ABOUT THE BISHOP
Bishop Don Magic Juan
CHAIRMAN OF THE BOARD · FOUNDER OF THE PLAYERS BALL
Chicago made him. The game crowned him Chairman of the Board. Then, in 1985, he walked away from it and picked up a Bible.
For more than fifty years the Bishop has been one of the best-known faces of player culture in America: the green and gold suits, the Players Ball, the films, the records and the pulpit. This is his story, and the place to watch it.
THE STORY
From the streets of Chicago to the pulpit
01 · CHICAGO
A Chicago player
Born in Chicago on November 30, 1949, he came up on the city's streets in the 1960s. He has named Iceberg Slim's books and the film Super Fly among the things that drew him into the game, and he stayed in it for roughly twenty years.
02 · THE TURN
Out of the game, into the church
In 1985 he quit. “God don't want me to do it no more” is how he has put it. He was ordained as a minister, and in 1989 he founded the Magic World Christian Kingdom Church of the Royal Family. The suits stayed. The message changed.
03 · THE PLAYERS BALL
The biggest night in the game
The Players Ball grew out of the ball scene in The Mack (1973) and has been held every year since 1974, moving from city to city. Players turn out in furs, gators and hats, and the night ends with the year's top award. The Bishop won it thirteen years in a row, and the Ball is still his.
04 · SCREEN AND RECORD
From HBO to Hollywood
HBO's Pimps Up, Ho's Down (1998) and the Hughes brothers' American Pimp (1999) put the Ball and the Bishop in front of a national audience. Hollywood called next: Original Gangstas, Friday After Next, Old School, S.W.A.T. and Starsky & Hutch. He met Snoop Dogg backstage at the Soul Train Awards and became his spiritual adviser, turned up on 50 Cent's “P.I.M.P.” remix and Twista's “Pimp On”, and in 2006 put out his own album, Green Is for the Money, Gold Is for the Honeys.
TIMELINE
His life, in eight dates
1949
Born in Chicago, November 30
1974
The first Players Ball
1985
Walks away from the game
1989
Founds the Magic World Christian Kingdom Church of the Royal Family
1998
Pimps Up, Ho's Down airs on HBO
1999
American Pimp premieres
2004
On screen in Starsky & Hutch
2006
Releases Green Is for the Money, Gold Is for the Honeys
HIS COLORS
Green for the money, gold for the honey.
The Bishop's colors and his motto, and the title of his 2006 album.
Sources: Wikipedia, “Don ‘Magic’ Juan”, “Players Ball” and “Pimps Up, Ho's Down”; IMDb. Something wrong or missing? Tell us through the Contact page.
The full, sourced record: Bishop Don Magic Juan on American Pimp →