"Pusherman" – The Real Story of Frank Lucas' Rise and Fall
illi News/10296363

NEW YORK - illiNews -- 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.

More on illi News

• Bosco's Beach Launches Vacation Rentals in Panama City Beach, Florida
• Globally Recognized Montessori Teacher Training Comes to Northbrook, IL
• $7.8M Financing Boosts NRx's Expansion with Kadima Institute Acquisition for PTSD and Depression Care: NRx Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (Stock Symbol: NRXP)
• One Park Financial Once Again Honored with Sun Sentinel's Top Workplaces Award for the 8th Time — Achieves Best Ranking Yet in 2025
• Leading Mass Tort and Product Liability Litigator Kurt Weaver Joins Shook in Chicago

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.

More on illi News

• Cycurion Wins $33M Cybersecurity Contract for State Colleges, Also $6M from Transportation Agency: Cycurion, Inc. (Stock Symbol: CYCU) is Undervalued
• Novel 'We Won't Go Back' Published; Addresses Women's Issues
• Call for Papers Deadline Approaching – Don't Miss Your Shot to Speak at the OpenSSL Conference 2025!
• YOUTH UNEMPLOYMENT TOPS 80% IN PARTS OF CHICAGO, NEW REPORT SHOWS
• The ROS1ders Announces Recipients of 2024 ROS1+ Cancer Innovation Awards

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