De'aundre Bonds was shot four times just days before the film began shooting. He arrived on the set limping and his limp was written into his character.
In 2001, less than a year after the film's release, De'Aundre Bonds was convicted in real life for exactly the same crime as his character - manslaughter, due to an altercation where Bonds had killed his aunt's boyfriend. Bonds served a ten year sentence at the California Rehabilitation Center Norco and was released in 2011.
De'aundre Bonds did an interview with DJ Vlad where he mentioned the scene where he tries to fight back against Graffiti's sexual abuse of him, but ends up losing and having to sexually gratify Graffiti anyway was a scene he regretted doing and cried about it afterwards.
De'aundre Bonds and Joe Torry previously starred together in Tales From the Hood (1995)
De'aundre Bonds and Gabriel Casseus previously starred together in Get on the Bus (1996).