REVIEW: Supreme Team
Overview: Legendary Queens MC Nasir “Nas” Jones and Peter Scalettar gifted the culture a three-part docuseries on the infamous Supreme Team. The Mass Appeal — Showtime collaboration brings us the story of Supreme Team in a way that it has never been told before, directly from the mouths of Supreme Team founders Kenneth “Supreme” McGriff and Gerald “Prince” Miller.
Supreme Team History
The Supreme Team was an organized crime syndicate that operated throughout the 1980s in New York City. Their headquarters was in South Jamaica, Queens, NY. The leaders were Kenneth “Supreme” McGriff and his nephew, Gerald “Prince” Miller.
Supreme was known as the business mind and Prince was the enforcer in the streets. Both were instrumental in the Supreme Team reaching a peak of over $200k in daily earnings.
Connection between the Streets and Hip-Hop
As a huge fan of hip-hop music it is impossible to escape the constant overlap between the streets and the music from our culture. And the legendary Supreme Team was linked to one of the biggest beefs from the 2000’s. 50 Cent vs Murder Inc. which turned out to actually be 50 vs Supreme Team.
50 Cent vs Supreme Team
Officials believe that the shooting in 2000 was in retaliation for the lyrics of the song Ghetto Quran. The song detailed the history of the Supreme Team, McGriff’s gang.
Ghetto Qu’ran Lyrics
“Yo, when you hear talk of the Southside, you hear talk of the Team
See niggas feared Prince and respected ‘Preme
For all you slow motherfuckers, I’ma break it down iller
See Preme was the business man and Prince was the killer..”
A notable detail in the documentary is that former Supreme Team members James “Bimmy” Antney is not in the documentary and he says he has not spoken to Supreme due to his friendship with 50 Cent. Bimmy views Ghetto Quran as a tribute to the hood while many others view it as snitching.
Murder Inc.vs The Feds
Irv Gotti, Ja Rule and the label of Murder Inc. were all involved in a well-publicized feud with G-Unit Records, Aftermath Records and Shady Records over history between 50 Cent and Ja Rule. The federal government launched an investigation in 2003, including a raid on the Manhattan offices of Murder, Inc., resulting in money laundering charges being brought against Gotti and his brother Christopher in connection with alleged financial transactions associated with New York City drug kingpin Kenneth “Supreme” McGriff. In December 2005 a jury acquitted the brothers of all charges and changed the label name to The Inc.
The Murder of Officer Edward Byrne
Edward Byrne (February 21, 1966 — February 26, 1988) was a member of NYPD who became well known in the United States after he was murdered in the line of duty. Byrne was stationed in the 103rd Precinct in Jamaica, Queens. He was assigned to keep an eye on the house of the local immigrant who had repeatedly called the police to report on illegal activities on his street. The house had been previously firebombed on two occasions and the owner repeatedly threatened. Despite the recent violence and an ongoing crime wave overtaking South Queens, Byrne was assigned to the post alone.
The murder of Byrne caused massive blowback and was extremely political. Ronald Regan used the murder as an instrument to create and push the Anti-Drug Abuse Act of 1988 through Congress. Creating and codifying the war on drugs. This piece of legislation created what we know today as:
1. The war on drugs.
2. Massive budget increases for police/public safety.
3. Militarization.
George H.W. Bush would run for election succeeding Regan — escalating the war on drugs — and routinely carrying around the badge of Edward Byrne on the campaign trail. Bush approved the 1033/1208 program that equipped local/state police with military-grade equipment.
The tough-on-crime rhetoric and war on drugs spewed by both Bush and Regan only led to the strict punitive approach reached with the 1994 Clinton Crime Bill and its notorious “three-strike” provisions, crack vs. powdered cocaine laws, etc.
Aftermath
“Supreme” McGriff is alleged to have had a hand in the 2002 murder of Run-DMC member Jam Master Jay, and was convicted of ordering the 2001 death of rapper Eric “E-Moneybags” Smith, in retaliation for the death of McGriff’s friend Colbert “Black Just” Johnson. Federal authorities also accused him in connection with the attempted murder of 50 Cent (which Supreme confirms in the Showtime documentary).
In February of 2007, McGriff was was sentenced to life in prison following his conviction of multiple charges linked to the murder-for-hire killing of two rivals (“E-Moneybags” and “Big Nose” Troy Singleton) 2001.
“Prince” Miller was able to beat multiple murder charges but was still sentenced to six concurrent life sentences plus 20 years in 1993 for drug trafficking.
