25YEARS LATER: WHATW0ULD I BOBMARTEYDO? I wTHF R|SE AND ffi FALLOFTHE BTACK rTl. MAFIA WHVHE'SREADY FAMTTV T0SNAP!* ;* M! F ; ffi" W ffi ,*" ,,ryryryk MO'MONEY, MO' PROBTEMS SITTINGATOP WHAT THE FEDS CHARGE WAS A MASSIVEMULTIMILLION-DOLLAR DRUG OPERATION, BLACK MAFIAFAMILY EARNED ENOUGH DOUGH FOR ITS MEMBERS TO REVEL IN THEWORLD'S MOST EXPENSIVE CARS, BOTTOMLESSBOTTLES OF CRISTAL, AND CONNECTIONS TOHIP HOP's BRIGHTEST STARs. ETHAN BROWN INVESTIGATESHOW THEIR EXTRAVAGANCE AND TRAIL OF CRIME LED TO THEIR SPECTACULAR COLLAPSE. iffittttti ttititiii iitiiiiii titititti ttiitiitt(BMFarmy of members) 6666666666666 6666666666666 6666666666666 TTTqNqTqqqqnTTnq qqnqnTTq TTqnnqTq qqqTTqTq rhhhhhhhhhhI rhhhhhhhhhhI rhhhhhhhhhhI ,l fi ust after 9 p.m. on a hot and muggynight in late July zoo5,a pan of charteredtour busespulled up to VisionNightclub & Loungeon Atlanta's PeachtreeStreet for apartycelebrating the releaseofYoungJeezy's major- labelsolo debut, Let's Get It: ThugMotiaationtot. Yetwhen the busdoors opened,it wasnotJeezywho emerged but membersofthe storiedATL street crewBlack Mafia Family (BMF). // Dressedin head-totoeblad<, the hun- dreds-strongposse strode toward the megaclub in almostchoreographed unison."They moved like one mass, one organism," remembers one of the partypromoters."I hadneyer seen anything like that."The club had expectedBMF in force-theywereeven comped on theguest list as "+loo"-but itwasnot preparedfor an army.Panicked promoters hustled BMF througha specialside entrance, VIP treatmentthat evenJay-Z, Ludacris, Fabolous, and Slim Thug did not receive. il . BMFSEEMED POISEDTO FULFITLEVERY HUSTLER'S THEHOOK-UP: Young Jeezy (left) with BMFprot6g6 Bleu Davinci at T,l.'s DREAM,TO RUN birthdayparty in September2005. THEFLASHIEST HIP (Above)At stripparties like this one in MountVernon, New York. BMF would HOPSYNDICATE createa frenzyby "making it rain" THENATION HAS with bills. EVERSEEN. Onceinside, BMF awedpartiers by tossingfistfuls of cashas they er andinsisted that eachmember have a bottleof champagne.With awaitedJeezy,who, thoughnot officiallya crewmember, was con- thegroup often numberingin the dozens, this sometimes meantbuy- sidered"family." And by the time he arived,just after r:3o a.m., the ing out a club'sentire stock of Cristal.\Vhen the revelry pushed past crowdwas stoked and ready to receivehim asA-town royalty.Jeezy dawn,Meech would inviteeveryone back to thepresidential suite at tookthe stage surrounded by BMF membersand employees ofhis the Swiss6tel(now the W'estinBuckhead Atlanta), where he would CorporateThugz Entertainment label and tore through songs like orderroom servicefor everyone,washed down with moreCris. His "AndThen\fhat" and"Go Crazy"withsuch swaggerthatthe success free-spendingwaysswelled the crew's membership. 'You've got guys of Let'sGet It seemedall but assured.Indeed, the z5-year-old rapper comingfromSt. Louis, Detroit, tosAngeles, Georgia, Brooklyn, the wouldmoveanimpressive rTz,ooo copies ofthe album inits firstweek. Bronx,"said one former BMF member,who rolledwith the crewin ForBMF, such displays ofextravagance were nothing new. Every- Atlantafrom zoo2 to 2oo3and requested anonymity. "Anymovement thing thegroup did fulfilled a fantasyofhip hop excessto thepoint likethis is gonna draw people." ofparody.Though BMF hadestablished itselfin Atlanta only four YoungJeezywas a keyto theirfuture plans. Though the rapper yearsearlier, it wasonly the latestbeachhead ofwhat the fedshave signedwith DefJam,his solocareer would havestalled without the calledone ofthe mostextensive illegal drug networks in America- helpof BMF'sover-the-top promotion. Tnzoo4,Jeezy scored a deal richesthat BMF's leader, Demetrius "Meech" Flenory 37 was only with Diddy'sBad Boy label as a member ofBoyz N Da Hoodbut strug- too happyto lavishon his crew. gledto getnoticed in Atlanta'smixtape scene. His independently 'Whenever BMF anivedat a nightclub, Meech paid everyone's cov- releasedCD, ComeShop Wit Me,had sold a respectable 5o,ooo copies. 104 VIBO But asJeezyexplained to VIBE last year, "-Vhen I was releasingmy In zoor, Meech and SouthwestT made whatwould be their sawi- mixtapes,we didn't necessarilyhave the pipelines to distribute them estcareermoveyet. At the time, Atlanta'smusic scenewaspercolating. everywherewe needed,so we got bootleggedto death."Whenever Sensingan opportunity to expand the business,the Flenorys decid- he performed at clubs, however,BMF would help createafrenzyby ed to reiocatesouth. Soon dozensof aspiringHotlanta hustlerswere "makingit rain" with bills. Itwas the kind ofthingJeezyhadbeen doing apprenticing themselvesto Meech. on a smallerscale, to build up his rep. "I wasthat dude in the back of Meechwasaprotective andgenerous CEO. He frowneduponvio- the club, me and my crew,zo or 30 