Episode 50

full
Published on:

13th Jan 2024

Get Rich or Die Tryin' (2005)

Marcus Greer was a quiet kid growing up in Queens facing many challenges including an absentee father and a drug dealing mother, whose life was tragically cut short. Leading the life of drug dealing and violent crime puts Marcus in peril himself and within moments from death. Today on Hip Hop Movie Club: Will Marcus in fact Get Rich or Die Tryin'?

Topics discussed:

  • Marcus's upbringing and influences
  • Marcus and Charlene
  • Did we see enough about Marcus actually becoming a rapper?
  • The dynamic between Marcus and Majestic and the real life basis for the characters
  • How much of this is true to 50 Cent's life?
  • Soundtrack and songs
  • Bring this funky flick back or leave it in the vault?

Also check out:

The Steve Nash & Curtis "50 Cent" Jackson VitaminWater commercial

Credits

Hip Hop Movie Club is produced by your HHMCs JB, BooGie, and DynoWright. Theme music by BooGie. Follow @hiphopmovieclub on Instagram!

And remember:

Don't hate...articulate!

Mentioned in this episode:

Brain Freeze Trivia

Shout to Brain Freeze Trivia in the Lehigh Valley! Follow them @brain_freeze_trivia on Instagram

Transcript
Speaker:

Marcus Green

was a quiet kid growing up in Queens.

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:

Facing many challenges,

including an absentee father

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:

and a drug dealing mother

whose life was tragically cut short.

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:

Leading a life of drug dealing and violent

crime puts Marcus in peril himself.

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:

And within moments from death.

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Will Marcus in fact,

get rich or die tryin?

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Welcome to Hip-Hop Movie Club.

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This is a show for Gen-X hip hop fans

who want to relive the glory days

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and reconsider classic and modern hip

hop films from a current day perspective.

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Together, we'll explore some of the larger

societal issues raised in these films.

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Whether you have or have not seen

Get Rich or Die Tryin’ before.

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We'll help you decide if you should take

the time to watch it now.

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Either way, you’ll be a smarter

hip hop fan by the end of this episode.

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The next 30 minutes

or so, you'll get all this and more.

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We're three old

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heads who put their old heads together

to vibe on these films for you.

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I'm DynoWright, podcaster, filmmaker,

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long time

Hip-Hop fan, and I'm a fan of 50 Cent's

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acting work in his VitaminWater commercial

with NBA legend Steve Nash.

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I’m JB, eighties and nineties

nostalgia junkie, longtime hip hop fan

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and I did in fact own a pair of parachute

pants back in the eighties.

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Those pants had no less than ten zippers,

I swear.

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That's amazing!

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I’m BooGie, a deejay, longtime

hip hop fan.

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And I saw Kurtis Blow and Sugarhill

Gang in concert over the summer.

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In this episode we’ll answer the question:

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Should you die tryin to see this movie?

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Get Rich or Die

Tryin’ is:

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“50 Cent” Jackson with some

with some autobiographical elements.

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It tells the story of the hardscrabble

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upbringing of Marcus Greer

navigating life marred by tragedy.

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He deals drugs from a young age,

gets caught up in a life of violent crime,

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navigates his love life

and the rap game despite major setbacks.

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Let's get right into it.

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Marcus Greer is the main protagonist here,

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played by 50 Cent.

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What was Marcus's upbringing like?

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Such as who were the major influence

and influences in his life?

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Boogie want to kick us off with that?

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Yeah.

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So in the beginning we see, you know,

Marcus had a tight bond with his mother,

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but he didn't know who his father was.

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Unfortunately, his mother was murdered

while he was young.

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He ended up

staying with his grandparents, and

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it seemed like every family members

that stayed with them.

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His mother used to spoil him a lot.

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You know while she would go out

and she sold drugs.

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But was she

You know, she always bought him

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the latest sneakers or,

you know, his fresh his fresh clothes.

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But after he had to go

stay with his grandparents, he got tired

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of being laughed at and decided

to sell drugs to buy them new sneakers.

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Later on down the line when

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you to come into contact

with Mark Majestic, who was actually

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one of the local

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I guess you would call him, he's an

underboss because he wasn't the big boss.

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As we find out later on.

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But Majestic took Marcus in kind of

almost like a father figure, but

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introduced him to the

to the drug game on a different level,

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but showed him the rules of how to hustle

and everything like that.

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But as he as Marcus got older,

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he did kind of reconcile

with his grandparents.

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His grandparents were still around

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to a certain extent.

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And then he found his long lost friend in

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Charlene,

and they developed a love relationship.

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Luckily, she probably was one of his.

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The best thing that happened

to him in the movie, because

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if she wouldn't have, you know,

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kind of kept him going, who knows where

he would've spiraled out of control.

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But then there was a

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Levar Cahill, who was the main

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boss of the whole the whole circuit

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who actually took a liking to Marcus, but

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through Majestic’s

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sneakiness,

got him put away for a long time.

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But I think the major influence,

I would probably say,

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unfortunately Majestic,

was a major influence in his life.

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His grandparents was somewhat there

as he got to

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where they were when he was younger

and was somewhat there when he got older.

