Kodak Black, the actor? The rapper screens his film debut in a packed Miami theater

It’s just past 11 p.m. in North Miami Beach and a shirtless Kodak Black just fired up a Black & Mild. Inside a movie theater.

No one tells him to put it out. No one says, “You can’t smoke in here.” No one even looks twice.

Guess that’s just one of the perks of being a don.

Minutes later, a packed crowd of fans, family and supporters would get one of the first glimpses of “The Don,” a short film co-written by and starring Black himself. The project, which will drop Friday along with his newest album “Pistolz & Pearlz,” follows the 25-year-old as a Miami mob boss and was features several Miami locations, including Little Haiti, South Beach and Downtown. And while the fans that filled the IPIC theater Tuesday night could’ve left happy just seeing the film, the impromptu speech that followed gave onlookers a rather intimate moment with one of rap’s brightest stars.

“I’m from the projects,” Black said to the crowd as he paced back and forth at the front of the theater. “I ain’t never believe this” was possible.

Sometimes inaudible, sometimes inspirational, Black spoke for roughly 20 minutes about whatever crossed his mind. His name. His career. Even his past.

“Everybody played a part in the person I am and who I’m about to be,” Black said, later adding, “If I could do this s*** again, I’d pick the same momma. Same brothers. Same squad.”

Black, whose legal name is Bill Kahan Kapri, hails from Pompano Beach and is of Haitian descent. In the film, his Haitian mother mixes Creole and English during her fury over what she’s found in his backpack, presumably a gun.

The “Super Gremlin” rapper has made headlines for his run-ins with the law, including most recently a 30-day stint in rehab after failing a drug test in late February. President Trump pardoned Black in January 2021, roughly halfway through his 46-month federal prison sentence that stemmed from gun charges in Miami-Dade County. But at the film screening, the focus was not on his past legal troubles as his art took center stage.

“We busting every door down,” Black said, alluding to his film debut.

At times, Black turned into a motivational speaker, telling the audience to not give up on their dreams and “know what you’re getting yourself into” as far as contracts were concerned, which he stated right before announcing that “Pistolz & Pearlz” would be his last album with Atlantic Records.

“I love white people, I’m a suburban myself,” Black said, recalling the famous meme. “But you know dealing with these crackas, sometimes there’s s*** you just don’t understand... get a lawyer.”

Close friends descended to the front of the theater to hug him. His mother shouted out praises. And one fan in particular, 26-year-old Smith Francois, connected with Black on an even more personal level.

“He was struggling like how I was struggling,” Francois said. In Black, he saw a kindred spirit: someone willing to do whatever necessary to get his family out of the hood. How they both went about it might have differed, Francois added, but he still respected Black’s commitment despite the obstacles. “That’s why I looked at him and was like, ‘Yo, God bless you bro. You are amazing.’”

Rather than just brushing off Francois, Black walked into the aisle and sat across from him face-to-face as he thanked the Pompano Beach native for setting an example for Haitians like himself. Monalisa Andre, who starred as Black’s mother in the film, later shared a similar sentiment.

“Kodak is Broward County’s finest, Dade County’s finest,” said Andre, a Miami native of Haitian and Dominican descent. “I’m from Dade County and I feel like he represents Dade County, Broward County – he represents Miami to the T.”