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)
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)
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)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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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)

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