It was an odyssey that forged a brotherhood.

A journey that took them from Brooklyn, New York to New Jersey and then Maryland. In New Jersey they called them the “Roc Boys.” In Maryland, they were called the “New York Boys.” A small cast of players that were thrust together into urban settings in order to perform their dedicated craft with precision. This, all in mind with just one end. To get that “money.¨ Within this very small efficient crew of less than five individuals, were a pair who developed a very special relationship.

A covenant between them that would spawn battle hardened codes of fealty and bear enterprising strategies for churning out products. Lots of products. The ¨grind.¨ Their inextricable bond would generate years of experiences that could, somehow and in some way, be reminiscent of modern day tales, replete with Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn themes and moments. Soon it was about more than just making money and navigating dangerous milieus. Of this close-knit duo was one Afro-Latino immigrant from the Republic of Panama named Alfonso Ramsey Johnson. Known in the streets of Brooklyn as ¨Panama,¨ Alfonso and his partner in crime and friend, Shawn Corey Carter, also known as ¨Jay-Z,¨ were forging a path that neither of them knew, yet where it may lead. The days of fun, drama, peril and high urban adventure that take them from the streets of Brooklyn to the neighborhoods of Maryland set a backdrop for the formative years that will set into motion many lasting, seminal events. They find, however, that their rise to the heights of success and achievement will not come without a cost. As viewed through the lens of Jay-Z`s friend and early business partner from the ¨streets,¨ Panama gives us the very first intriguing look at the birth of a nation. The ¨Roc Boys” are now gauged by the world as they have never been before through examining these very simple, innocent and at times confounding and complex relationships that intersect within the bowels of the streets. Never having broached the topic before, Panama, now sheds light on the origin of the ¨Roc¨ within the pages of this epic and deciphers the construct of the legendary team of the ¨Roc Boy Clique.¨

Together with Jay, Buzz and Dehaven, these four ¨New York Boys¨ will plant the seeds and lay down the foundation for a legacy upon which an empire will be built. Panama delivers us a powerful narrative that graphically traces the shadows of this missing historical chapter. It is a chapter that unveils a most humble beginning of the greatest story of redemption of modern time. The untold account of the inception, the emergence and the ascent of the “Roc.” A demystifying tale about the legendary Brooklyn crew and how the four of them set out “to build an empire” and an interconnected network from a perch, up in New Jersey that extends all the way down the Eastern Seaboard into Maryland; this is Panama’s thrilling, true story.