Scatter is captured by the corrupt policemen, who give him a fatal overdose of drugs. There aren't any reviews yet. [6], At the time of its release, there were many African-Americans that were displeased with the images of themselves portrayed in films such as Super Fly, Sweet Sweetbacks Baadassssss Song, and Shaft. When Eddie states that they have $300,000, Priest reveals his plan to buy thirty kilos of high-quality cocaine, which they can sell for $1,000,000 within four months. I am Director X. Im the director of Superfly 2018. Variety and the Flying V logos are trademarks of Variety Media, LLC. Furthermore, Curtis Mayfield's soundtrack remains one of the greatest movie soundtrack albums from the '70s or any other time. Hes got a beautiful house and a beautiful car, commands respect, and presides over an uneasy peace with Snow Patrol, a competing drug gang that wears all white. "Superfly" (one word) the remake and the original "Super Fly" (two words, from 1972) are in many respects similar. The rival gang is Snow Patrol, always decked out in pure white: white fur, white guns, white jeans, white Lamborghinis and white Range Rovers . The film was directed by Director X, written by Alex Tse and stars Trevor Jackson, Jason Mitchell, Michael K. Williams, Lex Scott Davis, and Jennifer Morrison. On this Wikipedia the language links are at the top of the page across from the article title. Photograph by Quantrell D. Colbert / Sony Pictures Entertainment, The New Yorker Interview with David Remnick, Everything Is Cinema: The Working Life of Jean-Luc Godard. Additionally, the end credits on the original film release and video cassette differ from the DVD. Freddie attempts to escape and is killed when he runs in front of a car. It was also noted that Mayfield had accused the Academy of a racial bias, although he was declining to file suit because the title song from Super Fly had been considered for the Oscar balloting. I'm just trying to make it real, baby like it is. Its very much an Atlanta look. Eddie: Look, I know it's a rotten game, but it's the only one The Man left us to play. Courtesy Sony Pictures. See our. Superfly is a 2018 American action crime thriller film and a remake of the 1972 blaxploitation film Super Fly. Youngblood Priest: I'm talking to you, you redneck f*ggot. We're doing our best to make sure our content is useful, accurate and safe.If by any chance you spot an inappropriate comment while navigating through our website please use this form to let us know, and we'll take care of it shortly. The money rolls in, and soon a couple of corrupt white cops are making aggressive requests to dip their beaks. Priest and Eddie are joined by Freddie, who turns over the money he stole. "Scatter" Stephens Was A Cleveland Street Legend & The Real Superfly 2 years ago Scott Burnstein You are unauthorized to view this page. Nearly every character in the film, with the notable exception of his "main squeeze," tries to dissuade Priest from quitting; their chief argument being that dealing and snorting are the best he ever could achieve in life. Youngblood Priest: So what? All rights reserved. Both movies tell the story of Youngblood Priest, a coke dealer looking to make one last big score and then get out. "Superfly", a song on The O.C. Superfly - Necessary Violence: Adalberto Gonzalez (Esai Morales) kills Scatter (Michael Kenneth Williams) after he realizes that he's been stealing from him.BUY THE MOVIE: https://www.fandangonow.com/details/movie/superfly-2018-2018/MMV03DF2F54CD1C96B7C04778B9249D9045C?cmp=Movieclips_YT_DescriptionWatch the best Superfly scenes \u0026 clips:https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLZbXA4lyCtqpnyrFQ3OaPQQz-oIebzeAO#superfly#trevorjacksonFILM DESCRIPTION:Cocaine kingpin Youngblood Priest realizes that it's time to get out of the game after surviving a violent attack from a crazed rival. Mayfield, who made his film scoring debut with Super Fly, received a Grammy nomination for the films soundtrack. Within those cynically defined contemporary parameters, Youngblood Priest (Trevor Jackson, dressed to the nines and sporting what one character derides as Morris Day hair) is doing well. After the police leave, Eddie is elated by the new situation, claiming that they are set for life, although Priest is still determined to quit after selling the thirty kilos. The hot-tempered Eddie threatens Scatter, demanding that he reveal his source if he will not supply them, but Scatter disarms Eddie and holds him at gunpoint. Jackson does cool almost too well. But the experience of watching these movies is very differentas different as night and day. The American Film Institute is grateful to Sir Paul Getty KBE and the Sir Paul Getty KBE Estate for their dedication to the art of the moving image and their support for the AFI Catalog of Feature Films and without whose support AFI would not have been