American Pimp (1999)

Synopsis: After their mainstream commercial successes (MENACE II SOCIETY, DEAD PRESIDENTS), this documentary from twin brothers Allen and Albert Hughes feels like a labor of love. The subjects are pimps, and they don't mind the attention. In... After their mainstream commercial successes (MENACE II SOCIETY, DEAD PRESIDENTS), this documentary from twin brothers Allen and Albert Hughes feels like a labor of love. The subjects are pimps, and they don't mind the attention. In fact, it's not long before the jewelry, cars, clothes, and even women take a backseat to the barrage of explanations, instructions, and anecdotes unleashed by macks and players from all over the United States. That they are exploiting women--as evidenced by the testimony of white "squares" at the beginning of the film--is rationalized by the almost-all-black pimps, who live by their own code of ethics on the margins of a society that they claim needs them. Men with names such as Gorgeous Dre, Fillmore Slim, and Bishop Don Magic Juan (who proudly displays photographs he took with Donald Trump and Marion Barry) take the viewer through the origins of pimping, pimp style, and the ups and downs of dealing with the prostitutes--who don't even get a cut. Through it all, the Hughes brothers intercut the blaxploitation films that not only popularized pimps in the public imagination but were based on the culture of real pimps and in turn inspired a new generation to become pimps themselves. [More]

Director: Albert Hughes, Allen Hughes

Director: Albert Hughes, Allen Hughes
Producer: Kevin J. Messick, Albert Hughes, Allen Hughes