In the early ’80’s the devil was called by many names: Base, Ball, Beat, Biscuits, Bones, Boulders, Brick, Bunk, Cakes, Casper, Chalk, Cookies, Crumbs, Cubes, Fatbags, Gravel, Hardball, Kibbles n’ Bits, Kryptonite, Love, Moonrocks, Nuggets, Onion, Pebbles, Piedras, Piece, Ready Rock, Roca, Rock(s), Rock star, Roxanne, Scotty, Scrabble, Smoke houses, Stones, Teeth, Tornado, Crack—Snowfall. No matter what the slag name used for the evil of cocaine powder, smokeable cocaine, injected cocaine—crack—it does not come close to describing what that evil did in helping to further weaken the African-American family structure in this country.
When there arises an opportunity to voice concerns on how we are being treated by America, well, in truth Harlem does not need twitter or any other social media platform to spread the good word.
We share information the old-fashioned way and the word-of-mouth spread quickly that “Boyz n the Hood’s” John Singleton was screening his new television show, “Snowfall” at the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, in Harlem (NYC) — which told the real truth on how crack sprung to life in Los Angeles before it’s voracious appetite for destruction nearly consumed every inner-city in the United States of America.
Harlem is no stranger to the evil of crack which was more destructive than a hail of bullets. The violence that followed the commerce side of the crack business and the zombie-like people who became addicts to the drug helped to change the geography of Harlem, Upper Manhattan and the Bronx, opening the door to today’s gentrification. Sections of Harlem with high concentration of crack dealers and addicts became war-zones, essentially undesirable places to call home. People lost their dwellings and the property value dipped so significantly, that at one point the State of New York began selling damaged buildings and brownstones, in New York City, at discounted rates that defied belief.
For those of us who lived though the wild, crack-soaked ’80’s and ’90’s — clinging to our Harlem lifestyle—we can trace back the start of their “master plan” to wipe us from the face of this city. They wanted us gone then. They want us gone now and crack helped them speed up their nefarious pursuit.
Here’s what “Snowfall” is about: It’s 1983 Los Angeles and a new type of drug (crack) is brewing like a churning storm, ready to lay waste the African-American community. In the one-hour drama the story follows numerous characters including: Franklin Saint (Damson Idris), an inventive young street entrepreneur on a quest for power; Gustavo “El Oso” Zapata (Sergio Peris-Mencheta), a Mexican wrestler caught up in a power struggle within a ruthless crime family; Teddy McDonald (Carter Hudson), a CIA operative running from a dark past who begins an off-book operation to fund the Nicaraguan Contras and Lucia Villanueva (Emily Rios), the arrogant daughter of a Mexican crime lord—all who have embarked on a dangerous and violent collision course in the pursuit of monetizing this new smokeable form of cocaine.
FX’s Networks’ “Snowfall” is created by John Singleton, Eric Amadio and Dave Andron. “Snowfall” is executive produced by Singleton, Andron, Thomas Schlamme, Amadio, Michael London and Trevor Engelson.
Despite it being one of the hottest nights on record, the folks still came out in droves. The Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture was standing room only and the audience vibrated with anticipation, not so much for the celebrity of the evening but for an opportunity to glimpse the new FX Networks drama “Snowfall” and get the conversation going about who really interjected the African-American communities with the vile drug and more to the point — why “they” choose to keep killing the African-American family.
The screening and Q&A included John Singleton, Dave Andron, Damson Idris (Franklin Saint), Carter Hudson (Teddy McDonald), Isaiah John (Leon Simmons), Angela Lewis (Aunt Louie), Amin Joseph (Jerome Saint), and Michael Hyatt (Cissy Saint).
Here is what John Singleton, Damson Idris (Franklin Saint), Isaiah John (Leon Simmons) and Angela Lewis (Aunt Louie) had to share about working on “Snowfall.”
L.A. Watts Times (LAWT): Why did you want to tackle a story about the rise of crack, in L.A., during the early ’80’s?
John Singleton: I’ve always wanted to tell the story about crack cocaine before it hit the streets [of Los Angeles] what [the city] looked like. What that transition was like. I knew that I could bring something very unique to television. “Snowfall” — each episode is like a new hour length movie.
Our community is fractured now. I can’t say blanket statements but Black communities in several different cities was even more fractured by this instance(s) [crack]. The laws that have been changed adversely effect us. So many different people being incarnated … and so many people being murdered; it exasperated Black-on-Black crime and I dare say that Harlem is different because of crack. It helped change the demographic of Watts [CA} and several other places in our country.
LAWT: Some people have been critical on how the imagery in the marketing materials have — in their opinion — been re-enforcing our imagery as violent and dangerous.
JS: You have to put this show in context. We have to show [in “Snowfall’] what was lost. The decision that one person makes in the family can reverberate and change, and all of a suddenly everything changes for the worse for the family and a community. We are going to track that out.