able to achieve this historical landmark in this epic scholarly endeavor. And then when you get closer, obviously its them. Youngblood Priest: Man, you white around the nose as a Georgia mule. Scatter, who now runs a popular restaurant, initially refuses to help Priest, but Priest plays on his emotions, claiming that he wants to get out while he is young and before he has to endure the extreme hardships faced by Scatter. Families can talk about the "blaxploitation" genre. I'm an intermediate flier (eflight ministick, hell raiser, formosa). Common Sense Media's unbiased ratings are created by expert reviewers and aren't influenced by the product's creators or by any of our funders, affiliates, or partners. Priest, whose real power is information (hes got it on everyone), is surrounded by player-predators who are less cunning but more crudely violent than he is. He has a now-iconic charisma, "cool" in the classic sense of the word. There's brief female nudity (breasts and buttocks) and one extended sex scene in a bath tub; characters moan with pleasure as the camera moves in slow motion up and down their bodies. The article noted that Mayfield was not qualified for a nomination for Best Dramatic Score because five songs needed to be submitted, and Warners only submitted three. Although the article stated that Mayfields manager was contemplating filing suit against the Academy, the action was not taken. A remake of the 1972 blaxploitation classic trades in its drug-dealer-as-outlaw-capitalist mythology for a glossy, slammed-together genre flick. Priest has anticipated Eddie's duplicity, however, and gives the briefcase carrying the money to a disguised Georgia in exchange for one full of rags. The original Priest, played by Ron O'Neal, famously sported leisure suits and floor-length overcoats, but Trevor Jackson's version of the drug dealer favors a less flamboyant style drawn from AllSaints, Burberry and German designer Phillip Plein. (Click here to read about the 2018 remake .) Later on in the story hes dressed in a bejeweled jacket and splashy watch where hes like Ive now got the dough and Im going to put it on my back. The remake runs twenty minutes longer than the originaltwenty minutes that detail Priests audacious maneuverings and their grim effects in milieux left unexplored by the earlier film. Taking design cues from Pharrell Williams fashion line Billionaires Boys Club, she dressed one Snow Patrol member, played by rapper Big Bank, in fluffy fur coat and fedora. If Priests stratagems in the original seem like the moves of a chess master, his new ones resemble the work of a grandmaster of simultaneous blindfold-chess, for whom, through information technology, distant nodes of power are instantaneously connected (the last image of the film is even a kinga white kingbeing tipped over on a chess board). The original red and black Warner logo is replaced by the updated AOL/Warner logo used at the time of DVD release. It features 13 new and previously released songs, as well as guest appearances from Miguel, Lil Wayne, Khalid, Ty Dolla Sign, Young Thug, PartyNextDoor, H.E.R., Gunna, Sleepy Brown, and Yung Bans, among others. When they reached out to me, I was like Tell me what you got? Supertones' sixth album Hi-Fi Revival 2023 Cond Nast. Later on I found out, Big Boi has that hat, Bank has that hat, King Luther has that hat. If it wasn't for you I probably wouldn't be here, I'd be O.D'ed some place. Cynthia is killed, and Priest and Georgia set fire to the mansion. As Mayfields Pusherman plays, Priests drugs are seen hitting Birmingham, Ala.; Nashville; Miami; and Houston. Times reviewer, Jay Cocks, irritated by the pictures stereotypes and lack of technical proficiency, declared: What makes a crummy little movie like Super Fly worth getting angry about is the implication behind it: that movies made for black audiences have to be, or can easily be, so casually and contemptuously awful. The HR critic, on the other hand, praised the film as one of remarkable power and a revelation, technically, that realistically captured the struggle confronting those ghetto denizens who refuse to accept the life to which they have been consigned. The American Dream is invoked several times in Superfly. The mentions come from the movies lead character, and from a song on the soundtrack. Michael isnt trained as far as I know, but hes a dancer. He can get there and make it happen pretty quickly. Although the timid Freddie abhors violence, he agrees and accompanies another member of Priest's "family" of lower-level dealers to commit the robbery. The way that the media depict and distort police violence is embedded in the film, in a scene showing a news report that follows a monstrous incident, as is the power of media to amplify misdeeds and ruin careers at a single stroke. matplotlib is a Python package used for data plotting and