How 'Power' Has Broken All of the 10 Crack Commandments
Back in 1997, with his song "10 Crack Commandments," the Notorious B.I.G. gave us all a tutorial in how to properly sell crack-cocaine (or, really, any kind of narcotics). The lessons—morally reprehensible though they were—were sound, but not everyone has learned from them. Certainly not the drug-dealing characters on the 50 Cent-produced Starz show Power.
Don't get us wrong: The show is absurdly addicting, but mostly because the entire drug ring is run so poorly. To prove it, let's look at all the ways that the dealers on Power break the 10 Crack Commandments.
"Never Let No One Know How Much Dough You Hold."
Ghost (Omari Hardwick) and his sales team don't go around telling everyone know how much money they make, but they don't have to because everyone can see it. Behind every closed—but seemingly unlocked—door in the back of their clubs and laundromats, they're openly counting piles of money or drugs. Which is fine—so long as all of their clientele is blind.
"Never Let 'Em Know Your Next Move."
Ghost and Tommy (Joseph Sikora) enjoy filling in their old pal Kanan (50 Cent) on all of their business plans. Unfortunately for them, Kanan is plotting against them, so they're giving him all the info he needs to end their careers. Zip. That. Lip.
"Never Trust Nobody."
In love and smitten, Tommy mixes business and pleasure by letting his new girlfriend, Holly (Lucy Walters), in on the fact that he's a drug dealer. She gets picked up by the cops for questioning soon after and tries to put his best friend in jail. In God we trust. In jumpoffs? Not so much.
"Never Get High on Your Own Supply."
Tommy's favorite pastime? Snorting all of his cocaine. Aside from the ways drug use makes him a sloppy liability, where's the profit in that? Unless one nostril is shooting out cash like an ATM while the other snorts, he's always gonna be in the red (financially and nasally).
"Never Sell No Crack Where You Rest At"
Biggie's line was a literal one, warning dealers off of selling out of their cribs, but it also applies to not discussing your business at home. In this scene, Ghost, Tommy, and Kanan discuss the issues with the drug cartel in Ghost's home office, which, for all they know, could be bugged. But, to be fair, there really is no better time to talk about dealing drugs than when your wife is in the next room over making dinner.
"That Goddamn Credit, Dead It."
When Ruiz (Luis Antonio Ramos), a distributor, finds out that one of his men is sleeping with his teenager daughter, he asks Tommy to do him a favor and kill the man, who is actually a federal informant named Nomar (Vinicius Machado). The figurative credit lands Tommy in hot water quickly when the cops get footage of his car outside of Nomar's house on the night of his death. With credit, there is always a bill to be paid.
"Keep Your Family and Business Completely Separated."
Ghost's wife, Tasha (Naturi Naughton), knows all about his drug business and his affair. When Ghost takes his mistress to Miami, Tasha locks her husband out of the house and blames his side chick for distracting him from the drug trade. C'mon, Ghost. Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned—especially one who has all the dirt on you.
"Never Keep No Weight on You."
On a nice evening drive, Tommy pulls some drugs out of his stash and lights up on the street. Casual.
"If You Ain't Gettin' Bagged, Stay the Fuck From Police."
Ghost not only talks to the police, he is also sleeping with the federal agent who is investigating his case specifically. OK, he didn't know it at first, but he really gives new meaning to f—king up business.
"If You Ain't Got the Clientele, Say, 'Hell No!' [to Consignment]"
That commandment about credit? This is the reverse of that. You never want to be in someone's debt, accepting product you can't pay for. Ghost calls in a meeting with his distributors when he realizes that his team is struggling to sell the drugs that Lobos (Enrique Murciano) gave to them. He acts calm and collected to keep everyone in good spirits, but deep down he knows that if he doesn't start getting paid, Lobos can't get paid. If the head of the cartel has to come looking for him and his money, "Ghost" won't be a moniker so much as his state of being.