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Charlene was that was definitely

a strong influence as she developed.

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You know,

they developed their relationship

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and she became pregnant

with Marcus's child.

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That kind of game gave him a little bit

more focus in life as well.

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But other than that, most most people,

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when they were trying to be be cliche:

get rich or die tryin’.

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Yeah, I think you covered it

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really well.

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Mother was dealing drugs

and he would see this firsthand.

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We see this in some of these movies

where as a young child,

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they're exposed to this life of crime and

they think that that's the only way out.

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And especially,

you know, having both parents,

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having both parents out of the picture,

unfortunately leaves him on his own.

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He was dealing drugs from the age of 12.

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It looks like something really young.

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And he was getting into fights because

he was very territorial, as we say.

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So it's just a

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hardscrabble upbringing.

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Anything else to add on that, DynoWright?

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It's kind of we've seen this kind of story

before.

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Hardscrabble upbringing.

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He loves rap music.

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And so that's a dream

he has or the protagonist

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has so really wasn't as

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I didn't think it was

all of that interesting,

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like we've seen it so many times, but

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the angle of the mother

being the drug dealer

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and she was actually kind

of a strong influence,

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like a positive influence in his life.

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It's just had a weird job of

being a drug dealer that was kind of nice.

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There was like real love there,

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and it's just too bad

that she didn't live that long to see him.

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Like, get out of the out of the out

of the struggle there.

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The one line,

I think when she was telling him,

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she made sure that, you know,

promise me that you're

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going to treat girls, you’re

gonna treat him right.

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Yeah. You're going to do right by them.

Yeah.

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You know. Yeah.

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To hear that come from the mother,

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no matter what

he does throughout his life,

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that's always going to sit

in the back of his head

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to a certain extent, you know, especially

coming from his mother.

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It’s a

perfect segue way of treating women.

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Right.

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So let's talk about his love

interest, Charlene, that you referenced

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before, BooGie.

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I'll I'll kind of give the background.

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Charlene was Marcus's really good

childhood friend.

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They spent a lot of time together.

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When he said, Can I go out and play,

you know, he would go over and

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go to her house and they would

they would play child games.

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She was really close with her.

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And in fact, he started rapping about her

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and he had that song, Best Friend,

that he put on a cassette.

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And it did have some suggestive lyrics

that he didn't really know

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what it all meant at the time.

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And her parents,

I think, you know, had heard it.

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She was sent off to move

and live with her step parents.

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So and as you mentioned, they reunite

several years later.

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They're both grown up

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and he's living the thug life

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while he's trying to break

into the music industry.

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And, you know,

she was, I think, teaching dance classes

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and trying to do her own thing

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and then reconvene and reconnect and

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it was it was nice to see them reconnect.

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And then she's trying to comprehend, like,

what do you do for a living?

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What you do is like, I'm a gangster.

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She said, what? I'm a rapper. I'm

a gangster...rapper.

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That's kind of funny.

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Yeah, that was kind of funny piece. Yeah,

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I did like the character of Charlene.

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Yeah.

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She provides a nice moral counterweight

to his life of crime.

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Yeah.

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I didn't appreciate.

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And this this is not uncommon, but

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the girl

gets in trouble for the man's advances,

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and so she got sent away

because, like, a boy liked her.

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I mean, that's.

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I know it's just a story, but

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yeah, there's this sort of there

there's a misogyny

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that's kind of packaged in this story

somewhere and yeah, it's,

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you know, it also serves the story

that she has to go away

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and then they come back for this

nice reunion.

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But yeah, that part was like,

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I don't if this actually happened or not.

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I mean, I don't, I don't know that of that

of we'll talk about this but yeah.

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What parts are real

and fictitious as opposed to

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in relation to 50 Cent's actual life.

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Right.

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So when you say like you he

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he makes the song suggestively

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and at some point you got to realize that,

you know, hey, this is our daughter.

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We told her right from. Wrong,

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like.

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You would want to have faith

in your parenting skills.

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Yeah. Yeah.

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I don't know but you got to go away.

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I was like huh?!

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Yeah.

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That she didn’t do anything wrong.

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She did nothing.

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She did nothing wrong.

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I'm sure.

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Like, they've seen worse things

on the street or heard worse things with.

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Yeah. In the neighborhood.

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But, yeah, it was something that

you kind of have a conversation about.

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Maybe come over to the house,

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speak to the grandparents or whatever,

and say, teachable moment.

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Yeah, teachable moment, right?

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Yeah. Yeah.

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They sent away.

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So that.

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Yeah, it was kind of interesting.

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Instead,

you have a plot contrivance and. You go.

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With, like,

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it wasn't like,

you know, it was just Marcus

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or Charlene hanging out was like,

Marcus, Charlene.

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Antoine was there.

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Like it was a couple other kids.

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You don't see as they get older.

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But Antoine was one of the kids.

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I think they were all hanging out.

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It was a group of she

just had to be the one girl in the group.

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Yeah, probably a tomboy.

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Yeah, sure.

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Yeah, yeah.

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It was a great teachable moment.

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But I really enjoyed her performance.

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Joy Bryant was very good in this.

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Yeah, She's a gem.

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She's a gem.

