As one-third the critically-acclaimed Canadian rap trio Swollen Members, Shane “Madchild” Bunting had earned awards and worked with some of the most prolific names in the music biz, Nelly Furtado and Everlast among them. Swollen was even handed a Juno (the Canadian equivalent of Grammy) four times since the turn of the new millennium. Bunting [...]
Richard Kuklinski reportedly killed at least 100 people from the late 1960′s through the 1980′s. He was a mob contract killer, but he was also just a pure, cold-blooded killer. Serial, perhaps. One that got paid for the work he would have enjoyed doing anyway. Michael Shannon (Boardwalk Empire) landed the role of Kuklinski and [...]
The allure of famous mobsters will probably never fade; our collective pop culture mindset has enabled master criminals like Capone, Gotti, Bulger and Frank Lucas to become household names. And of course this year will see it’s share of gangster-themed movies, biopics and books. But… what if there was a gangster more powerful, more suave [...]
Can’t get enough of The Godfather saga? Then you’re in for a real treat on May 8th, as the backstory of the Corleone family is unveiled in the new book by author Ed Falco. What? No Mario Puzo? Well, the late Puzo penned a screenplay that essentially filled in the history not covered during the [...]
This is the first in a series of photographs, I will be posting periodically, that feature a moment or character from mob history. With a dose of photojournalism, I shall offer a brief explanation of each original picture – the who, what, where, when, and if applicable – why. Today’s subject: Virginia Hill. To simply [...]
New York rapper Ron Braunstein, aka NECRO – whom we’ve profiled here before – has recently unleashed a new music video for the a track on his upcoming Murder Murder Kill Kill EP. The song – “Tough Jew/Rabbi Holding Guns” is actually under Necro’s long-discussed side-project called the Jewish Gangsters. The video has already reached [...]
Tales of twentieth century organized crime, particularly the evolution of the American Mafia, are loaded with folklore and theories. Although gangster Alphonse Capone may be the most prevalent in our collective pop culture psyche… more stories have surrounded the man known as “Lucky” Luciano. Many of the accounts behind New York’s most infamous master criminal [...]
Not all organized criminals are created equal. Nor should anyone believe all the ladies involved were mere arm-candy. Just as intelligence, prowess and business savvy were skills necessary for the top echelon of history’s male gangsters to be bosses – so too was the case for more than a few powerful female figures. Call them [...]
Monday night on the History Channel’s reality series Pawn Stars – a would-be seller walked in and claimed to have Charles “Lucky” Luciano’s signet ring. In case you missed this episode, here’s the lowdown: Pawn shop owner Rick Harrison was approached by a man holding an ornate gold ring, and ready to give an elaborate [...]
They may not have been the wealthiest of urban gangsters during their reign, but they certainly earned a spot among the most notorious to ever come out of Queens New York during the 1980′s crack cocaine onslaught. A group of former Five Percenters turned drug kingpins – they were called The Supreme Team, and led [...]