visualisation. HR news items add the following information about the production: Warner >>, James M. Cain's novel Double Indemnity was serialized in Liberty magazine. If you are a California resident, California law may consider certain disclosures of data a sale of your personal information (such as cookies that help Motion Picture Association later serve you ads, like we discuss in our. And no motherf***er tells me when I can split. [5] The film made $1.2 million on its first day,[9] $938,583 on its second and $1.8 million on its third. I'm to the point where I ain't afraid to die. Review: Superfly Adds Bling to an Old Tale, https://www.nytimes.com/2018/06/12/movies/superfly-review.html. Youngblood Priest: You don't own me, pig, and no motherf***er tells me when I can split. Reardon threatens Priest that he must continue selling drugs as long as he is ordered to, but when Priest refuses, the policemen begin to beat him. Takin' it, sellin' it, bankrollin' so other small time pusher. 26 Jan 2023 07:44:06 [3] Principal photography started in Atlanta, Georgia in January 2018. Another quality that distinguishes Super Fly from other blaxploitation films was the technical crew, the majority of which was non-white, constituting the largest non-white technical crew in its time. AFI champions progress in visual storytelling to empower storytellers, inspire story lovers and further the limitless power of the moving image. The Atlanta locale of Superfly seems like the perfect high-low setting, but though Director X exploits a number of colorful locations (a hair salon that turns into a drive-by slaughter, a mansion that looks as big as Versailles), the film has very little visual texture or sense of place. in every room, and can snort a half a piece of dope everyday? The new HBO film dramatizes the effect of culture and politics on the most intimate extremes of a persons lifeand how particularly distorting and damaging this collective power has been for women. What the F*CK are you gunna do except hustle? Priest is an under-the-radar dealer working in virtual anonymity (he has no arrest record) and with a very small crewmainly his right-hand man and longtime friend, Eddie (Jason Mitchell), and his enforcer, Freddy (Jacob Ming-Trent). Scatter Color: The color of the light that gets scattered in the material. Remember, blacks just got into films. The article supported his viewpoint, asserting: Since mid-1970, at least 51 films about blacks have been released. Reardon threatens Priest that he must continue selling drugs as long as he is ordered to, but when Priest replies defiantly, the policemen begin to beat him. | Priest, as presented in Superfly, is a master plotter who distills his hard-forged wisdom into terse yet gaudy aphorisms, which adorn the soundtrack in dialogue and voice-over. Speaking from Toronto, Messam shared insights about the hip looks that help sell the story of drug dealer Priest (Trevor Jackson) and his crew. And that robs Superfly of the dramatic flavor a good underworld drama needs. Georgia: Look maybe you should get out now now before something really bad happens. .st2{display:none;fill:none;stroke:#979797;stroke-linecap:square;} Deputy Commissioner: You're working for me until I tell you to quit. Big Bank Black as Q, the pragmatic leader of Snow Patrol. After Priest leaves with the cash, Eddie betrays him by phoning the lieutenant. In the original Super Fly, a few handguns made an appearance but, if memory serves, not one of them is discharged in the entire film; the gun is the ultimate threat, one that is even unsheathed only sparingly. director of photography Film Editing by Bob Brady The film opens as the name ROCKY pans across the screen, filling the frame. Franklin kills Freddie and Rochelle. They seem to have come straight out of other movies. But Priest wants out of dealing and comes up with a plan to make it happen. Movie Info. When we first talked at the beginning, Diddy was inspiration for the Snow Patrol, representing New York flash and opulence, Messam says. O'Neal reprised his role as Youngblood Priest in the 1973 film Super Fly T.N.T., which he also directed. Militant: Dig it, dope peddler. The gaudy fashions might be as obsolete as the old crumbling '70s New York City that serves as the background to the scenes, but the substance of the movie has ensured that Super Fly remains something more than a relic. In 1972, at a preview for the original Super Fly held in Philadelphia, the theater quickly filled up, and some of the people who were shut out tried to break into a side door. Classic '70s drama with drugs, violence, cursing. The Man so trenchantly invoked by Mayfield was incarnated in the earlier film by a white police superintendent who wants Priest as his puppet. After the men leave, Priest finds his partner, Eddie, and asks him how much cash they currently have. Film Review: 'Superfly'. Parks, Jr. added