LAWT: The early screening results have been excellent. Why do you think there is such a strong connection?
JS: I think a lot of people have an emotional identification with the characters in the show because they have either gone through it or have seen people who have gone through it, or heard about someone who has gone through it. We’ve been speaking at different cities throughout the country and I ask, by a show of hands, how many people have gone through or have heard about someone whose gone through it [crack] and in the audience, there is a sea of hands.
LAWT: Isaiah John you play a trouble making character, Leon Summons, are you anything like this colorful character?
Isaiah John: (laughing) No. Absolutely not but I do know people like this character. Kids that I grew up with. So I did have something to work with in building this character. John [Singleton] helped me put a “west coast thang” on it!
LAWT: Your character—Auntie Louie—is very tough. She is complicated and as bold as any man in any city, at any point in history. Yet she has great love for her nephew Franklin (Damson Idris) and delivers the tough love. Do you share anything with your character, Louie? Thoughts?
Angela Lewis (Aunt Louie): Louie and I both love real, real hard. She does not want to see Franklin, dead. There are two things happening. I think Louie is a boss. She is a boss but a boss whose historically has, throughout her life has been told ‘no, you can’t be this, no, you can’t be that, you are not this—you are not that.’ So I think that she’s been heartbroken over, and over, and over again. She sees an opportunity with her nephew [Franklin] and she desperately, I think, to take advantage of that opportunity but also to do it in a way where she can protect her nephew and love him. She thinks: ‘If he’s going to choose this road, this is the way you have to do it to survive’. She knows this road. So [Louie] she’s going to everything she can to a win-win.
LAWT: Damson Idris your crisp British accent is gone, replaced by a distinctive West Coast one. Growing up in the United Kingdom (U.K.) did you know anything about our American culture in the early ’80’s and what crack did to African-American and Latino communities?
Damon Idris (Franklin Saint): Basically London is very Americanized. We watch a bunch of American movies and I listen to a bunch of hip-hop. [To get the American Twang] Kendrick Lamar [is] my favorite record in the world [I listened to] Ice Cube, Snoop Dog, Tupac and I kind of used them for that twang, and I obviously seen Denzel Washington to help me round out my accent.
“Snowfall” airs Wednesdays at 10/9c on FX
#SnowfallFX
When TV One’s “Unsung” recently announced that Marvin Sapp would appear on the show, many people were puzzled, including the award-winning artist himself.
“I was shocked because when I look at ‘Unsung,’ immediately I think about it from the standpoint of people’s careers almost being over and my career is still very much thriving,” said Sapp. 
“But they assured me that we were going to talk about my life, my journey and I got excited about it. They want to talk about my trials and my triumphs.”
The behind-the-scenes look at the gospel star premiered July 16 on TV One and viewers learned how he evolved into a chart-topping artist. Many facts about him are well known such as his early start with the group Commissioned and the tragic death of his wife, Malinda, from colon cancer. But the show disclosed rarely publicized details like who inspired him to sing, his rebellious teenage period and his unwavering faith in God.
Also, the program shared insight from several of Sapp’s contemporaries including Kirk Franklin, Dorinda Clark Cole, Marvin Winans, Sr., Donald Lawrence and Fred Hammond.
“I’ve always been very public, but I’m very private, too. People got to see Marvin Sapp in a different light. I think it is a strong ministry tool that will encourage and uplift,” he said.
Sapp has excelled during his 30-year musical career; however, he experienced many challenges along the way. His parents divorced when he was nine-years-old, he experimented with marijuana and hard drugs at the age of 12 and suffered from epilepsy as a young man. Yet, his faith remained strong no matter what odds he faced.
God not only delivered him from drugs, but also freed him of his epileptic disease after Sapp decided to stop taking medication and prayed for a healing. As a result, he hasn’t had a seizure in 30 years.
“I’ve always been a man of faith and even in my faith, I maintained my position and decided I was going to stay strong in God despite all of the things that were happening in my life,” said Sapp.
“I personally don’t know how people go through anything without God. I know [that] if I didn’t have a real relationship with Him, I’d have given up a long time ago. It’s hard out here trying to maintain a life when it feels like everything in life is falling apart, so my focus has always been ‘Love on Him and He’ll love on you.’ That’s what I tell people,” he added.
Sapp applies his faith in his roles as a father to his three children, as a pastor to his congregation at Lighthouse Full Life Center Church in Grand Rapids, Michigan, and as a recording artist and entrepreneur.
He also sings a similar message in his new single, “Close,” which encourages listeners to stay steadfast and strong when facing turbulent times in life.
Explaining that the enemy does not attack people who are distanced from God, Sapp said the enemy fights those who are earnestly striving to follow His commands.
