The Real Gangsters That Hollywood And Hip-Hop Turned Into Icons

Some of the most famous characters in movies, TV and rap lyrics were based on real men. Their true stories were rougher, stranger and often far more violent than anything that made it to the screen. In this true crime compilation we look at the real gangsters behind the icons — from Sonny Carson, whose life became the 1974 film The Education of Sonny Carson, to Haywood Kirkland, the Vietnam veteran whose robbery inspired Dead Presidents, to the Brooklyn street figures name-checked by rappers like Rakim and Jay-Z and echoed in shows like Power Book II: Ghost. Using court records, interviews and contemporary reporting, we separate the Hollywood and hip-hop versions from what actually happened. Subscribe to Bloody Reports for new true crime documentaries every week. #TrueCrime #BlackHistory #HipHopHistory