bottles of Cris, having fun, ready lence and demanded that women not be mistreated.Tall and lanlcy, to do it again tomorrow,"Jeezy said. "But you had to do a lot of that with long braids and an angular,birdlike face,he speakswith the cap- stuffto get attention." When money talks,people listen. By the time tivating, syrupy drawl ofa street-bredmotivational speaker.Some of Jeezyreleased his mixtape Tiapor Die, the hip hop world embraced Meech'sfollowers think oftheir leaderas a guru behind a socialmove- him; debuts from both Boyz N Da Hood andJeezycracked the top ment, not asa crimeboss. ro during the summer of zoo5 though they were releasedbarely one Amongmembers, manyofwhom, like Meech,wereraised inpoor month apart. households,the gang quickly becamea substitute family, "Especial- Now the young superstarcould return the favor. By last summer, ly for those of us catswho grew up in the crackera," saysthe former Meech and his associateshad decidedto branch out and launch a BMF member."The camaraderie,love, and genuinenesscan really record label andamagazine. On the strength ofJeezy'sdebut, BMF turn you out. Add to that the adulation ofpeople on the streets,the wasnow meeting with major-label executivesto discussdistribution effectsof Ecstasngood marijuana,good alcohol,women, respect- MEECHWAS A MONEYBOSS PTAYERS: (Right)Demetrius "Meech" PROTECTIVEAl{D Flenoryand friend at a slim Thugand Mike Jones jump-off GEI{EROUSCEO. at ATUSVision in Februarv HEFROWilED UPON 2005.(Above) Party over for VIOTENCEAl{D Terry"southwest T" Flenory. DEMANDEDTHAT WOMEN ilOT BEIIilISTREATED. dealsfor their BMF Entertainmentventure. rffhat's more, a T-shirt and alittle fear.Itcan overwhelmyou." In honoroftheirintense close- createdbyJeezy boasting, "\Ve got that snow,man," wassuddenly ness,Meech gavehis crew a new name: Black Mafia Family. everywhere,from the streetsofHarlem to suburbanmalls in the Mid- The move toAdantawas indeedgood forbusiness.Byzooz, Meech west.BMF seemedpoised to fulfill everystreet hustler's dream: to run and severalofhis crew had purchasedlavish homes in the city's more the flashiesthip hop syndicatethe nation has ever seen.Instead, the affluent suburbs.The foilowingyear, however,brought BMF its first crewwas on the vergeofa crack-up. major setback,when the otherwisenonviolent gangfound itselfaccused ofa doublehomicide. ALT HO UG H U EECH AH D H | 5 younger brother, Terry"Southwest T" Flenory 36, spent nearly a decadeheading up one ofthe nation's EARTYOt{ THE MORI{lilG OF Novemberll,2oo3,afearedstreet most powerful gangs,little is known about the two apart from their tough named Anthony "Wolf"Jones got into a fierce argumentwith placeof birth: Detroit. It wasthere, at somepoint during the early BMF membersoutside Atlanta's Chaosnightclub. Wolf a friend and 198os,that the brothersstarted moving small amounts ofcoke-about onetime bodyguardof SeanCombs, had made a careerof causing $5o worth at a time, according to law enforcement. By the mid-9os, mayhem in nightclubs; he'd been accused(but never charged)in the the feds allege,the brothers had expandedtheir operation to neigh- September1995 murder of Marion "Suge"Knight associateJaiHas- boring states,and annual profits soaredinto six figures.(Drew Find- san-JamalRobles at a birthday party forJermaine Dupri in Atlanta. ling, an Atlanta-basedattomey representingthe Flenorys,declined That incident becamea flashpoint in the beefbetween the East and severalrequests for comment.) W'estCgasts, particularly since,just over one month earlier,Suge had VTBG 1O5 mod<edDiddyIiom onstageatthe SourceAwards.In 1999,Wolf(along Diddy may have laid it on a little thick because'Wolfs testimony with Combs) wascharged in the shooting incident at Manhattan's had helped get him acquitted offelony gun chargesin the Club New Club New York that injured three bystanders,and sent Shyne to jail. Yorkcase.Still, iessthan one yearafterW'olf s death,Diddy signedthe Hours beforehis confrontation with BMF, \Tolfstaggeredthrough BMF-affiliated Boyz N Da Hood to Bad Boy South. the BMF-heary crowd inside the club and began chatting up an ex- In Atlanta,where Wolf's maraudinghad beenseen as a nuisance, girlfriend, a stripper who had been partying with Meech that night. the murder only boisteredBMF's reputation."It madetheir legend Wtren lfolf groped her in full view of the other clubgoers,Meech greater,"says the former member."They killed the Big Bad Wolf " But warned him to back offl and W'o1fresponded by choking her. Securi- the crew'sheightened profile camewith aheftyprice tag:BMFwas no tywas summoned,and W'olfwasbounced. Outside Chaos,the humil- longer an undergroundoperation. A November zoo3 articleabout iatedthugcalled forbackup. Minutes 1ater,Lamont Girdy aboyhood Wolf inthe AtlantaJournal-Constitutiondescribed