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Everything I've seen her in, even if it's

a minor role, she's been really good.

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How did Marcus become a rap star?

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How does he develop his rap game?

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I know early on

he had bars since he was a child.

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He was writing and there was a scene

early on with his mother.

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She she heard him rapping at like 3 a.m.

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She's like, Marcus, it's 3am,

Oh i didn't realize that.

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And when he ultimately gets imprisoned,

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he takes it to a new level

because he has that time

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and that kind of kept him sane.

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But how do you

how do you both see his development

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into becoming a rap star?

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So he was the one who said

it was one funny scene.

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It made me laugh.

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It was when

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after he decided to not stay

with the grandparents anymore

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and he went and got the place by himself,

he said, and now,

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I got my own place

and I could focus on becoming a rapper.

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And he sits down, he starts

trying to get through the one line okay.

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And he starts over, starts

to get through the one line again.

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He tries to get through the one line again

because it dang I should wrote that.

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Then I said, Well, I'm hungry.

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I guess it’s time to rob

and make this money.

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Like.

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Yeah,

he's like, I'm done with this rap thing.

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I'm going to go back to just selling drugs

full time. It was like the shortest rap

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career ever, it’s like an hour.

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Oh man.

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Other people that review

this movie have talked

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about how there's not enough

about his progression as a rapper

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and there's too much about the crime

stuff.

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And I agree, you know, he turned

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he went from this life

to a rapper's, successful life.

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And you don't really see

all that much of it.

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I mean, you see some of it.

You see pieces of it.

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I wish I saw more of it

because that was interesting to me,

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like we had seen in Hustle and Flow,

like we always saw

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DJay work on his stuff, right?

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You know? That's true.

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It's another rags to riches story.

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Yeah.

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And so dramatic, in fact,

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that he was on the verge of death

when he got shot nine times.

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There's this duel with the Colombian gang

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and they're just always

shooting up each other. And.

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But in this case, it was a hit

that was out from Majestic’s

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crew that he was ambushed.

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But I think that the thing about the rap

game, which makes it so impressive,

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he was shot in the face and he had

a bullet in the tongue and he ends up

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having a slurred type of speech.

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And that is something

that's unique to his style and flow.

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And it

if you remember when he was rehabbing,

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he actually moved out to the Poconos

in real life.

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And I think out in the mountains

and Charlene was helping him,

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barely can walk and couldn't talk.

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And then when you can finally get

on the microphone, his speech is slurred.

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But as he got better

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from it, it was a unique style.

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So it's something uni-

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interesting where you like.

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If someone didn't know the back story

and you hear 50 Cent’s style.

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Yeah, he doesn't really enunciate.

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You know, he's got an interesting flow

but now we kind of know the back story.

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I think the one good thing too,

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when they show his progression,

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like you say, they hinted a little bit

to the progression.

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Was Bama's character.

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Our man Terrence Howard Yeah, yeah.

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Howard You know, he was, he was in jail.

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It was just, it was mere coincidence

that he just happened to be in the shower

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at the same time when, you know,

there was an apparent hit on Marcus

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and Bama was just there and said, okay,

I guess I might try to help this guy.

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I didn't even know him and intervene

And he started fighting off the guys

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and ended up getting a pretty severe

beatdown from the corrections officers.

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And then they met him on the floor, hands

behind their back coats,

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and they just introduced themselves like,

Hey, man, you saved my life.

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Yeah, well, you look like you might have

needed a little bit of saving.

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But, you know, when

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Marcus gets put in looks like, looks

they put him in solitary confinement.

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Because he’s in there, you don’t

see anybody else interacting with him,

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and he starts

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kind of scratching, looks like he’s

scratching, might have been

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scratching lyrics into the wall.

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And he's like,

you know, if I didn't express myself

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I might have, I might have you know,

took my own life in there.

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Yeah.

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And you know, he's decided from that point

on that he was going to start

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focusing on, you know, telling the truth

and not letting anybody

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stand in his way of saying what was,

you know, what was the truth.

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And Bama kind of started catching on to,

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you know, to say, hey,

this guy's got something.

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You know, let me see if I can try to keep

him focused by becoming his manager.

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And Bama got out.

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And when Marcus got out, you know,

they started, they went right to it.

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You see clips of Bama,

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you know, going to the into the clubs

with the record, like, hey, you know,

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you might want to play this,

you know, put this or try to play this.

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And you know, it was hustling

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constantly

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out of the trunk or out of the bag

on the streets, like,

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you know, real boots to concrete.

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And I was like, wow,

that was kind of dope.

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But that's very similar to what we saw

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in Hustle and Flow

while Yeah, DJay was locked up.

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The correlation between the two

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movies, coincidentally, you have DJay.

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in Hustle and Flow, you know Bama is doing

the same thing in this movie.

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So I was like, wow, look at that.

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the funny line

when he said his name was Bama.

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Did you catch that

when they’re laying down?

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Are you from Alabama?

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Is that why you call him that?

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It’s like naw, Carolina,

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why do you call Bama?

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I didn't want to be called Lina

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like that.

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Seems that seems so like out out there

that it has to be true.

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Yeah. I wonder

if this is part of the true stuff.

