Rap mogul on the rise

Screenwriter Barry Michael Cooper - whose 1991 movie New Jack City, starring Wesley Snipes, is regarded by some as The Godfather of urban gangster films - was charmed by Coles and his West Philadelphia sidekick, Tim Baukman, when they met in the fall of 2002.

By then, Coles and Baukman, who went under the hip-hop name "Tim Gotti," had founded Take Down Records, a label that was promoting up-and-coming rappers in town.

Coles also was staging concerts, including a show billed as a "hip-hop explosion" at the Spectrum, and was hosting parties and after-concert events for a young, urban crowd.

His weekly Friday night parties at the Palmer Social Club, at Sixth and Spring Garden, attracted crowds of 1,000 or more, with lines sometimes stretching around the block.

Coles drove around town in a $220,000 blue Bentley while taking care of business for his recording artists and setting up his promotional events.

Dressed in baggy pants, an expensive team jersey, and a matching cap, he usually wore a gold or silver neck chain with the diamond-encrusted initials TD - for Take Down - as big as a fist dangling at his chest.

He was a regular at "stop the violence" antidrug rallies sponsored by political and civic groups, never missing an opportunity, it seemed, to have his photo taken standing next to some top city official.

So it wasn't surprising that in 2002 Cooper saw Coles as an up-and-coming, well-connected, street-smart music industry entrepreneur.

The Harlem-born screenwriter, who now lives in Baltimore, had been introduced to the young rap mogul by Joseph M. Marrone, Coles' entertainment lawyer.

Marrone and Cooper had hit on the idea of a reality TV series built around two guys from the streets who were trying to start a record label.

It was the story of Coles, Baukman, and Take Down Records: the rise of two young, savvy independent record company executives.

Cooper, 49, says he came away from their first meeting impressed.

"You know, there's that lyric from Jay-Z, 'Real recognizes real and you're lookin' real to me,' " Cooper said of the encounter.

"They weren't extravagant guys," he said, before catching himself and laughing. "Besides the Bentley in the 'hood. But these guys didn't flaunt it like that."

The car, the bling, the outfits were the trappings of their business, he said.

The entertainment business.

"If it was a facade," he said, "it was a very good one."

"One time, I came up to Philadelphia and they took me to a Bennigan's," Cooper recalled with another chuckle. "There were two Bentleys in the parking lot. [Allen] Iverson [then of the 76ers] was there. And we sat there eating wings and watching a ball game."

Marrone came up with the name for the reality series: Streets Inc. Cooper started to shoot some video to pitch the idea to a network.