: Well, I read he had this multimillion-dollar contract on my life.
On rap:
FL: Call them songs? When I came along, we had singing. They might make up songs about me, but I don't have to like them.
MJ: What about you, Nick? You're like a hip-hop folk hero.
NB: I never thought anything like this would happen. When hip-hop first started, everybody—I mean the music entrepreneurs—predicted that hip-hop would be dead in five years. They said, “Those motherfuckers ain't gonna make no money.” But hip-hop rolled along, and look what they're doing now. They got Jay-Z, Damon Dash, Kanye West, 50 Cent. These guys are doing something legitimate.
FL: At least Nick knows the names. I don't know none of them. I know Puffy Combs, because of his father.
NB: Oh, Melvin! Melvin Combs.
FL: Melvin used to be at my house a couple of times a week. I'm proud to see Melvin's son like that.
And on health:
NB: Frank, are you taking anything for your broken leg?
FL: They gave me a whole bunch of shit.
NB: There's a Website out there of a guy named Gary Null. He's an alternative practitioner, and he offers all kinds of vitamin supplements to cure bone injuries. You really ought to go check him out.
FL: Yeah? I'm going to take this down, man.
