BMF is the latest hit series from executive producer Curtis '50 Cent' Jackson and executive producer, showrunner and writer Randy Huggins, and is inspired by the true story of brothers Demetrius 'Big Meech' Flenory and Terry 'Southwest T' Flenory and the beginnings of their drug empire in the streets of Detroit in the late '80s.
As with all street level crime dramas, there's usually a main rival, and in BMF it's Lamar, played by British actor Eric Kofi Abrefa.
Related: BMF star Russell Hornsby reacts to the show's "bad motherf**ker"
Speaking exclusively to Digital Spy, Abrefa explained how much he knew about the Black Mafia Family before taking on his role as Lamar.
"I knew how much impact they've had on hip-hop culture and stuff, especially in the early 2000s. You always heard the name Big Meech circling around, and I've seen a couple documentaries on them and stuff," he said. "Getting to know them now is mind-blowing in terms of the things that both of the brothers achieved, and where they came from."
Discussing how he got into the role, Abrefa added: "I was just looking at some articles, publications. Our showrunner Randy Huggins was sending me things just to kind of look over. Things about Detroit because it's set in the '80s, so we kind of had to go research like that period in time. It went from there really.
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"My character's loosely based on someone, and I was given, you know, some heads up about him and stuff like that, which was good to kind of get my teeth sunk into."
Related: Who are the 'Black Mafia Family' on the show BMF?
The Blue Story actor went on to describe how he perfected the Detroit accent: "I'd always say like I was brought up in the '90s, and in the '90s, we were just dominated by American TV, like Nickelodeon, Disney channels and all that kind of stuff, and hip-hop music.
"So, I guess, my ears was very like tuned to it, you know, because that's what we were listening to all the time. And African American culture was like Black mecca for like, every Black person around the world.
"That was maybe my foundation, but in terms of this it was just like when I was on set, I kind of would speak in the accent, more time than not. Just to get the muscularity around my mouth for it, because if I was to speak a little bit that way and then switch it, it can kind of muddle up. As weird [and] as corny as it felt sometimes, you just had to push through, do you know what I mean?"
BMF airs on Starz in the US and streams on Starzplay, available through Amazon Prime Video, in the UK.
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Shyvonne Thomas is Digital Spy's Photo Director, looking after Digital Spy's and Hearst's digital brand visuals across the board. She also writes and conducts interviews specialising in the Power shows, anything Beyoncé, family days out, as well as championing content across Black TV shows and movies.
Having started her career as Shopping Assistant for Mother & Baby and Pregnancy and Birth magazines in 2010, Shyvonne moved on to become Picture Assistant at heat magazine in 2012, before joining the Daily Star, Express and OK! websites as Galleries Editor in 2014.
Shyvonne is an NCTJ-accredited journalist and studied an honours degree in Journalism. In 2021, Shyvonne was shortlisted for the PPA Unsung Hero Award. Shyvonne is also a proud mum.