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So I don't know.

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I mean, we'll get to what's true,

what's not, or what we've heard.

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I don't even know

if the character of Bama is true or not.

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I couldn't really find that or not.

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It's like his manager to me.

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Like we would have known

if that was a real thing.

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Yeah, probably.

So that was probably fabricated.

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Any of that was written for the story

or for the movie.

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Probably. Yeah.

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No, I was going to ask

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next, what was the dynamic between

Majestic and Marcus?

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I know Boogie already touched on that.

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Of course in the beginning,

you know, Majestic was

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Lavar’s right hand man kind of underling

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to the big king kingpin Lavar.

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And he and he mentored

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Marcus a bit but then you know

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he turns really heel because he's

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greedy and wants to run the whole empire.

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He was he was a bit of a snake.

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I mean, even just the fact that, you know,

we find out down the road

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that he was actually the one who

who who murdered Marcus’s mother,

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you know, out of out of jealousy

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but just the fact that he knew

the whole time,

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knowing that who he was and what he did,

just trying to string Marcus along.

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And I think the reason why he he was

so into Marcus is because Marcus has such

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a strong work ethic where he and his crew

were really just about making money

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upon making money making money,

and they were really good at it.

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Had they been mediocre or even poorly,

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poorly performing crew, I'm

pretty sure Majestic wouldn't have

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would have had such a strong hold to them.

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He knew

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they were making him a lot of money,

so he was just trying to ride the wave,

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you know, for lack of a better word.

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Yeah.

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Yeah,

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yeah.

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I guess this could take us

into the question

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of how much of Marcus’s

story was true to life.

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50 Cent's story in real life.

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And let me just twist

that back with Majestic.

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We were just talking about.

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I don't know if you guys had looked it

up or read, but that's supposedly based on

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Kenneth Supreme McGriff,

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who was a New York drug

lord suspected of being

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he was the one that suspected

to be involved with the murder of Jam

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Master Jay’s shooting,

the shooting of Jam Master Jay.

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In fact, I think it was

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50 Cent had put some lyrics about McGriff

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in some of his songs implicating him in

some some crimes and stuff like that.

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So that's why there was that that beef

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and also his

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the the rapper that was under McGriff’s

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crew or Majestic’s crew

who was called Dangerous

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and that was actually supposed to be

Ja Rule

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from what I read.

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So he didn't look like him

or sound like him.

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But you remember that comment in the movie

where he says

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for 50 Cent or his character says,

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I got shot up nine times

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and he's got these number one hits

and it was Dangerous on the radio

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that was really Ja Rule

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because Ja Rule kept coming out with hit

after hit while he was laid up with his

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with his injuries from the shooting.

395

:

So that was the parallel.

396

:

Yeah, Majestic Was, yeah.

397

:

But Majestic was McGriff

and Dangerous was actually Ja Rule.

398

:

So in terms of what is real

and what's fictitious in the movie,

399

:

I was joking earlier

I was like I kept wanting to call him

400

:

Curtis because his name's Curtis Jackson

in real life and here he’s Marcus.

401

:

So it's there was a

402

:

I found out that there was an interview

that 50 Cent did

403

:

with Conan O'Brien shortly

after the film came out,

404

:

and he said that the film was about 75%

accurate.

405

:

Yeah, I read that, too.

406

:

Yeah, about 25% was made up for the movie.

407

:

I did watch it on the DVD

and there had some behind

408

:

the scenes footage and interviews.

409

:

And the producer of the film was,

an Irishman named Jim Sheridan.

410

:

The director.

411

:

The director. Sorry, the director.

412

:

Yeah. He gave a lot of insight into it.

413

:

He mentioned Ja Rule by name,

414

:

and he also mentioned him

and 50 became really close in the filming.

415

:

50 Cent said that his mother

was actually killed

416

:

by somebody putting something in her drink

and then turning on the gas.

417

:

So it wasn't

that her body was burned at the stake.

418

:

You know.

419

:

But it was so nefarious nature

420

:

and also that he was shot in broad

daylight and was actually in the car,

421

:

whereas in the movie he was, I guess,

422

:

toward, near his car or taking something

out of the trunk Behind his car.

423

:

Behind his car.

424

:

And he was shooting back

and trying to shoot back.

425

:

But in real life,

he was just ambushed in the car.

426

:

But yes, it

427

:

was partially autobiographical stuff.

428

:

Yeah, this is interesting to see,

429

:

but you do get a sense overall,

if you know nothing about 50 Cent, you

430

:

go in the movie, you see all the trauma

that he goes through as a child and

431

:

yeah, I mean, he's no angel.

432

:

He's shooting up folks and dodging bullets

433

:

and he got tagged and tough row to hoe.

434

:

I thought this was a funny tidbit

I was reading

435

:

Roger Ebert's official review

and he said, you know about the title

436

:

Get Rich or Die Trying is a,

you know, quote, because Get Rich or Die

437

:

Trying offers a limited range of choices.

438

:

But we'll probably never see a film called

Get By and Don’t Die.

439

:

I thought that was funny.

440

:

(laughing) Was like,

441

:

Get Rich or Die Tryin is like,

it can't be anything in the middle.