“That’s what the song is really all about, that you understand that the crazier life gets, the closer you are,” declared Sapp. “So, don’t be weary in well doing, just know if you stay connected to Him and do as He says, ‘You will reap a harvest if you don’t faint.’”
Sapp is wrapping up production on the “Close” album, which is scheduled for release on Sept. 29. To learn more, visit marvinsapp.com.
Keith Sweat is back this summer for his Las Vegas residency. Returning to a limited engagement at the Flamingo in Las Vegas in the Donny and Marie Osmond Showroom for the “Keith Sweat: Last Forever” concert from July 5th – 22nd, the singer-songwriter and record producer will set the stage with a variety of notable classics for anticipating fans.
“It’s my second time doing this, so I feel great that I’m able to go into the Donny and Marie Osmond [Showroom] and perform on the strip of Vegas,” Sweat states.
When you think of Keith Sweat, the musical term, “grown and sexy music” may come to mind. Sweat is not the first R&B male singer to produce ‘feel good music,’ nor has he been the last, however, a pioneer, he is considered to have helped usher in the soulful and sensual R&B music genre in the 80s and 90s. A part of the new jack swing period, Sweat rose to the scene with popular song “I Want Her,” the first single from his debut album, “Make It Last Forever,” in 1987. His voice possessed a unique soulful, yet affectionate sound, that produced nostalgic urban love songs including, “I’ll Give All My Love To You”, “Make You Sweat,” “Am I Dreaming,” and countless others, establishing Sweat as an artist in the music industry.
A fan favorite among women, he is considered to be a Casanova of R&B. However, his undeniable voice has shown to be timeless, proving his staying power among his contenders, even after a 30-year career in the music industry.
On his favorite singles, “‘Make it Last Forever’ and ‘Nobody’, for the fans, those are the songs that stand out when I’m performing live,” he states.
Sweat shied away from the notion that he has been known for seducing women with his voice, stating, “I sing from the heart, whatever I touch on, is what I sing about. It’s not something that’s ever planned out,” he regards.
A veteran in the music industry, the R&B icon is celebrating the 30th Anniversary of his triple-platinum album “Make It Last Forever” performing mega-hits “I Want Her”, “Twisted” and “Nobody.”
“It’s been 30 years since my first album,” said Sweat. “I’m happy to be one of the artists that has sustained and been in the game as long as I have been. It’s exciting for me to be able to do Vegas and be in this industry from that period of time.”
Sweat landed his first residency at the Flamingo earlier this year from Jan. 17 through Feb. 4, stating, “it was the second act of his career and that fans came from all over the country to see him perform at the legendary Flamingo, and he was more excited than ever to bring R&B back to the heart of The Strip,” he told the Voice & Viewpoint Newspaper.
The Las Vegas Review Journal reported, “You couldn’t ask for better entertainment and a mesmerizing performance to start the New Year. There was as much fun for me listening to his music as it was watching the ladies fall under his extraordinary spell.”
Sweat will continue his Vegas show with a catalogue of songs, albums and duets (Xscape and LSG-Levert, Sweat & Gill) that have stood the test of time. A platinum chart-topper, he has delivered five #1 albums, selling more than 25 million records worldwide to date. This year alone, the in-demand crooner has already performed nearly 100 dates reaching more than 450,000 fans, with numerous sold-out shows.
Despite having many hits and becoming a respected musician in the business, his talent for performing wasn’t discovered overnight. His dream to perform was rooted at a young age. Sweat began singing as a kid, performing at the Apollo Theater, stating “I always had the desire to be a singer, that was something that was instilled in me,” he said.
Better than ever, he isn’t showing any signs of slowing down going on his 12th studio album, “Dress To Impress.” The album includes the #1 hit single, “Good Love” and two Top Ten singles including, “Tonight” and “Just The Two Of Us.”
On his upcoming projects, “I’m working on a new album at the moment; I haven’t named it yet, but I’m in the studio trying to do that at the moment,” he states. “I’m touring and I’ll be going to Australia right after. That should be my first time in Australia, so that should be exciting for me.”
On the secret to having longevity in the music industry, “I try to be relevant and consistent,” said the singer. “Stay true to who you are and what you are. I stay true to music that I do, and that works for me.”
On the younger generation not setting a precedent of unique sound and music today, “I don’t really see a lot of artists producing … but I don’t focus on what the younger generation is doing,” he admits. “Times are changing; the music game is a lot different than it was when I came out. People talk about totally different things now, then what I talked about. New artists have different perspectives. The music industry was totally different than it was when I came out, but you can’t really knock that, because as we grow, the world changes,” said the veteran singer.
“R&B is not the dominant sound right now, as far as it was back in the day. Hip-hop and Pop are now the popular sound,” he adds.
Music artists from the 90s are returning to the forefront of music. Xscape united recently with a reported documentary and reality show in the works and New Edition received a 3-part miniseries documenting their personal and professional rise to stardom. Sweat, being a part of that lineage of artists, didn’t have much to say about that, stating “it is great to see them and it all depends on the musician.”
