“Nick Cannon is about to play Freeway Rick Ross,” read the Facebook message. “Time to tell the Story of Cocaine, Contras and America. THIS IS THE STORY OF THE REAL SCARFACE.”

That was the update one-time cocaine kingpin “Freeway” Ricky Ross (not the rapper) posted on his Facebook page on Sunday (March 3). His status updates included video proof, in case anyone was skeptical of the claim.

In the clip, the comedic actor and rapper stands with Ricky Ross for the announcement that he will indeed be participating in the upcoming biopic.

“I’ve been wanting him to play my role since ’96,” said Ross in the video. “[We] got hooked up. Met him, I love his personality.”

“We family now, we gonna get this thing right,” Cannon said. “However long it takes, the story got to be told. We gonna get it done.”

Freeway recently made headlines after filing suit against rapper Rick Ross for using his name. He claimed the rapper Rick Ross (real name: William Roberts) created confusion around his name and benefitted from trafficking in his crime past. After a prolonged battle, which played out in several courtrooms and has led to a dismissed case, yet another trial is set for August of 2013.

Freeway was a notorious drug kingpin who reigned in the 1980s from his L.A. base. He was sentenced to life in prison in 1996, a sentence that was later commuted to 20 years.

[Cannon and Ross make their announcement in the video below.]