Journalist and creator Barry Michael Cooper attends The Paley Middle For Media Presents “Planet Rock: The Story of Hip-Hop & the Crack Technology” at The Paley Middle for Media on September 12, 2011, in New York Metropolis. | Supply: John W. Ferguson / Getty
Barry Michael Cooper, a author who penned the screenplay for New Jack Metropolis and reportedly coined the phrase “New Jack Swing,” has died. Barry Michael Cooper’s different works embrace writings in The Village Voice and lent his talents to different notable movies etched within the lore of Black cinema.
In keeping with a report from TMZ, Barry Michael Cooper handed away this previous Tuesday in his adopted metropolis of Baltimore, Maryland, the place Cooper resided after penning screenplays for New Jack Metropolis, Sugar Hill, and Above The Rim, the “Harlem Trilogy” because the trio of movies are generally known as.
No reason for demise was instantly reported.
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Previous to his screenwriting success within the Nineties, Cooper was a music critic for The Village Voice between 1980 and 1989. He additionally penned the piece “Teddy Riley’s New Jack Swing: Harlem Gangsters Increase A Genius,” with some giving him credit score for naming the music fashion of New Jack Swing that Riley innovated as a producer and member of the R&B trio Man.
(L-R) Nelson George and Barry Michael Cooper attend The Paley Middle For Media Presents “Planet Rock: The Story of Hip-Hop & the Crack Technology”at The Paley Middle for Media on September 12, 2011, in New York Metropolis. | Supply: John W. Ferguson / Getty
Author Nelson George penned a brief however transferring obituary piece for Cooper through his Substack web site and highlighted the pair’s longtime connection and Cooper’s allegiance to Harlem regardless of relocating to Baltimore years in the past.
From The Nelson George Mixtape:
Barry Michael Cooper died as we speak in Baltimore, in line with his son Mathew. It’ll take me a minute to collect all my ideas, however simply wished to thank him for recommending to Robert Christgau on the Village Voice after I was attempting to put in writing for the Riffs part again in 1981. It was a key second in my profession and life. Barry helped outline popular culture within the ‘80s and ‘90s together with his early reporting on crack, by naming Teddy Riley’s sound “new jack swing,” and writing star autos for Wesley Snipes (New Jack Metropolis, Sugar Hill) and Tupac (Above the Rim.) Although he lived a lot of the final many years of his life in Baltimore, he was Harlem to his core.
Barry Michael Cooper was 66.
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Barry Michael Cooper, Who Wrote Screenplays For ‘New Jack Metropolis,’ ‘Sugar Hill’ And ‘Above The Rim,’ Dies At 66
was initially revealed on
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