Kenneth McGriff

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Kenneth "Supreme" McGriff

Kenneth "Supreme" McGriff (born 1961) is a former drug dealer and leader of The Supreme Team. Some claim that the fictional characters Nino Brown, portrayed in the 1991 film New Jack City and Majestic in Get Rich or Die Tryin are based on him. McGriff served ten years for a 1989 drug conviction, and when released, he helped finance the rap label The Inc. Records, formerly known as Murder Inc. Records, with neighborhood associate Irv Gotti. McGriff has been arrested two more times since for parole violations for possessing firearms. He was part of the major indictment on Murder Inc. in 2003, which exposed its more criminal side. McGriff is currently awaiting trial with several other men for a litany of federal crimes including murder, drug dealing, and money laundering.

One of the most feared gangsters of his era, McGriff is alleged to have a hand in the (possibly drug related) murder of Run D.M.C. D.J. Jam Master Jay, and the shootings of 50 Cent, a former "employee" of his. He allegedly felt that 50 Cent had exposed just a little too much on the kingpin of Jamaica, Queens in his 2000 mixtape song "Ghetto Qu'ran".

Associates are Lorenzo "Fat Cat" Nichols and Gerald "Prince" Miller. The book Queens Reign Supreme details his life. He is currently facing federal charges for murder and drug dealing for the murder of Queens, New York, rapper Eric "E Money Bags" Smith and Smith's associate, Troy Singleton. If convicted he could receive the death penalty. The downfall of the Supreme Team occurred with the murder of an undercover cop, Edward Byrne, in retaliation for police activity against Lorenzo Nichols. The law enforcement attention was so great that George Bush Sr. carried Byrne's badge on the campaign trail in 1988.

McGriff was known for his utter brutality. He would order military style raids on rival drug dealers, with gang members storming a home in vans and automatic weapons on execution missions.