The PennZone

NEW YORK - PennZone -- The name Frank Lucas is legend—kingpin, hustler, mastermind. Harlem's most infamous drug lord built an empire on "Blue Magic," smuggling uncut heroin from Southeast Asia's Golden Triangle into America's streets. His story, mythologized in American Gangster, is now being stripped of its Hollywood gloss in Pusherman.

Directed by award-winning author and documentarian Legs McNeil (Please Kill Me), Pusherman offers a raw, unfiltered look at the folklore of the Black gangster—larger-than-life figures who became street icons and media sensations. Narrated by McNeil, the film features interviews with journalist Mark Jacobson, who first exposed Lucas in New York Magazine's "The Return of Superfly," inspiring American Gangster. Crime writer Michael Daly, hip-hop historian Fab 5 Freddy, and cultural critic Darius James also provide expert commentary.

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Adding depth to the film's cultural impact, Pusherman features an original score by Jarobi White, founding member of A Tribe Called Quest and recent Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee. White's compositions tie Lucas' legacy to the music and culture he influenced.

The documentary explores the realities Hollywood left out:

• The Business of Heroin – Lucas revolutionized the drug trade, bypassing the Mafia and smuggling pure heroin inside the coffins of U.S. soldiers returning from Vietnam.
• Blaxploitation & The Urban Antihero – The '70s turned gangsters into pop culture icons, with films like Super Fly and The Mack shaping perceptions of power, race, and rebellion.
• Hip-Hop & The Gangster Mythos – Street legends like Lucas became lyrical figures, influencing hip-hop's storytelling of ambition and caution.
• NYC's Most Corrupt Era – Lucas' rise was as much about power as drugs, thriving in a city where criminals, politicians, and dirty cops played by the same ruthless rules.

"Pusherman is the best Behind the Music episode ever done about a non-musical figure. More entertaining than American Gangster and a f*** of a lot truer," says Jacobson, whose reporting remains a definitive account of Lucas' empire.

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In an era where the gangster myth still dominates urban storytelling, Pusherman challenges us to reconsider the truth versus the legend. Who profits from these narratives? And who pays the price?

Available exclusively from MVD Entertainment Group on DVD June 24.

WATCH THE TRAILER: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J1zn_PdQ9gM