Payne has appeared in many films, including a role with Jada Pinkett Smith in Jason's Lyric. He played a leading role in the Nelson George-produced and George and Chris Rock-written CB4 as "Dead Mike" - which was a hip-hop parody that co-starred Chris Rock, Charlie Murphy, and Khandi Alexander and in which Ice-T, Ice Cube, Shaquille O'Neal, Flavor Flav and Eazy-E made cameos. He appeared in New Jack City, Vampire in Brooklyn, Double Platinum, and The Perfect Storm. Beginning in 2006, he starred on Tyler Perry's House of Payne. He appeared in a Stacy Lattisaw video I'm Not The Same Girl.