It’s not uncommon to see rappers turn to television and acting once their tenure in the rap game is complete. Ice-T, Ice Cube, and LL Cool J have all successfully established themselves as actors just as a new crop of MCs came into the game to shift the culture. 50 Cent, however, might not be leaping into acting as deeply as the aforementioned rappers-turned-actors but his efforts as a television executive have proven to be quite fruitful.
Last month, the rapper debuted the long-awaited series based on the life-and-times of the Black Mafia Family. The stories of Big Meech and Southwest T are being told in Starz BMF series. Big Meech and Southwest T’s actual kids are portraying them on the show.
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Fif and the cast of BMF graced the cover of XXL’s latest issue where 50 Cent discussed his television empire, among other topics. The rapper also explained the significance of bringing such a raw story to America’s television and bringing an authentic touch to the screen. Fif explained that he was receiving pitches in California for actors who would be able to take on the lead role. None of them were up to 50 Cent’s standards.
50 Cent said that he went out to Atlanta to cast for the show when he ended up running into Demetrius “Lil Meech” Flenory Jr. “He looks less like his dad in the show than he did that day,” Fif explained. From there, he took Flenory Jr. to California to work with acting coaches.
“His dad didn’t even know he was doing that,” 50 said. “The significance in him being able to play his dad, for me, the point I get really excited about is his dad. When he’s on the phone, he’ll call and talk and say, ‘I don’t know if you’re conscious to this when you was doing this but you moved him closer to me. Because he’s spending more time thinking about things that we experienced, things that we did and he hot going to jail.”
Check out Demetrius “Lil Meech” Flenory Jr. and 50 Cent’s interview below.