Hip Hop is mourning the death of New Jack City and Above the Rim screenwriter Barry Michael Cooper.
Cooper, whose other credits include the Wesley Snipes movie Sugar Hill and Netflix’s version of She’s Gotta Have It, passed away on Tuesday (January 22) at the age of 66.
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No cause of death has yet been revealed.
The tragic news was announced by fellow writer Nelson George on Substack.
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“Barry Michael Cooper died today in Baltimore, according to his son Mathew,” he wrote. “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.”
Cooper, who was also a journalist and is credited with inventing the term New Jack Swing, and his work had a big impact on Hip Hop.
Fellow journalist and screenwriter, Cheo Hodari Coker, paid tribute to Cooper on social media, writing: “DAMMIT! One of my heroes and a good friend. RIP @BarryMichaelC. I hope George Jackson and Gary Harris were right at the gates waiting for you.”
DAMMIT! One of my heroes and a good friend. RIP @BarryMichaelC . I hope George Jackson and Gary Harris were right at the gates waiting for you. https://t.co/xopsUD8G5i
— Cheo Hodari Coker (@cheo_coker) January 22, 2025
Veteran A&R Jeff Sledge added in his own post: “Lost a Harlem legend today. Barry Michael Cooper @bmcharlemworld wrote New Jack City, Sugar Hill, and Above The Rim. He also created the term ‘New Jack Swing’. We became friendly via DM’s and had some great conversations. Very sad to hear this news.”
Fellow record executive Dante Ross saluted Cooper’s legacy by saying: “His Harlem trilogy of flicks, New Jack City, Sugar Hill and Above The Rim were beyond influential in terms of Hip Hop cinema, they literally changed the game.
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“New Jack City was a huge hit, but what many don’t know, is BMC coined the term New Jack Swing in a brilliant article about Harlem wunderkind Teddy Riley and his hip-hop/RnB hybrid, giving an everlasting name to the musical movement.”
Former Hot 97 personality Miss Info also shared a picture of Cooper’s 1980s article in The Village Voice where he coined the term New Jack Swing to describe the new wave of R&B at the time.
KLC from the legendary No Limit Records production team Beats by the Pound also said of Cooper’s films on Instagram: “All Of those Movies are Still ICONIC. Rest Well, STRENGTH & PRAYERS!!!!!”
New Jack City is particularly renowned for its influence on Hip Hop in the 1990s and 2000s having been referenced by everyone from Nas and The Notorious B.I.G. to Lil Wayne and Kanye West.
Cooper’s films also featured a number of rap stars such as Ice-T and Flavor Flav in New Jack City and 2Pac in Above the Rim.
HipHopDX sends its condolences to Barry Michael Cooper’s family, friends and fans.