that he and other black directors wanted to become a Fellini or a Bergman. I mean, maybe this is what you're supposed to do, maybe this is what you're growing to. Getting up to speed in a hurry, Messam went power-shopping over the holidays in Toronto, where she loaded up on Fresh Company clothing. Shore received the bulk of the profits since he put up the most money, 40 percent, while the actors, directors, and scriptwriters split the remaining profits. American Film Institute 2021 North Western Avenue Los Angeles, CA 90027-1657. Priest confides in his second-in-command Eddie that he wants out of drug-dealing, and has a plan. The powerless Reardon then watches as Priest stalks off, giving the policemen one final glare before driving off to join Georgia. Scatter, who now runs a popular restaurant, initially refuses to help Priest, but Priest plays on his emotions, claiming that he wants to get out while he is young and before he has to endure the extreme hardships faced by Scatter. Some contemporary and modern sources list the films title as Superfly, although the opening title card and copyright records list it as two words. Just think about it, don't throw it out, just, just think about it. Meanwhile, Priest and Georgia are walking in a park, and Priest confesses that he has made a deal that will enable them to escape their current life. Director X has a larger budget and a more expansive milieu to deal with here. According to modern sources, K. C., who played a pimp in the film, was a pimp in real life and owned the car driven by Priest. So maybe its heartening, in a way, that Super Fly once meant something and that the new Superfly, for what its worth, means next to nothing. ' Messam outfitted Mitchell in GStar jeans and a John Varvatos leopard print leather jacket. .st1{display:none;fill:#FFFFFF;} Super Fly also marked the first effort as a motion picture producer for Shore (19192006), who went on to produce the two sequels to Super Fly. In the middle of the film, a sequence of still photographs, taken by director Gordon Parks, Jr., illustrates how the thirty kilos of cocaine purchased by Youngblood Priest and Eddie is prepared, distributed and used. Scatter reveals that the real head of the operation is Deputy Commissioner Reardon, who is trying to kill him for quitting. Yeah, if I choke on a chicken bone, all the Reardons is dead. As Priest, a coke dealer who has built a business while taking great care to remain under the police radar, Trevor Jackson, from Eureka and American Crime, sports a jutting abundance of luxurious inky silken flat hair, marked by an elegant slice of a part, plus a highly manicured beard, a pirate earring, and a pretty-boy scowl. That peace starts fragmenting early in the picture, outside a nightclub, where an indolently truculent Snow Patrol member, Juju (Kaalan Rashad Walker), takes a shot at Priest and instead hits a bystander. He lacks Parkss canny compositional wit, his sense of the dramatic power of practical attention to time and space. I took a $100,000 contract out on your life, your wife, EVERYBODY. Refused by Scatter, Priest has to pitch himself to a deadly Mexican cartel manager played by Esai Morales. Like his father, Parks, Jr. was also a well-known still photographer. Here you will find unforgettable moments, scenes, and lines from all your favorite films. Username Password 15 + 5 equals? Fighting over recriminations about Freddie's death, Priest starts strangling Eddie and leaves him unconscious. Both enraged and scared, Priest conducts a meeting with two white men, then confronts Eddie. (Even the weapons in their armamentarium of machine guns and handguns are encased in sleek white ornamental sheaths.) With such a big score, they will be able to retire comfortably and find other employment, although Eddie protests that crime is the only option left to them by The Man. Priest is determined, however, and that night, approaches Scatter, a retired dealer who started Priest in the business. On review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 93% based on 27 reviews, and an average rating of 7.3/10. In general, I wanted to use module torch_geometric - this I have installed. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. Applied post-scattering, so textures applied to this input will remain sharp. [7], The film was released on digital and iTunes on August 28, 2018 from Sony Pictures Home Entertainment. Eddie is elated by the new situation, claiming that they are set for life, although Priest is still determined to quit after selling the thirty kilos. African-Americans were a part of the process as well, with Gordon Parks Jr. as director and Phillip Fenty as screenwriter. An additional way to control how far light scatters though the surface, only this time with separate values for the red, green and blue channels. I wanted Georgia to have a maturity about her. . Variety is a part of Penske Media Corporation. He can wear a slick duster overcoat and fedora one day, and a stylized track suit the next., Messam acquired Scatters track suit from UK athletic wear company Boxraw. The hot-tempered . Is More Colossal Than Ever Imagined; Dinos Still Rule With $60M+ Second Weekend", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Superfly_(2018_film)&oldid=1140373587, Fictional portrayals of the Atlanta Police Department, Short description is different from Wikidata, All Wikipedia articles written in American English, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0. Prior to the opening credits, the following written statement appears onscreen: "This >>, In the onscreen credits, actor S. Z. Sakall's name is incorrectly spelled "S. K. Among the films many critics was Junius Griffin, the then-president of the Hollywood branch of the NAACP. There is a 2018 remake of this movie. How Do I Protect My Young Child from Cyberbullying? Yet all the threats and double-crosses are, in a word, standard. Controversy continued to swirl around the Academys decision to exclude the song, with the executive committee of the music branch convening to discuss the songs ineligibility. On June 26, 2018, The Warner Archive Collection released "Super Fly" on Blu-ray and has received mostly praise for its video & audio restoration. As the lead character Youngblood Priest, the late Ron O'Neal brought a fresh take on the "man of few words" cinema archetype. He lives with his two girlfriends, Georgia and Cynthia. SuperFly (2018) Full Cast & Crew See agents for this cast & crew on IMDbPro Directed by Director X. Homeboy Cosmopolitan. In Search of Africa, 252. Priest lives with two women, Georgia (Lex Scott Davis), a black woman, who also plays a significant role in his operation, as the head of an art gallery thats one of his fronts, and Cynthia (Andrea Londo), whos Hispanic, and who doesnt play a major role in his business. He also has a run-in with the Snow Patrol, a rival crew of coke dealers who dress in white. One day, Priest confronts Fat Freddie, one of his clients, about money that Freddie owes and threatens to force Freddies wife into prostitution unless he robs a competitor. The powerless Reardon then watches as Priest walks away free, giving the policemen one final glare before driving off to join Georgia. Inspiring true story of African American women at NASA. As the soundtrack's composer, Mayfield was the only other person in the production who earned revenue approaching Shore's. Superfly (2018 film), a remake of the 1972 blaxploitation film Superfly (soundtrack), a soundtrack album from the 2018 film "Super Fly" (Giant Panda song), a 2005 single by Giant Panda "Superfly", a song by 4 Non Blondes on their only album Bigger, Better, Faster, More! Be the first to review this title. Youngblood Priest: I ain't givin' you sh*t! Snow Patrol members led by Juju shoot up Priest's mansion. Once Priest decides to pursue his "last score," he seeks help from his mentor in crime, Scatter, played by an avuncular but cautiously sinister Michael Kenneth Williams. According to a 5 Feb 1973 DV article, the meeting was held because of the emotions involved, and the songs exclusion was upheld. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1998. Parks, Jr. would make only three more films before his death in 1979 in an airplane crash. In the DVD release, Warner Bros. decided to fade out the track midway right as "The End" is shown, and again brings up the AOL/Warner logo. It treats Atlanta the way all those thrillers of the 90s treated Toronto,as a big gleaming anonymous generi-city. Police rough up one of the lead characters, punching him repeatedly during an interrogation. But you kill me, and you and your whole f***in' family die. Yes, Scream VI Marketing Is Behind the Creepy Ghostface Sightings Causing Scares Across the U.S. David Oyelowo, Taylor Sheridan's 'Bass Reeves' Series at Paramount+ Casts King Richard Star Demi Singleton (EXCLUSIVE), Star Trek: Discovery to End With Season 5, Paramount+ Pushes Premiere to 2024. Scatter gives Priest a packet of information on Reardon and his family, then arranges to meet him later, when Priest will give him money with which to flee New York. The brightly littered Manhattan streets, the cozy squalor of the bars and drug dens, even the cruddiness of the apartments: All fuse into a bombed-out yet strangely liberated mood that lets you know why the hero would choose the life of a cocaine kingpin, because its the only way he has to leave behind the racist prison of a jive job with chump change, day after day. The atmosphere told the story, and so did Curtis Mayfields music (Im a pusher man), and so did Ron ONeals suavely furious performance. Griffin, before he resigned his post in Aug 1972, demanded that Warner Bros. recall prints of the film from distribution and reshoot