442

:

Like, what if I don't really

443

:

obtain the riches and I don't

444

:

want to have to die

in pursuit of my wealth?

445

:

You know, It's like, okay, can I.

446

:

Yeah, can I just make a living

and be middle class?

447

:

You know.

448

:

And get moderately wealthy?

449

:

Yeah, somewhat rich. Right,

450

:

right right.

451

:

Life long life.

452

:

Yeah. But I mean,

453

:

yeah, if you're talking about folks

like us, you know, you have like

454

:

a corporate job or work in academia

or something like that,

455

:

it doesn't relate

456

:

It doesn't make.

457

:

It doesn't equate.

458

:

You can't compare because Marcus

and Curtis Jackson 50 Cent, you know,

459

:

they grew up in these circumstances

and that seemed like the only way out.

460

:

But it's it is an extreme one or the other

get rich or die trying, but it's like

461

:

a lot of folks in these

462

:

circumstances.

463

:

It's kind of like what he did

say, it’s like get by, don't die,

464

:

like just survive.

465

:

Ebert also says a more accurate title

might have been

466

:

I Got Rich, but just about everyone else

died trying, and so did I.

467

:

Almost. Yeah.

468

:

It kind of reminded me of,

469

:

was it Menace

II Society that we covered recently.

470

:

And there it was.

471

:

Charles S.

472

:

Dutton's character was saying,

Just survive, right?

473

:

Yeah.

474

:

Don't get caught up in this. And like,

475

:

you almost wish that

476

:

Marcus had a

477

:

guardian like that

that convey that message.

478

:

He did have grandparents

that were helpful, but like

479

:

a sage advice, something like that,

although it didn't really help out.

480

:

Yeah.

481

:

Protagonist Caine in in Menace II Society.

482

:

But still, it's that voice that you hear

when you're talking about

483

:

Get rich or die

trying. It's more or less he was saying,

484

:

just survive.

485

:

You know, as a young Black male,

you have a target on your back

486

:

and you have you're up against it

and you don't want to follow that path.

487

:

We have Majestic, you know,

showing everyone how to cook crack.

488

:

So it

this is going to get us out of the ghetto.

489

:

Yeah.

490

:

Okay.

491

:

I don't know about that, buddy.

492

:

I don't know about that.

493

:

Yeah, didn’t

exactly escape from the ghetto.

494

:

Again, that's a similarity

to, like, New Jack City.

495

:

If you throw back to that,

it's like this is the form of cocaine

496

:

that's out there on the street,

and everybody’s

497

:

got the powder,

and then all of a sudden it's like,

498

:

wow, this crack is like

it's like candy to everybody.

499

:

You know,

It's like, this is a game changer.

500

:

Yup. Easier to sell, more

501

:

attractive to the buyers.

502

:

You could spread out,

you could spread your

503

:

cocaine out.

504

:

And don’t have to give out all at once.

505

:

You could spread it out

and sell more of it.

506

:

Right.

507

:

So let's talk like we do in most episodes,

about the soundtrack.

508

:

Obviously, a lot of 50 cent on here.

509

:

When it rains, it pours.

I like that track.

510

:

I had heard that before,

but it reminded me how good that one was.

511

:

Hustler's Ambition, That's the song

that plays, I think, at the end.

512

:

Plays at the end.

513

:

Yeah Station.

514

:

Window shopper was in there.

515

:

Yeah,

516

:

So there's some songs that they played

actually in the movie,

517

:

like old school songs that that aren't

really credited on the soundtrack.

518

:

They're not on the soundtrack.

519

:

But remember when he was in the car

with his mom and they played

520

:

I Can't Live Without My Radio by L.L.

521

:

Cool J.

522

:

Um hmm I was loving hearing that

523

:

there was

524

:

another they they played a Beastie Boys

song or something earlier on.

525

:

Yeah. Did they play Fight For You?

526

:

Right. The party or something?

Yeah, one of the scenes.

527

:

Yeah. Yeah.

528

:

So there was.

529

:

One, one of the exterior scenes.

530

:

Yeah. Yeah.

531

:

So the mise en scene,

532

:

it puts you back in the eighties

when he's growing up

533

:

because I looked, he's around our age.

534

:

Yeah. Yeah.

535

:

So he was true

536

:

to form with, with those popular back

then and best friend.

537

:

Best friend

538

:

is actually a song that he produced

you guys have probably heard that one.

539

:

Yeah.

540

:

So he actually did

put that track out there.

541

:

I think the female is Olivia

that he performs it with.

542

:

Yeah.

543

:

Yeah.

544

:

So I was actually wondering to myself,

and maybe this wasn't the point of

545

:

the story is if you think about

because it's not totally autobiographical.

546

:

I was

547

:

waiting to see where the influence of,

like, Eminem and Dr.

548

:

Dre were influential in putting him more

so on the map.

549

:

They kind of discovered him

and brought him into Interscope Records.

550

:

And yeah, that was in there then.

551

:

I mean, In Da Club was this huge hit.

552

:

Those two, those things,

those aspects weren't covered in the film.

553

:

But again, it's probably because this was

554

:

yeah, totally the 50 cent story.

