BMF: The Rise and Fall of Big Meech and the Black Mafia Family [Hardcover]

Mara Shalhoup (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 2, 2010

In the early 1990s, Demetrius “Big Meech” Flenory and his brother, Terry “Southwest T,” rose up from the slums of Detroit to build one of the largest cocaine empires in American history: the Black Mafia Family.  After a decade in the drug game, the Flenorys had it all—a fleet of Maybachs, Bentleys and Ferraris, a 500-man workforce operating in six states, and an estimated quarter of a billion in drug sales.  They socialized with music mogul Sean "Diddy" Combs, did business with New York's king of bling Jacob "The Jeweler" Arabo, and built allegiances with rap superstars Young Jeezy and Fabolous.  Yet even as BMF was attracting celebrity attention, its crew members created a cult of violence that struck fear in a city and threatened to spill beyond the boundaries of the drug underworld.  Ruthlessness fueled BMF’s rise to incredible power; greed and that same ruthlessness led to their downfall.

When the brothers began clashing in 2003, the flashy and beloved Big Meech risked it all on a shot at legitimacy in the music industry.  At the same time, a team of investigators who had pursued BMF for years began to prey on the organization’s weaknesses.  Utilizing a high-stakes wiretap operation, the feds inched toward their goal of destroying the Flenory’s empire and ending the reign of a crew suspected in the sale of thousands of kilos of cocaine — and a half-dozen unsolved murders.

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

The Black Mafia Family, ostensibly a hip-hop record label, was actually an urban midlevel drug-distribution network. Originally based in Detroit, the operation expanded through the genius of the Flenory brothers. Demetrius “Big Meech” was the flamboyant personality behind the Atlanta operation, and Terry was the low-profile and conservative operator of the L.A. operation. With major direct cocaine sources out of Mexico, these brothers escalated their distribution to more than $250 million wholesale value before their downfall. They operated for a period apparently with immunity in Atlanta but were eventually caught through the persistence of a couple of local police and two nationwide federal drug-enforcement networks. Before their fall, the Flenory brothers managed to spread their taint of violence and drugs to reach several prominent people, including Atlanta mayor Shirley Franklin and singer Bobby Brown. The rapper known as “Baby Blue” fell as part of the BMF crew, and rapper Young Jeezy escaped by the skin of his teeth. Shalhoup, an award-winning journalist, offers an insightful look at the street-drug industry, which casts a wide net of beneficiaries as well as victims. --Vernon Ford

Review

"With superb pacing and a thorough handle on her extensive cast, Shalhoup's true crime debut makes a highly addictive read." -Publisher's Weekly (Starred Review!)

 

"A first rate read." --On Wax Magazine

 

“…deftly tracks the fortunes of multiple BMF associates and their pursuers in law enforcement… her journalistic chops convey two inescapable messages: The cocaine industry is bigger and more entrenched than most people suspect; and sooner or later, no matter how glamorous, everybody goes down.” –Kirkus Reviews

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 320 pages
• Publisher: St. Martin's Press; First Edition edition (March 2, 2010)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0312383932
• ISBN-13: 978-0312383930
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.4 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (26 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #199,668 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Mara Shalhoup is editor of the Chicago Reader. She started her career as a crime writer for the Macon Telegraph and spent a decade at Creative Loafing, Atlanta's alternative newsweekly. She has earned accolades including a Clarion Award, two Livingston Award nominations, several prizes from the Society of Professional Journalists and the Association of Alternative Newsweeklies, and recognition from the Atlanta Press Club and Atlanta Magazine as the city's journalist of the year. She lives in Chicago with her husband, rock musician Todd Galpin; three ornery cats; and a seventy-pound boxer-mastiff mix.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

41 of 49 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Unbelievable, March 15, 2010

By 

T. Jenkins "Serious" (West of Medical Center, South of Highland) - See all my reviews

This review is from: BMF: The Rise and Fall of Big Meech and the Black Mafia Family (Hardcover)

The author does a credible job of crafting the BMF story over the course of 277 pages. The book is at it's best early on and tapers off significantly toward the end. It was apparent that this was a voyeuristic endeavor for the author whose interest in the lifestyle and personalities of the BMF members was apparent throughout. In as much the finite details of the story don't receive nearly the amount of attention they deserve. Had the author done so, she would have found many inconsistencies in regard to the BMF operation and the legend that has emerged.