To purchase tickets for “Keith Sweat: Last Forever” at the Flamingo in Las Vegas visit keithsweatvegas.com.
Surprisingly, Giancarlo Esposito was somewhat less than enthused when he found out that celebrated Korean film director Bong Joon Ho was an admirer of his work. He had been told that Ho wanted to cast him in his new movie, “Okja,” which premieres on Netflix on June 28th. He recalls, “I thought, ‘oh to meet the director who’s a fan, what does he want me to do … something I’ve already done before?’ That’s the first thing that comes into your head but then after talking to him for a few minutes, I realized that he didn’t want that. He just wanted me to think and consider this role of Frank Dawson.”
Frank Dawson is the veteran corporate exec at the Miranda Corporation, a multinational food company and Okja is the name of one of the so-called “superpigs,” engineered by the Mirandocorporation for mass consumption. Okja was raised in S. Korea by Mija, a young orphan for whom Okja eventually became her world. When Mirando Corp. comes to take Okja back to America, Mija fights with everything her preteen body has to prevent that from happening. The film is an exploration into the ways humans are unmindful in our treatment of the earth and each other as we share space in the universe.
Frank Dawson is not only a loyal employee of the Mirando corporation, he has also become a part of the family, acting as an avuncular figure for Lucy Mirando (TildaSwinton), who now runs Mirando in place of her deceased father. Esposito describes breaks down Frank’s character, “someone who a long time ago realized he wanted to be a part of a corporation. To not necessarily have power but to develop a new means of feeding many people and that’s valid. We’re in a world now where we’re facing food shortages and I think part of Frank is that his scientific brain thinks there’s a way to solve that and to make money in solving that but Frank also has loyalty and allegiance to the Mirando corporation.”
The apple didn’t fall far from the tree in terms of Esposito’s choice of career. His mother was an opera singer. Asked what he believes she thought of his success he replied, “She is very proud of me and what I have achieved. I took her to see ‘Porgy and Bess’ about a year and a half ago and she was still walking at that time and we walk into the theater and I was going to my seat and the audience started clapping. She stopped and she [asked], why are they clapping? The curtain had risen and we’re waiting for the show to start and I said, ‘I don’t know Mommy’ and we took a few more steps and more people started clapping. She asked me again and I was a little embarrassed and I said I think they might be clapping for me and I think that’s the moment that she really got how far I had come.” He continued, “Toward the end of her life she really understood; I allowed her to know that everything I had came from her … this dedication … I didn’t go out to play, I would take voice lessons with her and she would teach me all these things.”
Born in Denmark to an Italian father and African American mother, Esposito was raised in New York City after the age of six.
Perhaps his early and definitive success can be attributed to his training in the theater at a relatively young age. By the time he was eight years old, he was already acting on Broadway. He appeared in thirteen Broadway musicals before deciding that he wanted to be a dramatic actor. All that theater training, often considered the most rigorous type for an actor, paid off. Though he is decidedly not the type to boast, Esposito’s acting resume is quite impressive. Virtually all of his projects resonate with substance and universal meaning. The ones that stand out in his mind most are the multiple films he did with controversial film maker and self described storyteller, director Spike Lee. Lee’s projects stand out not only because of their quality but in large, partly because of what they represented. Asked if he ever thinks about the importance of his body of work, he answered, “I don’t normally. I do with one director and that’s Spike Lee and that’s because of his groundbreaking timing and because of the way we worked as a family. His great vision and support. I love him dearly because there weren’t many images of African-Americans that we could see and be proud of and Spike cultivated that and broke through. I’ve come to a place where I feel like everyday is a moment of gratitude for me because I have what? One, two, three films that are the hundred best of all time. Is that a measurement of what’s good or what’s bad? What is a measurement or judgment of that is folks like you and other people who stop me on the street and say ‘Wow, I grew up [watching] you. You helped me to think about things in a different way.’”
When I met Esposito recently, amidst the hustle and bustle of Midtown New York City — in a hotel on the southern tip of Central Park — I am surprised, as I sense someone who has tamed the ego of his past characters. Away from the screen, Giancarlo radiates a subtle determination and humility; someone who has decided to be part of the solution rather than adding to the problem. You can imagine he reminds himself not to get too caught up in the superficialities of life. His overall outlook on life is, “We’ve been taught you need to get ahead, I need to get ahead. It’s every man for himself. It’s dog eat dog. It’s unfortunate because it’s not. Because no matter how much money you make here you can’t take it with you. So what am I here for? So I bring my own personal ideals into the characters that I play and into the decisions that I make to be a part of the film because I feel like that’s my responsibility because I have a spiritual essence about me and a spiritual practice that cares about all of humanity.”