![]() ![]() Discovering a talented newcomer might be professional suicide. He does not have the power in the music industry that Djay imagines. What Djay cannot be expected to understand is that Skinny Black gets countless demos pressed warmly into his hands every day. Henson) to sing backup, and make the recording. They staple cardboard egg containers to the walls to soundproof a recording studio, enlist a hooker named Shug ( Taraji P. Key knows Shelby (DJ Qualls), a white kid with musical skills. Djay picks up an ancient digital keyboard, and enlists Key ( Anthony Anderson), a family man and churchgoer, to work with him on the music. We get the ghetto version of renting the old barn and putting on a show. The long second act, in some ways the heart of the film, involves Djay's attempts to meet his various business responsibilities while recording the demo. The theory is, Djay will give his demo tape to Skinny Black, who will pull strings and make Djay a star.īut that's in the third act of the movie. ![]() The club owner ( Isaac Hayes) is a friend of Djay's. Skinny Black returns to the old neighborhood every Fourth of July for a sentimental reunion at the club where he got his start. How close of a childhood friend is a good question as nearly as I can tell, they went to different schools together. He has a childhood friend named Skinny Black (Ludacris), who has become a millionaire rap star. He can improvise at length on philosophical subjects, as he proves in an opening scene about - well, about no less than the nature of man. He is a focused young man, intelligent, who in another world with other opportunities might have, who knows, gone to college and run for Congress. He is not a "pimp" and a "drug dealer" as those occupations have been simplified and dramatized in pop culture. The movie's first achievement is to immerse us in the daily world of Djay, Howard's character.
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