555

:

Not totally the 50 cent story.

556

:

And once you get to that point, it's

kind of not that interesting.

557

:

Like, Eminem and Dre helped them, right?

558

:

And they so a lot of movies do this

like they, they only take you so far.

559

:

And then it's true and then.

560

:

You kind of catch up to the rest of it.

561

:

I know we covered a movie that that happened then I think I want to say it was,

562

:

maybe it was Straight Outta Compton,

but was...

563

:

But something like that where they don't

really show you the entire progression.

564

:

And yeah, the interesting part

I thought that would have been

565

:

and I don't know how you would do this

in the movie, but Jam Master Jay

566

:

is very influential

in getting his career going

567

:

before he gets to Eminem and Dre.

568

:

And, you know, this connection

with Kenneth McGriff, you know, possibly

569

:

being the one that got Jay is

I feel like they be interesting.

570

:

But then again, not really 50

Cent’s story.

571

:

This is like

572

:

based on his based on his life

and not actually his life though, right?

573

:

Yeah.

574

:

I had the same kind of like

I wonder what they would have done

575

:

if they if they had mentioned Eminem

and stuff like that in the, in this film.

576

:

Yeah.

577

:

Yeah.

578

:

Maybe they save that for part two.

If there was going to be a part two.

579

:

They got rich.

580

:

Yeah, I'm still rich.

581

:

Yeah.

582

:

McGriff is still in serving a life

sentence.

583

:

There were other folks

584

:

that he was hired to murder, apparently.

585

:

So he was said to have

586

:

had a hand in Jam Master Jay’s death.

587

:

But I don't know if he.

588

:

That was an allegation still.

589

:

But there were other folks

that he was charged with murder.

590

:

And federal authorities did accuse him

591

:

in connection

with the attempted murder of 50 Cent.

592

:

So and then he did

593

:

have ties to Murder Inc, which was

594

:

the crew that Ja Rule had run with.

595

:

Majestic is based on his character.

596

:

Interesting stuff.

597

:

Learned a lot watching these films

598

:

which as I I enjoyed doing this

with you guys Right on.

599

:

Yeah. That’s what it's all about.

600

:

So there were a couple

601

:

couple familiar faces in this movie

602

:

from movies that we’ve reviewed

603

:

so our man Marc John Jefferies.

604

:

Yes. Who played a young Marcus

605

:

in this movie

606

:

also played Lil Cease in Notorious. Yes.

607

:

And he also played a young Dre

in Brown Sugar.

608

:

Yes, that's right.

609

:

I forgot about that. Yes.

610

:

I was like,

I know this kid from somewhere.

611

:

Yeah.

612

:

I didn't look

deep enough into his filmography, but yes.

613

:

Yeah, we have Omar Benson Miller,

614

:

who played Keryl in Marcus’s crew,

615

:

played Sol George in 8 Mile.

616

:

Yup. B-Rabbit’s boys. Yup.

617

:

Yeah.

618

:

I was like wow look at that.

619

:

And of course, you know,

we mentioned, you know, Terrence

620

:

Howard playing Bama

621

:

was our man DJay in Hustle and Flow.

622

:

What else did I come across? Yes.

623

:

Uncredited, an uncredited appearance

624

:

by Mykelti Williamson.

625

:

Oh right.

626

:

Who plays Charlene’s

stepfather was Uncle George in ATL.

627

:

Yes, that's right.

628

:

Well, his most famous role would be Bubba

from Forrest Gump.

629

:

Yes, of course. Yes.

630

:

I think, who else did I catch?

631

:

We've done one or two Bill

Duke movies before. yes.

632

:

Bill Duke. Yeah. Levar. Yeah.

633

:

Yes, yes, yes.

634

:

Bill, He was the cop in Menace

635

:

II Society.

636

:

That actually had Caine

in the interrogation room.

637

:

Oh that's right.

638

:

You know you messed up, right?

639

:

Yeah, that's

640

:

right. Yes.

641

:

He's so good.

642

:

I use that one all the time.

643

:

Let’s see.

644

:

We got Leon.

645

:

Oh yeah, Leon.

646

:

Yeah, trying to think.

647

:

Leon was in, what was Leon in that

we - Above the Rim for sure.

648

:

Yeah. Above the Rim. Yes. Yeah.

649

:

He was a baller.

650

:

Yeah. Yes.

651

:

Corduroy pants.

652

:

That’s right. Corduroy pants.

653

:

Looked like a fisherman,

looked like the Gorton's fisherman.

654

:

Longshore fisherman draining threes

655

:

coming off the bench.

656

:

Instant offense.

657

:

Yes, yes, yes, I forgot.

658

:

How could I forget about that one?

But that was a good cast.

659

:

A lot of familiar faces,

you had the great Viola Davis.

660

:

Yes, that's right.

661

:

Well, actually played Violet Greer.

662

:

Yeah. Yeah.

663

:

I mean, they didn't say her name, but.

664

:

Violet Greer.

665

:

Grandma, you know, and

666

:

my man Sullivan Walker played Grandpa,

667

:

who played one of my favorite Huxtable

668

:

Cosby Show characters.

669

:

I forgot his name.

