Rashad (Tip Harris, AKA best selling rapper T.I.) and his four close friends live in Atlanta and are trying to decide what to do after high school. He’s mentally grounded better than most because he looks out after his younger brother Anton (Evan Ross Naess, son of Diana Ross). Anton is attracted to the supposed easy money of drug dealing, along with its benefits of women and respect. Anton and Rashad’s parents were killed in an automobile accident and they live with their Uncle George (Mykelti Williamson), a janitor whose outlook on life makes him think he’s running in place while he is slowly moving toward a precipice he can’t see.

The film has plenty of humor and poignancy, with Rashad’s best friend Esquire (Jackie Long), who is ashamed of wanting to move from the streets of Atlanta’s south side to the social circles of the Buckhead crowd. Esquire goes to a prep school and works at an upscale country club. All he needs for admission to an Ivy League college is a letter of recommendation. Unfortunately, he’s in the "what you know, not who you know" category. When he has the opportunity to meet rich, black club member John Garnett (Keith David), he’s found his connection for that letter. John has erased the memory of his own past when he lived on the south side. He accepts Esquire now only because he can play golf and has the right address. What John does not know is that Esquire uses the school address as his home address.

Lauren London plays a bright girl with two identities; Erin when she interacts with her white friends in her wealthy enclave, and New-New when she goes to the roller rink on Sunday nights to fraternize with the boyz in the hood. New-New and Rashad become friends and then lovers. We know about her dual life but her father and Rashad do not. When their lives collide and Anton gets into trouble with his pusher after he’s robbed of his dope money, the consequences of trying to be who you thought you wanted to be comes to a head for all concerned.

The ability of this film to address teenage peer pressure, to deglamorize drugs, and explore the issue of classism are themes that make the story much better than the average coming of age film. One may tend to think it’s about African American culture and inner city issues until you realize these are universal issues (and probably why hip hop is here to stay) in today’s society, whether one lives in the city or suburbs. It’s a PG-13 film that speaks to the everyday issues of teenagers’ R-rated world of reality.