I'm Kenneth "Supreme" McGriff's Son — Here's What Growing Up With That Name Was Really Like | Supreme McGriff Jr.
August 26, 2026
AI Summary
5 min readSupreme McGriff Jr. was 12 years old when he found out who his father was. He had been going to a barbershop near his house in Jamaica, Queens, where older men would give him money, pay for his haircut, and drive him around in BMWs and Benzes. He kept asking his mother why everyone kept calling him "Prime's son." Eventually she sat him down with his aunt and told him everything: his father was Kenneth "Supreme" McGriff, the notorious leader of the Supreme Team drug organization and a figure woven into New York street legend and hip-hop history. McGriff Jr. describes that moment with boyish excitement — "My dad's a superhero. My dad's a legend." But the reality that followed was more complicated.
Learning the Name, Learning the Weight
McGriff Jr. was born in 1996, after his father's peak years in the 1980s. His parents were not together, and for reasons of security and strategy — "he never wanted anybody to know he had kids" — Supreme kept his family life hidden. McGriff Jr. never met his father in person. He still hasn't. He spoke to him on the phone for the first time around age 12, just as Supreme's federal trial was beginning. One of McGriff Jr.'s fondest memories of that first conversation: "He asked me who my favorite rapper was. I told him it was 50. He just bust out laughing on the phone."
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What you'll learn
- 1 (02:10) **"My Guest Today Is Spree McGriff Jr."** - Introduction of Supreme McGriff Jr. and the premise of the episode: hearing his personal perspective on growing up as the son of a notorious figure.
- 2 (02:28) **Childhood in Queens and the "Village" That Raised Him** - McGriff Jr. describes his upbringing in Jamaica, Queens, and the early signs that his family was different.
- 3 (04:14) **"Who's This Prime Guy?" - The Revelation at Age 12** - McGriff Jr. recounts the moment his mother and aunt sat him down to explain who his father was.
- 4 (06:04) **"I Never Got Into His Parents' Business" - The Father-Son Dynamic** - McGriff Jr. shares the wisdom his father has imparted, even from prison, and his views on his parents' separation.
- 5 (08:00) **"My Mother Always Worked" - A Financially Independent Mother** - McGriff Jr. details his mother's role as a provider and how she met his father, painting a picture of a strong, independent woman.
- 6 (10:28) **"The Jay-Z Stories Were My Favorite" - Learning About His Father's Past** - McGriff Jr. shares the stories he heard about his father, focusing on the positive ones and his connection to hip-hop royalty.
- 7 (12:07) **"Informants Lie" - McGriff Jr. on Law Enforcement's Perspective** - The guest gives his take on the role of informants and police narratives in his father's case.
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Show Notes
Supreme McGriff Jr. grew up in Queens not fully understanding who his father was until the stories, the attention, and the weight of the name Kenneth Supreme McGriff started shaping everything around him — while his mother worked to keep him away from the path that had defined his father's legacy and the federal prison sentence that followed it. In this episode of Locked In with Ian Bick, he shares what finding out his father is Kenneth Supreme McGriff actually produced in him, what his upbringing in Queens really looked like with that name attached to everything, what his own trouble with scamming and his time on Rikers Island actually involved, what deciding to create an Instagram account with his father's name attached to his own actually set in motion — the celebrities who reached out, the stories with Mike Tyson, the 50 Cent beef, and the complete truth about what carrying one of the most recognized and most feared names in New York street history actually costs the son who never chose it.
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#TrueCrime #RikersIsland #supreme #50Cent #prisonstories
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Thank you to HUNGRYROOT & AG1 for sponsoring this episode:
Hungryroot: Explore my Hungryroot Digital Cookbook "The Commissary Upgrade" at https://hungryroot.com/LOCKEDIN
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AG1: For a limited time, save 20% on your first subscription order of AG1 Next Gen or AG1 Pro at https://drinkag1.com/lockedin
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Connect with Supreme McGriff Jr:
https://www.instagram.com/supreme_mcgriff/?hl=en
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Hosted, Executive Produced & Edited By Ian Bick:
https://www.instagram.com/ian_bick/?hl=en
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Timestamps:
00:00 Growing Up In Queens 01:02 Discovering My Father's Identity 03:13 My Dad's Life And Their Split 05:17 Life Before Knowing The Truth 07:31 Learning About My Dad From The Streets 09:39 The 50 Cent Connection 10:02 Law Enforcement's Perspective 11:21 Meeting My Dad For The First Time 13:41 First Phone Call With Supreme 14:28 Advice And Avoiding The Streets 16:17 Inevitable Pull Of The Streets 17:37 Uncle Comes Home From Prison 18:08 Street Culture Today 19:40 Dad's Fear For My Safety 22:16 Bill Courtney And The Movie 24:29 Sponsor: Hungry Root 27:11 Finding Myself In My Late Teens 29:25 Introduction To Scamming 30:38 Mom Discovers The Truth 32:36 Dad Finds Out I'm Scamming 35:26 Turning Myself In 36:44 I
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