Thursday, August 21, 2008

Sho Nuff - True Shogun of Harlem


I was talking to my sister the other day. We both know Julius Carry aka Sho Nuff's mom, and she was checking in to be sure I knew about his transition.

Sho Nuff, the venemous kung fu villian in The Last Dragon is a pop culture icon. Who knows how many city-fide kids enrolled in karate class after what is probably the only urban aka black martial arts flick to hit the big screen in the 80s. That movie rivaled Coming to America in oneliners. Like a true thespian who cut his teeth on the likes of Shakespeare, Carry made lines like "Who's the Master" and "Kiss my converse," lines that could have been the corniest ever in the mouth of a lesser actor be the coolest catch phrases of the decade. The flick featured heartthrobs Taimak and Vanity, who's posters lined more teen walls than I'm sure they're aware of. But Sho Nuff was the film's superstar, later to be reearthed in Busta Rhyme videos and hip hop lore alike.

My sister and I discussed this and then she made an interesting point. Unlike other larger than life icons, whose images loom and symbolize an era (Mr. T, Flava Flav, George Jefferson etc), Carry never played himself.

You didn't see Carry sporting his Sho Nuff gi years later, he didn't try to hawk cereal, go on The Surreal Life or spend his days in the camera lens screaming "Kiss my converse." He went on to play low key cool roles in TV shows and lived a respectable life beyond the boundaries of his iconoclastic character.

You have to respect that.

He'll be missed.

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