Who is the Real Lamar Silas?

The Fictional TV Character

Lamar Silas is one of the main characters on the hit Starz drama series BMF (Black Mafia Family). Portrayed by British actor Eric Kofi-Abrefa, Lamar is a ruthless Detroit drug trafficker who serves as the fierce rival and dramatic foil to lead character Demetrius “Big Meech” Flenory, played brilliantly by Demetrius “Lil Meech” Flenory Jr.

In an electrifying performance, Kofi-Abrefa brings Lamar to life as a dangerous and unpredictable force within the city’s violent drug trade. Though a fictionalized character, Lamar’s ambition, cunning violence fuels much of the show’s conflict as he goes to war with Meech’s budding criminal empire. Their escalating rivalry provides gripping drama and suspense throughout the show’s first season.

The Actor Behind Lamar – Eric Kofi-Abrefa

While the character Lamar Silas himself is an invention of the BMF writers room, actor Eric Kofi-Abrefa delivers a magnetic, intensely physical performance that has quickly made Lamar a fan-favorite antihero.

The plot requires Lamar to portray extreme cruelty, ambition, and brutality – qualities that Abrefa conveys with incredible range and depth. Though only age 30, the London-raised actor brings an imposing presence and emotional rawness to the breakout role.

Early reviews praised Abrefa’s “terrifying charisma” and “volatile penchant for violence,” making Lamar leap off the screen with frightening intensity. If this fictional kingpin was going challenge Big Meech’s empire, the actor would need to convey ruthlessness and danger – qualities Abrefa seems uniquely equipped to portray.

Lamar Silas‘ Dramatic Purpose

As an intriguing but purely fictional character, Lamar Silas serves a key storytelling purpose – escalating conflicts and heightening drama within the show’s central criminal enterprise. Despite being enemies, Lamar displays a level of ambition and vision to match Meech’s own, along with fewer scruples about crushing anyone in his way.

This willingness to employ ever-more-brutal tactics creates dangers and obstacles that ratchet up the stakes for Meech’s organization. While internal divisions and shifts in allegiance from characters like B-Mickie also fuel drama, Lamar’s unpredictable violence takes the danger level even higher.

As a wholly original character without direct real-life corollary, the creative team has freedom to take Lamar’s arc in even darker directions. His rivalry and threat to Meech’s regime gives the showrunners an ever-escalating crisis to mine for heightening tension, consequences and viewer suspense.

The Real-Life Inspiration

While Lamar serves a purely dramatic function, the BMF creators did take inspiration from a former Detroit kingpin named Ladon "The Beast" Simon.

Like his fictionalized TV counterpart, Simon had real run-ins with Big Meech that turned bloody and violent during their battles over Detroit drug corridors. Police reports confirm Simon‘s crew was suspected in multiple killings also linked to Meech‘s enterprise.

So while Lamar Silas himself is an embellished creation of the show, traces of his ruthless ambition, explosive violence and enmity with Meech echo the real brutality of the Detroit streets in the late 80s and early 90s.

The show chooses to heighten, fictionalize and dramatize events into shocking twists and turns for the screen. But the original sparks came from the deadly serious power clashes that engulfed Detroit‘s drug scene at that time.

Lamar‘s Ominous Warning

While Eric Kofi-Abrefa is clear that Lamar is a fabricated character, he told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution that his fictional actions convey a larger truth:

“The show is reflecting reality. Lamar represents the antagonist that they would have had to face in the streets back then.”

By creating a composite villain like Lamar, the show essentially issues a warning about consequences the real Black Mafia Family eventually faced. In dramatically escalating conflict between Lamar and Meech, they foreshadow the even more brutal federal takedown that ultimately shattered the real BMF empire.

So Lamar serves partly as a harbinger of threats to come. And Abrefa himself says audiences should see Lamar as symbolic of the very real perils awaiting those who pursue lawlessness. Reality itself eventually turns antagonist against such ambitions built on harming others and avoiding consequences.

The Verdict – Lamar Silas as Composite Character

Lamar Silas clearly stands as a commanding fictional creation – a product of creative writing used to heighten dramatization of real-life events. While inspired by flashes of people like Ladon "The Beast" Simon, Lamar himself is a wholly invented character.

Brilliantly played by Eric Kofi-Abrefa, Lamar both mesmerizes and terrifies. He fulfils his dramatic purpose by escalating threats and bringing volatility that continually disrupts Meech’s designs.

So while Lamar contributes tremendous energy and conflict to the show, audiences should remember he is ultimately a mechanism of dramatic embellishment rather than a factual portrait.

The real Lamar Silas is simply this – a shrewd narrative invention used to manufacture added drama, misfortune and comeuppance for the show‘s central anti-hero as he attempts to build an empire by ruining lives.