From Executive Producers Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson, Mona Scott-Young and P. Frank Williams, WE tv premieres the highly anticipated new series, Hip Hop Homicides, tonight, Thursday, November 3 at 9 PM ET/PT. New episodes will become available on popular AMC streaming service ALLBLK, every Monday, following their premiere on WE tv.
“Executive Producing this series was truly a labor of love,” explains P. Frank Williams. “Oftentimes, the families and friends of these victims are hesitant to talk about these incidents for a myriad of reasons. But the Hip Hop Homicides team was determined to make sure that we gave them a proper investigation to help fans learn more about what really happened and to also get closure for their families.”
Setting itself apart from your average true-crime procedural, Hip Hop Homicides aims to provide an added layer to consider by taking a ‘big picture’ look at the epidemic of violence in hip-hop, while it humanizes the victims and attempts to understand why these murders continue to happen. The series investigates the murders of Pop Smoke, XXXTentacion, King Von, Magnolia Shorty, Chinx, Soulja Slim, Mo3 and FBG Duck.
Williams, an Emmy and 8x NAACP Image Award winner, says that it was important for Hip Hop Homicides to tell the stories properly. Hosted by TV personality and Academy Award®-winning producer Van Lathan, Hip Hop Homicides features exclusive, one-on-one interviews with those closest to the fallen, and also receives insight from artists including Master P, French Montana, Juvenile, Mannie Fresh, Vic Mensa, among others.
While investigating the tragic deaths, Williams said the Hip Hop Homicides team sought to tell the stories that transcended the artists’ hip hop personas. “As a journalist and producer who covered the murders of Tupac Shakur and the Notorious B.I.G., it’s very troubling to still be covering killings in the culture in 2022,” he says. “Mainstream media too often portray them as thugs and gangsters. But like it was in the mid 1990s my goal was to humanize these artists and show a three-dimensional portrait of them as fathers, friends, sons, daughters and members of their community.”
Saddened by the recent murders of PnB Rock and Takeoff from The Migos, Williams wants Hip Hop Homicides to be a conversation starter to discuss and provide solutions to stop the violence. “The crisis in hip-hop culture is very real,” he says. “Rappers, who were once celebrated, seem to have a target on their backs nowadays. We keep asking when will it stop?”
Williams will be holding Hip Hop Homicides screenings followed by a discussion and Q&A about the series in Los Angeles, Oakland, San Diego, New Orleans, and Chicago.
Featuring an exclusive interview with his mentor, Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson, the premiere episode is Pop Smoke…gunned down in the Hollywood Hills in what was first labeled a “robbery gone wrong”…but the scene lacked the usual signs of forced entry and ransacking associated with those crimes. Was it a targeted hit? Tune in tonight, Thursday, November 3 at 9 PM ET/PT on WE tv.
