Starz Adds Snoop Dogg, La La Anthony & Serayah To 50 Cent’s Black Mafia Family
Starz announced today that entertainment icon and entrepreneur Snoop Dogg (Dolemite Is My Name, Soul Plane, Training Day) will join the STARZ Original series “Black Mafia Family” in a recurring role, alongside STARZ “Power” alum La La Anthony (“The Chi,” Think Like a Man) and Serayah (“Empire,” Favorite Son), both recurring as guest stars.“Black Mafia Family” is produced through Jackson’s G-Unit Film and Television in association with Lionsgate Television for Starz, and is currently filming in Atlanta and Detroit.
Tasha Smith (“Empire,” “Power,” Why Did I Get Married?) is set to direct multiple episodes and has been upped to executive producer on the series. Terri Kopp, Anthony Wilson and Anne Clements also serve as Executive Producers on the series.
Snoop Dogg will play “Pastor Swift,” the Flenory family's spiritual advisor. He's a man of The Word, with the aura of an ex-con. The Pastor believes in the power of the Lord, and does his best to keep Meech and Terry in good graces. But Pastor Swift eventually ingratiates himself into every part of the Flenory’s life, including helping find a lawyer, and becoming a confidante. Meech and Terry's father resents all the attention the Pastor showers over the Flenory's family, but no one can deny all the good the Pastor does for them.
La La Anthony will play “Markaisha Taylor,” the wife of a flamboyant drug dealer that Meech and Terry befriend. She sees something in Terry, a seriousness and a sense of purpose she feels she can harness to make herself rich and powerful. She develops a friendship with him and his confidant and eventually, his lover, putting everything Terry has built out on the streets at stake.
Serayah will play Demetrius Flenory's girlfriend, “Lori Walker,” who is also the mother of his child “Neeka.” Walker is a smart, driven, yet naive college athlete who once fell for Meech's bad boy charm. Walker is more mature and clear-eyed now. Her world centers more around her daughter, and she expects less out of Meech, which makes him want her more.
Previously announced cast include series regulars Demetrius “Lil Meech” Flenory Jr., the son of Demetrius “Big Meech” Flenory; Da’Vinchi (The Way Back, “grown-ish”); Russell Hornsby (Fences, The Hate U Give); Michole Briana White (“Dead to Me,” She Hate Me); Ajiona Alexus (“Empire,” “13 Reasons Why”); Eric Kofi-Abrefa (Blue Story, Fury); Myles Truitt (“Black Lightening,” “The New Edition Story”); Steve Harris (“The Practice,” Diary of a Mad Black Woman); plus entertainer and Detroit native Arkeisha “Kash Doll” Knight and Wood Harris (“Empire,” Creed) in recurring roles.
About “Black Mafia Family”
“Black Mafia Family” is inspired by the true story of two brothers who rose from the decaying streets of southwest Detroit in the late 1980’s and gave birth to one of the most influential crime families in this country. Demetrius “Big Meech” Flenory’s charismatic leadership, Terry “Southwest T” Flenory’s business acumen and the fraternal partnership’s vision beyond the drug trade and into the world of Hip Hop would render the brothers iconic on a global level. Their unwavering belief in family loyalty would be the cornerstone of their partnership and the crux of their eventual estrangement. This is a story about love, kinship and capitalism in the pursuit of the American dream.
“Black Mafia Family” is executive produced by Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson (co-creator of “Power” Universe, “For Life”), alongside showrunner, executive producer, writer, and Detroit native Randy Huggins (“Star,” “Rebel,” “Power”).
Senior Vice President of Original Programming Kathryn Tyus-Adair is the executive overseeing “Black Mafia Family” on behalf of Starz. Erin Conroy is the executive overseeing the series on behalf of Lionsgate.