Onyx group member
Fredro Starr is in the process of producing a movie based on the life story
of his mentor Jam Master Jay, the late DJ for Run-DMC.
The script is being
written with a cousin of Jay’s and according to Starr, Derek Luke, Mekhi
Phifer, Will Smith and Queen Latifah have expressed interest in the movie, which
he hopes to have out as soon as next year.
“JMJ put
me in the game,” Fredro Starr told AllHipHop.com. “The first time
I went to Los Angeles, I was with JMJ. I was gonna do a TV show with Russell
Simmons and Quincy Jones called ‘B-Boys’ when I first got signed
to JMJ records with Onyx. He’s been my mentor from day one.”
With ten years
in Hollywood under his belt, the rapper/actor said he felt the time was right
to move behind the camera.
“I think
this is a good way for me to produce my first movie and a good way for me to
give something back to Hip-Hop, Jay and his family,” Fredro said.
No one has been
arrested or charged for the murder of the legendary DJ, who was gunned down
on October 30 of 2002 in Queens, New York, where both Starr and Sticky Fingaz
hail.
Fingaz will also
step behind the camera for what is tentatively titled “Sticky Fingaz Untitled
Project.”
“It’s
basically a movie that he (Sticky) wrote and directed and it stars me, Mekhi
Phifer, Omar Epps, Faizon Love aka Big Worm, Melinda Williams, and Mike Williams
from the Wire.
Fredro said that
with the movie, he aimed to unite black Hollywood.
“Everybody
came to do this movie with us and we didn’t have to pay anybody,”
Fredro continued. “Mekhi did it for the love. Omar did it for the love.
We just wanted to show the studios that we can make a film without going thru
the politics being in Black Hollywood, it’s gonna be the hottest movie
out.”
Fredro said the
flick is based on two friends from the neighborhood trying to survive and find
away out of their impoverished living conditions.
“Everybody
in the movie is rapping,” Fredro explained. “We came out of our
pocket to shoot the first few scenes then Lions Gate Films picked it up so it’s
going to come out early next year. To me it’s the rap version of “City
of God,” There’s a lot of shooting and a lot of nudity. It’s
real raw.”
