Junior MAFIA is a hip-hop group that was created in Brooklyn. Homeland was the area of Betford-Stuyvesant. The team consists of famous artists L. Cease, N. Brown, Chico, Larceny, Klepto, Trife and Lil' Kim. The letters in the title in translation into Russian do not mean "mafia", but "Masters are in constant search of intelligent relationships."
The start of the creativity of the Junior MAFIA team
The founder is considered to be a rapper from New York The Notorious BIG It is worth noting that all members of the team were friends of the founder. At the time of the formation of the group, the musicians were not yet 20 years old. The team itself is made up of 4 people. They formed 2 parts of the group.
Rise of fame
Big Beat and Undeas Recordings created the band's opening CD, titled "Conspiracy". The founder himself participated in the recording of 4 tracks. It is worth noting that the themes and sounding continued the work of BIG in a peculiar way. In their tracks, the authors of the lyrics touch on rather tough topics. In particular, we are talking about sex, weapons and money.
Despite the fact that the public accepted the disc favorably, it was still possible to avoid criticism. Many people did not like the fact that some of the participants do not show their own individuality. Oddly enough, but fame came to the group immediately after the release of the first disc. He took the 8th line in the Billboard 200 rating. In the first 7 days, since the release, 70 copies of the disc were sold. December 000, 06 the disc received the status of "gold".
The main track "Player's Anthem" goes gold. The accompanying video shows the guys flying in helicopters. They personify modern businessmen. The record can be considered a continuation of "Get Money" and the "Gettin' Money" remix.
Directly the hit gets "platinum". It is he who becomes the starting impetus for Kim in developing her own career. The founder of the team did not take part in the creation and recording of the single "I Need You Tonight". In the video, fans of creativity see how the guys, together with Aaliya, organize a party at Kim's house. Moreover, the hostess herself was not at home.
Continuation of creativity after the first success of Junior MAFIA
In 1997, the team was overtaken by a great tragedy. The inspirer and founder has passed away. After his death, the group ceased its official existence. Notorious BIG gave the press a lot of interviews and comments during his lifetime. But many appeared in print after his death. In 2005, his interview, recorded at 95, was published. And in it, he reveals to the press his plans for the future.
In particular, BIG planned to quit his individual career in 2000, but alas, he did not have time to implement his plan. The founder of the team wanted to devote himself to the creativity of the team. He had plans and ideas for the development of the project.
After the death of the creator, only 3 members remained in the team. These are: L. Cease, Klepto and Larceny. They continued to work. The trio releases a new record under their old brand. It was called "Riot Musik". Unfortunately, this work did not turn out to be as popular as the first one. He managed to get only 61 lines of the rating according to Top R&B / Hip-Hop. The album managed to rise a little higher in the rating according to the Independent. He took 50th place.
Kim set about developing her own solo career. She is recording the album "Hard Core". In this first project of hers, she mentions the name of the group that was a great start for her work. She collaborated with other former colleagues and teammates.
Group compilations
The first compilation that appeared in 2004 was "The Best of Junior MAFIA". In addition, documentary filmmaker April Maya becomes the author of the film "Chronicles of Junior MAFIA" In this film, the author pays attention to unknown aspects of relationships both within the team and around the guys. Including fans were able to see unreleased footage from the recording of the first and most popular album. Studio days are displayed there.
The next documentary, created without a specified director, was supposed to appear on screens in 2005. But work on "The Chronicles of Junior MAFIA Part II: Reloaded" had to be stopped.
Attempts to resolve conflicts peacefully
The fact is that Kim filed a lawsuit against Lil' Cease. The plaintiff stated that she forbids the use of her name and personal photographs for the creation of commercial projects. Kim refers to such documentary projects that they tried to release after the collapse of the team. She demanded damages in the amount of 6 million US dollars from the defendant.
The defendant, along with Banger testify against Kim. They accuse her of slander. During the hearings on the case, the court listened to the arguments of all parties to the conflict and their witnesses. As a result, Kim and D-Roc are found guilty of defamation. They are sent to prison.
Already in prison, Kim releases a new record "The Naked Truth". In this work, she recalls the two informers who were guilty of her imprisonment.
On June 27.06.2006, XNUMX, the continuation of the documentary "Reality Check: Junior Mafia vs Lil' Kim" appears on the screens. But fans did not appreciate this work. It didn't get the expected success. The authors revealed their vision of the problem. That is, they offered the fans to evaluate all the vicissitudes of the judicial confrontation with Kim. At what they try to reveal their point of view and explain the reasons for their actions. As a result, the authors gave up trying to justify themselves to the fans.
Life After Death: The Movie - reveals the causes of the conflict
April Maya started her collaboration with D-Roc in 2007. They created the documentary Life After Death: The Movie. The feature-length project reveals all aspects of the confrontation between Kim and her opponents. In particular, the picture justifies the only girl of the former famous team. Directors and co-authors reveal all the secrets. They provided evidence that Cease and Banger made false statements against Kim.
They slandered from beginning to end. In addition, the authors revealed the details of the shootout that took place in the Hot 97 studio. In addition, all the inaccuracies that were made during the creation of the first part of the documentary project were corrected.
Thus, the team created by the American famous rapper was able to exist for a relatively short time. The band members were unable to continue their development after the death of The Notorious BIG. Some members of the band minced the vector in favor of a solo career.
In the history of the existence of the group, the public remembered not music albums, but conflicts, including judicial ones. There are only two records in the band's discography. Moreover, the second was not successful. The guys could not repeat their debut success.
It is worth noting that the documentary project, founded by Maya, turned out to be in demand commercially. The second part of the documentary reveals the truth about some members of the team. The name Kim is whitewashed in the picture.
Unfortunately, the founder's friends could not keep the project afloat. They did not want to continue developing the BIG project. As a result, some compositions are preserved in the work of individual solo artists. At the same time, there was no official announcement of the termination of the activities of the team.
