Hollywood screenwriter Barry Michael Cooper dies at 66

Barry Michael Cooper has died at the age of 66. 

The iconic screenwriter was best known for coining the sound 'New Jack Swing' and for his work on the "Harlem Trilogy" films: New Jack City, Sugar Hill and Above the Rim. 

Cooper's friend, writer, filmmaker and former The Village Voice collaborator Nelson George confirmed on his Substack that the star had died in Baltimore. 

Watch the video above.

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Any additional details surrounding his death were not immediately available. 

Citing Cooper's son Matthew, George wrote: "Barry helped define pop culture in the '80s and '90s with his early reporting on crack, by naming Teddy Riley's sound 'new jack swing' and writing star vehicles for Wesley Snipes (New Jack City, Sugar Hill) and Tupac (Above the Rim).

"Though he lived much of the last decades of his life in Baltimore, he was Harlem to his core."

According to The Hollywood Reporter, Cooper began his career as a journalist in the 1980s. His work was featured in The New Village Voice and Spin Magazine. 

After finding success in the industry, Cooper began writing screenplays that were influenced by the crime and culture of NYC. 

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The New Yorker's work on the trilogy centred on Black characters living in Harlem, where Cooper was born and raised, which had a tangible impact on hip-hop music and culture. 

In an interview with Stop Smiling in 2007, Cooper explained the significant influence New Jack City had on cinema and the cultural zeitgeist.

"If there was no New Jack, there would be no Boyz n the Hood, there would be no Menace II Society because it let the public know, and more importantly let the suits in the studios know, that these movies make money.

He added at the time, "I think it set it off."

Cooper has been credited as a screenwriter on eight films, television series and video games, having co-written the video game NBA 2K16.

The screenwriter also worked on and helped produce a remake of Spike Lee's 1986 feature-length film, She's Gotta Have It, which was released to Netflix in 2017. 

In 2005, Cooper made his directorial debut with the movie Blood on the Wall$ before returning to the role to make the short Guilt…

Cooper is survived by his son Matthew. Any additional information regarding his survivors was not immediately available.

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