Junior M.A.F.I.A.

Junior M.A.F.I.A., short for Junior Masters At Finding Intelligent Attitude, were a large crew of hip-hop rappers from Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn, NY, put together and guided by their childhood friend East Coast rapper Notorious B.I.G. in the early 1990s. All under the age of twenty at the time, Junior M.A.F.I.A was comprised of four separate acts with four very different personalities: the 6s, or 666, (Lil’ Caesar, Chico, and Nino Brown) who claim to know right from wrong and practice it, the Snakes (cousins Larceny and Trife) who represent the enraged attitude expressed in a large number of America’s youth, MC Klepto, who offered insight on a life of “boostin' and hustlin'” and 47 MC Lil' Kim (a.k.a Big Momma or The Lieutenant), the only female in the group, who showed the ghetto life from a woman’s point of view.

While forming the group, the B.I.G asked Queensbridge rapper Capone to also be a part of it, but he declined in order to focus on his own projects.

The Junior M.A.F.I.A member, Trife, has said the group “is simply everyone in the crew hitting you from a different angle, trying to get their point across - whether in shootin’ or mackin’”. Fellow member, MC Klepto praised B.I.G, saying “We admire B.I.G. for taking us up from the street with him. He didn’t have to do it. You gotta give him props for that.” Due mainly to their producer Notorious B.I.G’s input, they were able to instantly grab attention with their 15-track debut album, Conspiracy in the summer of 1995, released under Black Beat records, a label based in NYC, later bought by Atlantic Records, and also Notorious B.I.G’s label, Undeas. The group fit right in with the emerging gangsta-glam movement coming out of New York City. Conspiracy impressed critics and it debuted at number eight on the U.S. Billboard 200 chart and was certified gold. B.I.G featured on four of the album’s tracks.

Their rhymes were hard-hitting, mostly addressing guns, money, and sex. Their first lead-off single “Player’s Anthem”, produced by DJ Clark Kent, and featuring the vocals of Notorious B.I.G was a huge success. The accompanying video showed the crew flying on helicopters and Lear jets while taking care of business under F.B.I. surveillance. In addition to Clark Kent, the album included producers EZ Elpee, Daddy-O, Akshun, and Special Ed.

The album also spawned the popular top twenty hit, B.I.G and Lil' Kim's classic "Get Money", which helped Kim to start her own solo career.

In an interview with the Notorious B.I.G, which was conducted in 1995 but appeared in a 2003 issue of XXL Magazine, he claimed he was planning to retire from rap music in the year 2000 to manage the careers of Junior M.A.F.I.A. After the unfortunate death of the Notorious B.I.G. in 1997, the crew became defunct. The Notorious B.I.G’s best friend P. Diddy later signed three of the previous seven members of the group, continuing to go by the name Junior M.A.F.I.A, releasing an album by the name of Riot Music (Mega Media) in May, 2005. Some of the collaborators on the album included Jadakiss, Method Man and unreleased verses by Notorious B.I.G himself. The album was a failure both critically and in the charts. Lil' Kim has gone on to become a megastar in her own right, releasing a total of four albums as of 2006. Lil' Cease's 1999 solo effort The Wonderful World of Cease A Leo managed #26 on the Billboard 200 but generally went unnoticed.

In 2004, The Best of Junior M.A.F.I.A (Cleopatra) was released, as well as a DVD titled Chronicles of Junior M.A.F.I.A, a candid documentary dealing with the controversy and conspiracies surrounding Notorious B.I.G and the Junior M.A.F.I.A crew. It included never-before-seen footage of studio sessions and home videos of life with the Notorious B.I.G. and his crew. The DVD release was packed with a free mix-tape.

A follow-up DVD titled The Chronicles of Junior M.A.F.I.A. Part II: Reloaded was scheduled to be released in 2005, but Lil' Kim hit Lil’ Cease with a $6 million lawsuit, claiming she never granted permission for her name and image to be used.