For close to 30 years, Patricia Porter has been working to keep the names and legacies of her brothers alive. Patricia is 11 years older than her youngest brother William and 11 months younger than her older, more famous brother Rich Porter.
On Labor Day, Patricia and her family along with Wonderboy Entertainment and Ron Faison held the annual “Rich Day,” this time in Long Island City at Studio Square. Rick Ross, Funkmaster Flex and DJ Kid Capri all took to the stage to honor the Harlem legend.
Flex and Capri spun classics while Ross performed hits such as “Stay Schemin,” “BMF” and “I’m On One.”
“I really thought he was phenomenal,” Porter said of Ross’ performance.
Patricia says “Rich Day,” which started in the summer of 1990 after both her brothers were brutally murdered, will be turned into “Porter Day” moving forward so no one forgets the memory of the youngest of the siblings William. He was just 12 when he was killed.
“It was devastating,” she said about the deaths of her family. “It was really us. My brothers. I consider my little brother my first child. I didn’t want my mom to feel the impact [of their loss]. I took it on. She expired in 2011, but she died when they killed her sons. My mother wasn’t right.”
Rich Porter, who was part of a legendary crew of young street hustlers which included Azie Faison and Alberto Geddis “Alpo” Martinez, rose to prominence in the mid-1980s. Alpo wound up killing Rich, and William was killed by his own uncle after being kidnapped and held for $500,000 ransom in a separate tragedy.
“Nobody never remembers my little brother,” Patricia lamented. “That hurts more than anything. I believe Capone-N-Noreaga mentioned him one time [in a song]. I was happy somebody took the time to remember him. My little brother was kidnapped. He was 12 years-old.”
As for Rich Porter, his legacy has lived on vigorously through the hip-hop community. The 2002 Damon Dash film “Paid in Full” is a cult favorite where Mekhi Phifer immortalized Rich with a galvanizing portrayal. Wood Harris played Azie and Cam’ron handled the role of Alpo. The names in the films were changed. In music, of course, you have the recent MMM project by Revolt TV Chairman Sean “Diddy” Combs, which stood for “Money Making Mitch.” Jim Jones dropped The Ghost of Rich Porter mixtape several years ago and through the years JAY-Z, Cam’Ron, A$AP Ferg, and Rocky, 50 Cent, Nas , Fat Joe, Meek Mill, The Game, Freeway, and French Montana are just some of the MCs who have paid homage to Porter in the music.
“My brother was exceptional, phenomenal,” Patricia testified. “Our brother had it. He had a big heart. He didn’t buy you. Richard was graceful. He didn’t do none of that. His presence is something you don’t see every day. Jim Jones came to my house and he told me about The Ghost of Rich Porter. When I did the [‘Rich Day’] that year Jim showed up.
And while she admits that the other “rappers keep him alive as well,” she would like for them to contribute financially to Rich’s kids and be active in “Porter Day.”
Patricia wants to make “Porter Day” is bigger than ever now that Alpo is free from prison (He was released in 2015 after being sentenced for 35 years for a slew of drug conspiracy and murder charges).
“It’s awful,” she lamented about Alpo’s release. “I did it to show ‘you killed my brother, he still lives.’ He’s gonna live as long as I’m alive.”
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