Mob Ties: When Music Meets the Mafia

The music world crossing paths with the underworld.

Mob Ties: When Music Meets the Mafia - Henry Hill, the mob soldier turned state witness who inspired the classic film Goodfellas, died on Tuesday, June 13, at the age of 69. But his rise and fall also inspired hip hop, whose obsession with the Mafia extends back to Kool G Rap at least. Here, to give Hill a proper send-off, we look back at just some of the instances where mob life inspired the music world. (Photo: Courtesy Wikimedia Commons)

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Mob Ties: When Music Meets the Mafia - Henry Hill, the mob soldier turned state witness who inspired the classic film Goodfellas, died on Tuesday, June 13, at the age of 69. But his rise and fall also inspired hip hop, whose obsession with the Mafia extends back to Kool G Rap at least. Here, to give Hill a proper send-off, we look back at just some of the instances where mob life inspired the music world. (Photo: Courtesy Wikimedia Commons)

Nas, 'Street Dreams' - Nas went mafioso for "Street Dreams," off his second album, It Was Written. It was fitting, then, that the video, also directed by Hype Williams, used the Martin Scorsese film Casino as inspiration. (Photo: Courtesy Columbia Records)

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Nas - Jay-Z would diss his pink suit later, but in 1996's "Street Dreams," Nas channelled Sam Rothstein, the mob-linked casino boss portrayed by Robert DeNiro in another Scorcese classic, Casino. (Photo: Courtesy Columbia Records)

Drita D'Avanzo - Drita D'Avanzo, wife of an alleged mob soldier and star of VH1 reality show Mob Wives, is making an unlikely stab at a rap career. French Montana recruited her to rhyme in his "Everything's a Go" (video above), and she rapped "It's All About the Benjamins" onstage at a recent Lil Kim show in New York. (Photo: Courtesy Interscope Records)

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Drita D'Avanzo - Drita D'Avanzo, wife of an alleged mob soldier and star of VH1 reality show Mob Wives, is making an unlikely stab at a rap career. French Montana recruited her to rhyme in his "Everything's a Go" (video above), and she rapped "It's All About the Benjamins" onstage at a recent Lil Kim show in New York. (Photo: Courtesy Interscope Records)

Childish Gambino - Actor-comedian-rapper Childish Gambino came up with his unusual Mob-inspired moniker by entering his given name (Danny Glover) into an online "Wu-Tang Clan Nickname" generator. (Photo: John Ricard/BET)

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Childish Gambino - Actor-comedian-rapper Childish Gambino came up with his unusual Mob-inspired moniker by entering his given name (Danny Glover) into an online "Wu-Tang Clan Nickname" generator. (Photo: John Ricard/BET)

Photo By Photo: John Ricard/BET

Rick Ross - Health problems didn't stop the Bawse from having another monster year — he's nominated for Best Male Hip Hop Artist, Best Collaboration (for DJ Khaled's "I'm on One) and Best Group (for his leadership role in Maybach Music Group).(Photo: Joe Kohen/Getty Images)

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Rick Ross - Rozay has long projected a mob fantasy in his music and videos. His 2010 album Teflon Don took its name from one of Jon Gotti's nicknames, and his mixtape Albert Anastasia, from that same year, was named after one of the infamous founders of the American Mafia.(Photo: Joe Kohen/Getty Images)

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Yo Gotti - Memphis rapper Yo Gotti took his name from deceased Queens mob boss Jon Gotti.(Photo: Candice Lawler/BET)

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Yo Gotti - Memphis rapper Yo Gotti took his name from deceased Queens mob boss Jon Gotti.(Photo: Candice Lawler/BET)

Photo By Photo: Candice Lawler/BET

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Irv Gotti - Irv Gotti's name was also inspired by his infamous Queens compatriot, but his Mafia obsession goes further: His Murder Inc. label was named after the infamous Mob-linked hitman squad.(Photo: Ilya S. Savenok/Getty Images for James Blake Foundation)

Wu-Tang Clan - Before Childish Gambino, there were the Wu Gambinos. Shaolin's finest took mafioso rap to another level on Raekwon's classic Only Built 4 Cuban Linx... Rae's Lex Diamond nickname was taken from legendary gangster Jack "Legs" Diamond.(Photo: Getty Images)

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Wu-Tang Clan - Before Childish Gambino, there were the Wu Gambinos. Shaolin's finest took mafioso rap to another level on Raekwon's classic Only Built 4 Cuban Linx... Rae's Lex Diamond nickname was taken from legendary gangster Jack "Legs" Diamond.(Photo: Getty Images)

Carmine Gotti - Flipping the script on all the rappers jocking his grandpa, Carmine Gotti, star of reality show Growing Up Gotti, is pursuing a career in music, and made cameos in videos from Khia and Fat Joe. (Photo: Amy Graves/WireImage/Getty Images)

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Carmine Gotti - Flipping the script on all the rappers jocking his grandpa, Carmine Gotti, star of reality show Growing Up Gotti, is pursuing a career in music, and made cameos in videos from Khia and Fat Joe. (Photo: Amy Graves/WireImage/Getty Images)

Jamie Lynn-Sigler - Sopranos star Jamie Lynn-Sigler released a pop flop, Here to Heaven, in 2001.(Photo: Marion Curtis/PictureGroup)

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Jamie Lynn-Sigler - Sopranos star Jamie Lynn-Sigler released a pop flop, Here to Heaven, in 2001.(Photo: Marion Curtis/PictureGroup)

Capone of Capone-N-Noreaga - Capone was in jail by the time The War Report hit stores back in 1997. The LP is widely regarded as a cult classic and paved the way for 'Pone and Nore's successful solo careers.  (Photo: Johnny Nunez/WireImage)

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Capone - While his former partner in rhyme Noreaga looked overseas for his crime-boss namesake, Queens rapper Capone titled himself after the Chicago mob legend Al Capone.(Photo: Johnny Nunez/WireImage/Getty Images)

Photo By Photo: Johnny Nunez/WireImage