Ignorant and naive, are the most appropriate terms to describe the behavior of BMF's co-founder Demetrius "Meechie" Flenory throughout the story. At least this is the impression one gets from the author. The story opens with an interview session where a jailed Meech reminisces over all that he has lost. The cars, the money, the notoriety are all listed by the author but it is apparent what he seeks is validation. For all that he has lost, the most precious of all "freedom," isn't mentioned. It's a curious omission from a man facing the remainder of his natural life behind bars.

It's sad because it demonstrates the mentality and mindset of so many men and women, "some young and some more experienced," who are sure to pick up this title and relate or adopt Flenory's irrational manner of thinking themselves. The author falls into the trap of trying to justify the actions of the group by employing the over-used excuse "if it wasn't the Flenory brothers...some else would-perhaps someone not so willing to give back.

Give back? Give back to what, where and to whom? The truth of the matter is BMF spent whatever earnings they made in the clubs of Buckhead, Vegas and Miami! What benefit did this provide to the sections of Atlanta, Detroit, St. Louis or any of the other cities where the product they sold settled? Not a single Buckhead club was owned or controlled by BMF, Miami's south beach is an area notorious for its Jim Crow era policies in regard to black club and business ownership as is the case with the Vegas strip.

Little "if any," of the alleged $270 million in earnings generated by BMF was invested or applied toward the betterment of the communities victimized during their reign. The sad fact of the matter is BMF's "absurd" spending habits and promotion of a highly fictionalized lifestyle masked the continued assault upon black communities through the promotion of the high consumption lifestyle and fatalistic behaviors that have robbed more than 2 million black males of their futures due to incarceration. Our communities are suffering and one of the primary causes for this suffering is the combination of ignorance and apathy.

Far to many of us remain ignorant to the fact that there is no future in selling drugs, Jay-Z's puffery be damned! I've witnessed far to many fall victim to the temptation of fast money who learn far to late that there is no such thing as easy money and the only thing fast about it is the rate at which it disappears. The BMF story is sad because as the judge in the BMF trial pointed out "Flenory is his own worst enemy" as well as an enemy to the reputation and well being of a healthy black image.

Despite this book, multiple DVD's and countless magazine articles, the truth has continued to be ignored. The fact of the matter is the details as contained in the BMF indictment from October 2005 is not nearly as glamorous as we are led to believe. 30 people lost their freedom, and for what 632 kilos, $5.3 million in currency and $5.7 million in assets. Though a considerable sum, it is a far cry from $270 million most often attributed to the operation. So was it worth 40 years behind bars? Well according to Flenory it was. Well someone check back with him in 10 years when his exploits are a faded memory and the magazine editors and struggling authors loose interest.

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Amazing Read!, March 10, 2010

By 

J. Vermont "Mom" (Burlington, VT) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: BMF: The Rise and Fall of Big Meech and the Black Mafia Family (Hardcover)

I couldn't put this down - (I had to at some points to go to work), it reads like a non fiction, certainly as exciting as the godfather series, an updated version. I loved learning the details of how BMF and Sin City pulled off their dealings and also interesting to hear how the investigators connected the dots.

Great book! I can't wait for the movie.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good, not Great, January 31, 2011

By 

M. Wright "The Moorish Builder" (Hollywood, CA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: BMF: The Rise and Fall of Big Meech and the Black Mafia Family (Paperback)

I liked it, but its not great. As a follower of hip-hop culture and underground news I've heard about BMF for a few years now, and I was following their story before Meech/ BMF was arrested or sentenced. So when I read the book I didnt come across much information that I hadn't already done from my own personal sleuthing. As I read the book I kept thinking "man, i could've written this" but i'm not an investigative writer or reporter, which If I was, I would have produced pretty much the exact same book, which is one of my gripes about it. Basically this is a good book for people who have never heard or are new to the Name Big Meech (likely through the Rick Ross song BMF). Its a compilation of all the public domain info on the peoples and group itself. My only other gripe was the absence of certain names/ photos, like Bleu DaVinci, and the story of Jeezy and Gucci Mane, which for some some reason has Gucci listed an unnamed rapper beef. Im hoping that's just some legal thing, but Im waiting for the personal stories to come out, directly from the mouth of Meech and Big T and how their "management styles" clashed and lead to their downfall, which is the real story in this typical drug tale.