Loosely based on infamous crime boss Bumpy Johnson, who in the early 1960s returned from ten years in prison to find the neighborhood he once ruled in shambles. With the streets controlled by the Italian mob, Bumpy attempts to regain his piece of Harlem.
In season 4, Bumpy Johnson continues his bloody war for control of Harlem against New York's Mafia families, while contending with the arrival of gangster Frank Lucas. After Malcolm X's tragic assassination, Bumpy must also grapple with his daughter Elise's involvement with the Black Panthers.