March 8, 2021
On this day in the cult-classic crime thriller,
New Jack City, arrived in theaters across America. The story of the rise and fall of Nino Brown and the Cash Money Brothers has continued inspired Hip Hop culture for a quarter century and continues to permeate the culture that made it a success.
New Jack City came about at a pivotal time. In 1991. Hip Hop was still a fledging music genre and culture, looking to officially legitimize itself in the eyes of mainstream America. In addition, the blaxploitation film genre had been defunct for over a decade, leaving a gaping hole in “Black Hollywood”. New Jack City was a harbinger of the resurgence of Black actors, writers, and filmmakers in Hollywood, as well as the crystallization of Hip Hop’s synergistic capabilities.