Barry Michael Cooper, the screenwriter behind “New Jack Metropolis” and pioneering investigative journalist, died Tuesday in Baltimore at age 66.
Barry Michael Cooper, the celebrated screenwriter and investigative journalist recognized for spotlighting the crack-cocaine epidemic and serving to outline Hip-Hop tradition on display, died Tuesday (January 21) in Baltimore, Maryland.
Simply at some point earlier than his passing, Cooper shared a social media publish honoring Martin Luther King Jr.’s birthday.
He was 66.
Cooper’s gripping storytelling launched the careers of stars like Wesley Snipes, Chris Rock, and Tupac Shakur and he’s maybe greatest remembered for writing the “Harlem Trilogy” movies: New Jack Metropolis (1991), Sugar Hill (1994), and Above the Rim (1994).
The trio of movies cemented Cooper’s legacy in cinematic historical past and introduced gritty portrayals of city America to mainstream audiences.
“All of New Jack Metropolis, Sugar Hill and Above the Rim comes from me being part of this neighborhood, this Neo-Harlem Renaissance stuff goin’ down,” Cooper informed AllHipHop.com in an interview.
“Rising up, my hero was the anti-hero in Leroy “Nicky” Barnes. I didn’t need to promote medication; I wished to decorate like him, I wished to speak like him, I wished to have his swag, and I wished to have his energy – however I wished to do it as a author. I wished to be a robust Black man. I like this dude’s get-down, however I’m not attempting to promote no medication; I do know that’s short-term. I do know it!” Cooper continued.
Earlier than his rise in Hollywood, Cooper labored as an investigative journalist at The Village Voice from 1980 to 1989.
Throughout his tenure, he was the primary to uncover and report on the devastating crack-cocaine epidemic of the mid-Nineteen Eighties, a disaster that reshaped city communities and the nation’s method to drug enforcement and coverage at giant.
He additionally coined the time period “New Jack Swing,” a reputation that outlined a fusion of R&B and Hip-Hop music within the late ’80s and early ’90s.
Barry Michael Cooper continued to broaden his affect as a producer, notably contributing to Spike Lee’s Netflix sequence She’s Gotta Have It from 2017 to 2019.
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