Meme explainer · Updated 21 October 2026

State Property: The Movie or the Meme?

Two unrelated things share the name. State Property is a 2002 American crime film produced by Jay-Z's Roc-A-Fella and distributed by Lions Gate Films. The State Property meme is a 2025 TikTok clip of an elderly man telling two fishermen to leave a pond. The film came out 23 years earlier, nobody in the clip appears in it, and neither references the other.

Side by side

What it is	Crime film, 1h 34m	Viral TikTok clip
Released	2002	Late August 2025
Directed by	Abdul Malik Abbott	— (user footage)
Featuring	Beanie Sigel, Memphis Bleek, Damon Dash, Jay-Z	Norman Taylor, two fishermen
Setting	Philadelphia drug trade, late 80s–90s	A pond, present day
Based on	Aaron Jones and the Junior Black Mafia	A real argument over a fishing spot
Sequel	State Property 2 (2005)	None — but thousands of edits
Where it lives	Streaming and disc	TikTok, Reels, Shorts, AI remakes

The film, briefly

State Property is a 2002 American crime film starring Beanie Sigel, Memphis Bleek, Damon Dash and Jay-Z. It was produced by Jay-Z's Roc-A-Fella and distributed by Lions Gate Films. Abdul Malik Abbott directed it and co-wrote the screenplay with Ernest "Tron" Anderson.

The story follows Beans (Sigel) and his crew, the ABM, trying to take over Philadelphia. It was loosely based on Aaron Jones and the Junior Black Mafia, who were involved in the city's drug trade from the late 1980s into the early 1990s. Critic reviews were generally mixed to negative.

State Property 2 arrived in 2005, directed by Damon Dash and produced and distributed by Lionsgate. Its cast pulled heavily from rap — The Diplomats, Beanie Sigel, N.O.R.E., Kanye West and Mariah Carey — with cameos from boxers Bernard Hopkins and Winky Wright. It also marks the final film appearance of Ol' Dirty Bastard, who died in 2004.

Both films are still watched, which is exactly why the name collision keeps happening.

The meme, briefly

Two men are fishing at a pond. An older man walks up and tells them the spot is private property. The fishermen argue it is state property. He rejects that, says someone telephoned him and told him the police should "lock 'em up", and tells them to hit the road.

The man in the clip is Norman Taylor. The footage was posted by TikTok user @bird28thegr8 in late August 2025. Lip-dubs followed that month, a green-screen template arrived in early September, and in October 2026 the meme returned as AI videos that swap Taylor for other people, characters and pets.

The meme's name comes from the fishermen's claim, not from anything Taylor says — he is arguing the opposite.

Why the confusion is so common

• Identical name, no qualifier. People search "state property", not "state property film" or "state property meme".
• Both are about turf. The film is about seizing territory; the clip is about being thrown off it.
• Both surfaced at once. The October 2026 revival pushed a 24-year-old film and a one-year-old clip onto the same results page.

Which one do you actually want?

• The film: search "State Property 2002 film" and add the year; add "cast" for the Roc-A-Fella side.
• The meme: search "state property meme" or "lock em up meme".
• The dialogue: see the state property meme explainer.
• Making one: the step-by-step guide covers the photo requirements and download.

Frequently asked questions

Is the State Property meme from the movie?

No. The meme is a 2025 TikTok clip of a pond-side confrontation. The 2002 film is a separate work with a different cast, director and story. Neither references the other.

Who is in the State Property movie?

Beanie Sigel, Memphis Bleek, Damon Dash and Jay-Z lead the 2002 film. The 2005 sequel adds The Diplomats, N.O.R.E., Kanye West and Mariah Carey, with cameos from Bernard Hopkins and Winky Wright.

Is there a State Property 3?

No third film has been released. There are two: 2002's State Property and 2005's State Property 2.

Why do the film and the meme share a name?

By coincidence. The meme is named after a line the fishermen say in the clip, where they claim the pond is state property. The film's title has nothing to do with it.

Who is the man in the meme?

Norman Taylor — the elderly man who tells the two fishermen to leave. He has no connection to either film.

Sources

• Wikipedia — State Property (film), 2002.
• Wikipedia — State Property 2, 2005.
• Know Your Meme — Lock 'Em Up / State Property (updated 14 October 2026).

This page separates two unrelated works that share a title. It is not affiliated with Roc-A-Fella, Lionsgate, or anyone in the original clip.