[3][4] Born and raised in Harlem, New York City, Hankerson attended Central State University in Ohio, where he majored in sociology and played on the football team.
After trying out unsuccessfully for the New York Jets, he moved to Detroit, Michigan, where he worked as a community organizer in the office of mayor Coleman Young in the early 1970s.
[5][6] Later in the decade, Hankerson moved into the entertainment industry, helping to produce the 1976 film Pipe Dreams, which he also costarred in with his then-wife Gladys Knight.
Using his connection with singer R. Kelly, whom he managed at the time, Hankerson obtained a contract with Jive to distribute the release of Aaliyah's debut album Age Ain't Nothing but a Number.
[11][12][13][14] In 2007, Braxton filed a $10 million lawsuit against her former manager, Hankerson, alleging "fraud, deception and double dealing," in addition to mismanaging her relationship with Arista Records.
According to Dang's lawsuit, Hankerson went so far as to buy and rename the salon she worked at as a hair stylist, took to the internet to accuse her of having AIDS and then blew up her car in front of the Oceanside home she shared with her family.
Albums from Tank, Timbaland & Magoo, JoJo, Toni Braxton and Ashley Parker Angel and soundtracks to Romeo Must Die and Exit Wounds were also re-released.