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The story of the Black Mafia Family has captivated viewers due to the 50 Cent-produced Starz series, and now a documentary series on the notorious empire has made its debut.
On Sunday (Oct. 23), The BMF Documentary: Blowing Money Fast premiered on Starz. The new series is an in-depth look at the founders of the Black Mafia Family, Demetrius “Big Meech” and Terry “Southwest T” Flenory. Both men led the infamous drug trafficking empire that sprung out of the crack epidemic that ravaged Detroit, Michigan in the 1980s. Like the BMF series that premiered on the network featuring Demetrius “Lil Meech” Flenory as his father, Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson is the executive producer.
50 Cent tapped Shan Nicholson, best known for helming Rubble Kings, the 2015 documentary that received high praise for its coverage of 1970s gang violence in the Bronx, New York. Nicholson would then approach Chris Frierson, director of the Don’t Try To Understand: A Year in the Life of Earl ‘DMX’ Simmons documentary that premiered last year. Frierson has deep ties to Detroit, with his family hailing from there and being a native of Lansing.
Taking nine months to finish, the series is rife with never-before-seen photographs and video footage of the Flenory brothers, capturing their younger days to showing the spoils and excesses during their BMF days. Included in the series are thorough interviews with Lucille, Demetrius and Terry’s mother who spoke about her efforts to try to keep them from trouble.
“I felt like my children were easily influenced by other people, you know, with their flashy cars and jewelry,” she says in a clip. “But I would tell my children … that’s not the route to go. I would call it the devil’s way.”
Other notable figures interviewed in the eight-part series include their sister, Nicole Flenory as well as Rick Wershe Jr, also known as “White Boy Rick” in those days. Longtime friends of the two are also interviewed, historian Jamon Jordan, journalist Scott Burnstein, and law enforcement officials from Detroit and Atlanta, where BMF would take up roots in the early 2000s.
T.I. and 50 Cent also share their recollections. Lastly, viewers will hear from Big Meech through audio recordings from a federal prison where he is serving his sentence until 2028. Terry is currently under home confinement, having been released in 2020 due to the rise of the COVID-19 pandemic in prisons.
The BMF Documentary: Blowing Money Fast series will air each Sunday on Starz. Check out the trailer below.
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