big smoke

Melvin Harris, more commonly known as Big Smoke, is a main character and the secondary antagonist of Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas. He is voiced by Clifton Powell. History Background Big Smoke was a high-ranking member of the Grove Street Families who later defected to the Ballas, and made clandestine deals with the Los Santos Vagos and Russian Mafia, eventually becoming the most powerful crook in the criminal underworld of Los Santos. Big Smoke makes multiple references to his desire to be remembered after his death. Big Smoke appears to speak some Spanish, as seen in the mission Running Dog. He tries to get weed from some Vagos members and after being cursed at, he threatens one of the Vagos members who then responds with "Chinga a tu madre, pendejo" which roughly translates as "Fuck your mother, asshole". His favorite radio station is Bounce FM. Early Life Big Smoke was born in Los Santos, likely in Ganton due to his close relationship with Sweet and Carl Johnson, and he later joined the Grove Street Families. He rose through the ranks of the gang until he became Sweet's right-hand man, Carl's departure in 1987 following his brother's death helped Smoke and Sweet develop a closer relationship. Big Smoke quotes from the Bible on many occasions, hinting that he may be religious, though Carl claims he's "still talking shit." Joining the Ballas Big Smoke, sometime after Carl's departure, moved to Idlewood after buying a house with some money he claims his aunt left him in her will. The Grove Street Families, however, began to lose influence and status among the city's gangs, noticing that the Ballas, who controlled Idlewood, were selling drugs to fuel their rising influence. He then tries to persuade Sweet to allow the Grove Street Families to sell more potent drugs (since the Families already sell marijuana and PCP), although Sweet refuses because he believes crack cocaine has a destructive influence on the communities it is sold in.