Nicky Barnes Talks Hip-Hop, Drug Dealing, New Book 'Mr. Untouchable'

By Roman Wolfe

Former New York heroin kingpin Leroy "Nicky" Barnes recently sat down with journalist and radio host Judith Regan during a two-part interview with Sirius satellite radio to discuss his life, prison, Hip-Hop and his new book, Mr. Untouchable, The Rise, Fall and Resurrection of Heroin's Teflon Don.

Regan, who was involved in a firestorm of controversy over the unpublished book and TV special If I Did It by OJ Simpson, interviewed Barnes, who has been named checked in songs by rappers like Shyne, Loon, Nas and others.

Barnes was dubbed "Mr. Untouchable" and was one of the biggest heroin dealers in New York.

He headed up the "council of seven," a consortium of drug dealers who united to organize the Harlem heroin business.

He earned tens of millions of dollars through his drug operation and his life story was the basis of the hit 1991 movie New Jack City, which starred rapper Ice-T and Wesley Snipes as the fictional character "Nino Brown."

At his height of power Barnes owned two gas stations, travel agencies, over 300 custom-tailored suits, at least two Citroën-Maseratis, four Mercedes' and he even invested in two federally insured housing projects in Detroit and Cleveland.

Barnes had been arrested on numerous occasions, from murder, to drug dealing, but each time, he managed to avoid prosecution. Read more