670

:

He was a doctor.

671

:

I worked with Cliff Huxtable.

672

:

He would come over play petanque

673

:

in the backyard with him.

674

:

I was like I remember him!

675

:

You know Joy Bryant’s always a star.

676

:

I mean, whatever’s she’s in.

677

:

Majestic, Adewale

678

:

Akinnouye-Agbaje, he's good too,

I've seen him in a bunch of things.

679

:

He’s very good.

680

:

A great actor Yeah and I like

681

:

the way he's able to turn his accent on

and all these different roles is amazing

682

:

because he didn't even have one

in this movie.

683

:

It’s like wow. Yep.

684

:

Yeah.

685

:

He's he's good. He's really good.

686

:

That was it was

it was a good cast, everybody.

687

:

I mean,

688

:

you know, I don't think there's

689

:

a cinematic masterpiece,

but it was very entertaining to watch.

690

:

And I think everyone who performed

691

:

a pretty good job.

692

:

Yeah.

693

:

Directed by Jim Sheridan, who also did

694

:

like Daniel Day-Lewis movies

like My Left Foot,

695

:

In the Name of the Father,

like big deal movies.

696

:

And he's got a 50 Cent movie.

697

:

Yeah. And he

698

:

I was reading that

699

:

they originally hired an acting coach

for 50 Cent because he had never acted.

700

:

And then

701

:

they said, you know,

we don't need you anymore.

702

:

I think he's good.

703

:

He's got that charisma and

704

:

Jim Sheridan said,

705

:

If you don't look good in this,

this is my fault.

706

:

I didn't direct you well enough.

707

:

He just took it

708

:

unto himself

to make sure it was successful.

709

:

They did the same.

710

:

I think they should have kept

their acting coach.

711

:

I mean, he's okay.

712

:

Yeah, okay. Yeah, he's.

713

:

But there was some scenes where I thought,

ah, he

714

:

it just didn't work.

715

:

And I think that some of my criticisms of

the movie is like

716

:

when you see Terrence Howard,

like just chew up scenes

717

:

and he doesn't really show up

until the end, like he's in the beginning,

718

:

but then he doesn't really show up

until near the end. It's like,

719

:

this is what

720

:

skilled, you know, experienced actors

could do.

721

:

And I even read that.

722

:

Sam Jackson, Samuel L Jackson,

723

:

they asked him to be in this movie

and he wouldn't do it because he was

724

:

afraid of being in a film with someone

who was inexperienced like that.

725

:

Then they were in a movie later on, but.

726

:

There were also protests about this film,

I think

727

:

because they some people thought

it glorified the violent crime.

728

:

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

729

:

I don’t think it glorified it at all.

730

:

Yeah. I don't think it did. Yeah.

731

:

That was probably unjustified

but there were protests nonetheless.

732

:

Yeah. People just get,

733

:

let's say up in arms about it, but.

734

:

Yeah, I mean that movies have a rating

for a reason, right?

735

:

And rated R for violence.

736

:

You understand what you're getting into.

737

:

And it was pretty violent.

738

:

Definitely violent. So.

739

:

So one thing about the

movie that I wasn’t, was it

740

:

one, I won’t say I didn't like it,

741

:

but I think it moved a little too quickly.

742

:

Was the end,

743

:

I think. Yeah.

744

:

The way the movie ended was it just,

I think, kind of

745

:

rushed through a little bit. Yeah.

So you see this?

746

:

I would agree.

747

:

Where they were at Pelham Hall,

748

:

you know, ready to perform

and Majestic walks

749

:

in, wants to talk with him

like the whole, they tussle

750

:

and you know Marcus gets the upper hand

751

:

and as he's walking out he runs behind

752

:

him and Bama shoots him

and I was like wow, that's it?

753

:

Yeah. Yeah.

754

:

And he walks out on stage,

755

:

and just takes off his bulletproof

vest, like, All right.

756

:

Like, I don't know if I don't know

757

:

if I believe that would happen like that,

you know.

758

:

You know, because alright

look at Majestic, he wasn't by himself,

759

:

you know?

760

:

And so he walks in with all of these

with his entourage.

761

:

He gets shot and that’s it like nobody.

762

:

Yeah. Nothing.

763

:

No like.

764

:

Not even a.

765

:

Peep No knock down, drag out.

766

:

Not even an.

767

:

Entire battle royale.

768

:

Yeah.

769

:

Yeah. No, no, no.

770

:

Nobody thought of the punch or nothing.

771

:

Everyone

just kind of stood around and watched.

772

:

Or was it

that Majestic was that bad of a boss

773

:

that people just didn't care about him?

774

:

They were like, Yeah,

You know what, he deserved it.

775

:

They turned on him.

776

:

Yeah.

777

:

Yeah.

778

:

Got what was coming to him like.

779

:

What do you mean “we”?

780

:

We saw what he did to Odell.

781

:

Yeah. Yeah.

782

:

Right. Yeah. Yeah.

783

:

He could come turn on us too. Yeah,

it was Yeah.

784

:

That was, you know, one of the criticisms

I read about this movie.

785

:

It does seem uneven.

786

:

Like sometimes it goes too slow

and sometimes it goes too fast.

