In light of the news of former drug kingpin Alberto "Alpo" Martinez's death, actor Mekhi Phifer took to Instagram to speak about making the 2002 movie Paid in Full, which was inspired by Martinez and his two former friends, Azie "AZ" Faison and Richard "Rich" Porter, in their quest to build a drug empire.
Phifer shared photos of him and Cam'ron, who played Rico, a character inspired by Martinez, along with the caption, "My brother @mr_camron and myself on the set of #paidinfull bringing to life the story of true #Harlem Influencers #richporter and #alpo."
Phifer then shared a story about him and Cam'ron going "to the same high school in Harlem at the same time. 116th and Pleasant Ave. Manhattan Center for Science and Mathematics. We had an obligation to do these brothers justice! I’m just happy we were able to have the honor of doing so."
He then closed out his message, writing, "I grew up knowing the legend of these Kats and had to represent the humanity in the choices they made. Hopefully, lessons were learned and not glorified in any way. Hopefully, we were able to capture their motivation and mannerisms. RIP to both these brothers. Much love!"
Cam'ron commented on Mekhi's post, writing, "Thank you and (Wood Harris) for teaching me during the movie a lot of acting skills. This was my first movie and was raw talent. Couldn’t have done it without you both. Love bro."
