Barry Michael Cooper, Who Wrote Screenplays For ‘New Jack City,’ ‘Sugar Hill’ And ‘Above The Rim,’ Dies At 66
Journalist and author Barry Michael Cooper attends The Paley Center For Media Presents “Planet Rock: The Story of Hip-Hop & the Crack Generation” at The Paley Center for Media on September 12, 2011, in New York City. | Source: John W. Ferguson / Getty
Barry Michael Cooper, a writer who penned the screenplay for New Jack City and reportedly coined the phrase “New Jack Swing,” has died. Barry Michael Cooper’s other works include writings in The Village Voice and he lent his abilities to other notable films etched in the lore of Black cinema.
According to a report from TMZ, Barry Michael Cooper passed away this past Tuesday in his adopted city of Baltimore, Maryland, where Cooper resided after penning screenplays for New Jack City, Sugar Hill, and Above The Rim, the “Harlem Trilogy” as the trio of films are sometimes called.
No cause of death was immediately reported.
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Prior to his screenwriting success in the 1990s, Cooper was a music critic for The Village Voice between 1980 and 1989. He also penned the piece “Teddy Riley’s New Jack Swing: Harlem Gangsters Raise A Genius,” with some giving him credit for naming the music style of New Jack Swing that Riley innovated as a producer and member of the R&B trio Guy.
(L-R) Nelson George and Barry Michael Cooper attend The Paley Center For Media Presents “Planet Rock: The Story of Hip-Hop & the Crack Generation”at The Paley Center for Media on September 12, 2011, in New York City. | Source: John W. Ferguson / Getty
Writer Nelson George penned a short but moving obituary piece for Cooper via his Substack site and highlighted the pair’s longtime connection and Cooper’s allegiance to Harlem despite relocating to Baltimore years ago.
From The Nelson George Mixtape:
Barry Michael Cooper died today in Baltimore, according to his son Mathew. It’ll take me a minute to gather all my thoughts, but just wanted to thank him for recommending to Robert Christgau at the Village Voice when I was trying to write for the Riffs section back in 1981. It was a key moment in my career and life. Barry helped define pop culture in the ‘80s and ‘90s with his early reporting on crack, by naming Teddy Riley’s sound “new jack swing,” and writing star vehicles for Wesley Snipes (New Jack City, Sugar Hill) and Tupac (Above the Rim.) Though he lived much of the last decades of his life in Baltimore, he was Harlem to his core.
Barry Michael Cooper was 66.
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