787

:

And so, yeah,

788

:

could I could see that I kind of agree.

789

:

It's sort of

just fast forwards to the end.

790

:

Now he's a performer.

791

:

Yeah. He's out onstage like he's,

792

:

you know, he almost got killed.

793

:

And now you’re performing.

794

:

Just like.

795

:

Clean up on aisle five on that.

796

:

Remove this please.

797

:

Really just killed The biggest guy

in the neighborhood.

798

:

Yeah.

799

:

What's going to happen now?

800

:

You're going to, like, that's

definitely not the time to be walking out

801

:

without a vest on because you don't know

what's going to happen.

802

:

Okay?

803

:

You know, you

804

:

interesting choices.

805

:

Yeah, but other than that.

806

:

Other than that, I was like,

okay, some of the other stuff, regardless

807

:

of how it went down

808

:

that I kind of could believe it either way

like Yeah, I guess that Could kind of.

809

:

happen. Yeah, I guess. that could happen.

810

:

When I saw that part, I was like,

I don’t know.

811

:

Yeah. I don't know about that. That

812

:

I had a similar

813

:

criticism, if you recall, Menace

II Society’s ending.

814

:

So much happened

in the last like 10 minutes.

815

:

It was like they were tying up loose ends.

816

:

It's like that this fight scene

and this retaliation and that

817

:

you know everything comes to a head

like so quickly after.

818

:

It's like it's sometimes

819

:

they try to fit scenes to the script

820

:

and it's a little uneven, like you said.

821

:

Overall I definitely.

822

:

I'll say this, I refused when I was,

when this movie came out.

823

:

I refused to watch it.

824

:

I was yeah, yeah.

825

:

I have no desire to watch it

826

:

because at the time he was trolling

everybody and I was like,

827

:

Yeah, I’m good.

828

:

I don't need to hear about you

getting shot,

829

:

but I don't even see it on film

either. Yeah.

830

:

But after watching this,

831

:

I would definitely say that I probably

should have watched it when it came out

832

:

and I definitely enjoyed it

more than I thought I would

833

:

and I probably will watch it again.

834

:

Yeah, so we go do our ratings then.

835

:

So you would say

bring that funky flick back

836

:

or leave it in the vault?

837

:

Yeah.

838

:

Bring that funky flick back,

because I definitely

839

:

there was aspects of it

that I definitely found entertaining

840

:

and like this kind of

I like these kind of movies

841

:

for some odd reason, even though

I have no desire to join that lifestyle

842

:

or be out there like that,

I just like watching them.

843

:

I don't know why.

844

:

But easier to watch them

than actually be in them.

845

:

Yeah.

846

:

How about you, DynoWright?

847

:

Bring that funky flick back

or leave it in the vault?

848

:

This was a tough one.

849

:

You know, I'm right on the edge.

850

:

And as. As flawed.

851

:

And as much as I thought the story wasn't

all that compelling,

852

:

I'm going to bring this funky flick back

because the performances are really good.

853

:

Even 50 Cent in

some spots was was really good.

854

:

I mean, he really did cry in the one scene

and you know that's that's good acting,

855

:

cry on demand.

856

:

They're cutting onions.

857

:

Yes. I will also bring

that funky flick back

858

:

just because it is

859

:

the origin story of 50 Cent

you know a rags to riches story.

860

:

And even though it's not 100%

autobiographical, it is his.

861

:

It is really his story

and his acting debut.

862

:

Yeah, not without his flaws,

but bring it back.

863

:

It's something that

864

:

true hip hop heads should see.

865

:

The 50 cent movie is 75% accurate.

866

:

That's right.

867

:

Hip hop movie club is produced by your

868

:

HH emcees, JB, BooGie and DynoWright.

869

:

Theme music by Boogie.

870

:

Check us out on Facebook

871

:

and Instagram @HipHopMovieClub.

872

:

Shout out to you listeners.

873

:

Thanks for tuning in.

874

:

And remember, don't hate articulate.

875

:

Articulate,

876

:

don't slow your speech

unless you have a bullet in your tongue.

877

:

Bullet fragments in the tongue.

878

:

You don't have fragments in your tongue?

879

:

No slurring. Yeah.

880

:

Don’t mumblecore this!

881

:

This,

882

:

you know, 50 Cent’s

883

:

name is actually from a gangster.

884

:

Yeah. Right. Named Kelvin Martin.

885

:

I didn't know that until I did

some additional research on this one.

886

:

Same. Yeah, I like the.

887

:

I like the idea.

It's a metaphor for change.

888

:

Yeah, that's not bad.

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About the Podcast

Hip Hop Movie Club
Harmonizing the rhythm of hip hop with the magic of movies
HHMC is brought to you by a trio of longtime hip hop fans: JB, an 80s and 90s nostalgia junkie, Boogie, a veteran DJ and graffiti artist, and DynoWright, podcaster and filmmaker.

Upcoming Hip Hop Movie Club events:

Aug 16 - House Party screening and talkback, SteelStacks, Bethlehem PA. More information coming soon!

More events to be announced! Subscribe to our newsletter and get updated on events: https://hiphopmovieclub.substack.com/