the ending so that Priest would be killed or otherwise punished for his drug usage and dealing. After Super Flys release, Filmfacts reported that the picture turned out to be the most commercially successful black film to dateas well as the most controversial. Reviews of the picture were mixed, with some critics praising its authenticity and others decrying it as exploitive and poorly made. After the men leave, Priest finds his partner, Eddie, and asks him how much cash they currently have. [13] Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "B+" on an A+ to F scale, while PostTrak reported filmgoers gave it a 68% overall positive score. Espaol (prximamente) - volver al inicio, Best Movies on Netflix, Disney+, and More, Common Sense Selections for family entertainment, Best TV Shows on Netflix, Disney+, and More, Growing Up Queer: Thoughtful Books About LGBTQ+ Youth, Check out new Common Sense Selections for games, Teachers: Find the best edtech tools for your classroom with in-depth expert reviews. One of the groups formed specifically to fight the film and other similar exploitations films, according to a Sep 1972 Var article, called itself Blacks Against Narcotics. Priest diffuses the Youngblood Priest, an African-American drug dealer who specializes in selling cocaine, enjoys a luxurious lifestyle in Harlem. Pulling into his driveway, he confides to the audience, in voice-over, that he believes no car ever outran fate.. Making his feature directorial debut, Director X whose background is in music videos (Rihanna, Drake, Kendrick Lamar) shoots in Atlanta instead of Harlem, glamming up the story with fast cars,. Frequent profanity, including the "N" word . All these corrupt agents of the law are white; Priest and his circle, as well as the entire Snow Patrol, are black; and, clearly and bitterly, Superfly puts ingrained American racism and its resulting inequities, injustices, and outrages at the center of the filmmost conspicuously, in its depiction of the ease with which white police officers can get away with summarily executing black people and even be celebrated for doing so. Producer Sig Shore, who plays Deputy Commissioner Reardon, is billed in the cast credits as Mike Richards. Now, if you don't get me my money *tonight*, I'm gonna put that young girl of your's out on whore's row. Scatter wont give him a bigger cut of drugs to sell, so Priest, accompanied by his scampish partner, Eddie (played by the scene-stealing Jason Mitchell, whos like Tracy Morgans amoral little brother), goes right over his head by driving down to Mexico and connecting with the cartel thats the source of their product. Their argument is interrupted by the sudden arrival of Scatter who reveals that the real head of the operation is Deputy Commissioner Reardon, who is trying to kill him for quitting. I remember Curtis Mayfields great music and the way Ron Neal carried himself. Can you dig it? However, w. Youngblood Priest: I ain't bullshittin' you, captain. Within the recent wave of gender-flipped casting, its fascinating to see Morrison portray the sort of scum cop who is never, in the movies, a woman. It has good protection but is ahead of the control surfaces for better 3d flying (vs placed at the trailing edge). The Student National Coordinating Committee also protested the film as a tool of white oppression.[8]. Working with his reluctant friend, Eddie (Carl Lee), Priest . Just think about it, don't throw it out, just, just think about it. Rapper Future produced alongside Joel Silver, as well as writing the film's original songs. | The unit publicist on the film, David Parks, was Parks, Jr.s brother. Gritty, mature cop story with violence and nudity. Keep up with The Credits for the latest in film, television, and streaming. Super Fly is a 1972 American blaxploitation crime drama film directed by Gordon Parks, Jr. and starring Ron O'Neal as Youngblood Priest, an African American cocaine dealer who is trying to quit the underworld drug business. The wide shots are really stunt people. No car can outrun fate. He voices his sense of vulnerability from the heights of his terrace overlooking the city: This can all be taken away for stupid shit. He hammers the movie home in a one-liner reserved for the end, but to quote it is to make the whole plot unravel. This means we can tint the scattered light a certain colour, like how skin scatters more red light. (Hes played in the earlier film by Ron ONeal; in the remake, by Trevor Jackson.) A standard definition DVD was released by Warner Brothers on January 14, 2004the day its star, Ron O'Neal, died after battling cancer. You aint that good., The close call and its concurrent threat of a gang war compel Priest to take stock. That mythology helped to fuel the rise of hip-hop, and now, of course, it is everywhere. Its a death-steeped drama, but no major character falls victim to gun violence.