Mario Van Peebles made his directorial debut with this hard-hitting mix of crime thriller and social drama, which is as indebted to the urban realism of Spike Lee as it is to gangster movies such as Brian De Palma's Scarface. Based on actual events, the film suggests that the problems facing black inner-city kids are often as much caused by exploitative drugs barons as they are by racial discrimination. Wesley Snipes achieves a chilling mix of arrogance and malevolence as a ruthless drugs lord, while Van Peebles and fellow cops Ice-T and Judd Nelson successfully convey a sense of crusade rather than mere law enforcement.

A gangster, Nino, is in the Cash Money Brothers, making a million dollars every week selling crack. A cop, Scotty, discovers that the only way to infiltrate the gang is to become a dealer himself.