[Al] Previously onStep Up...
You have 24 hours, or I pull the plug
on this whole fucking deal.
[Al] Same old bullshit.
[Collette] Okay, we can still save this.
Your slot on the BMTs, if we can get Rigo--
Fuck, 'Lette, come on.
[Collette] If he doesn't move these tickets,
then we're finished.
So you're gonna put Rigo on?
I'm texting my producers right now.
I can't pretend like I'm okay
that you got all this without me.
Hi. I'm Angel.
One minute, you're dying to live together,
and then this chick shows up out of nowhere,
and you move in with her.
[Angel] That guy from the bar, you know him?
[Odalie] He's a drug dealer. Girl, he's sketch.
Don't do it.
After your performance, Vida was thinking
maybe you throw Sage a little bit of love.
You really want to take the throne?
♪ Fuck Sage Odom And you can quote it ♪
This how you do me, motherfucker?
[Al] I told you this crazy shit keeps happening around here.
[man] Calm down!
[funky music plays]
♪ ♪
[singer] ♪ Step up in the spotlight ♪
♪ ♪
♪ Yo, yo, yo, yo, yo ♪
♪ Yo, yo, yo, yo, yo, yo, yo ♪
♪ Yo, yo, yo ♪
♪ Yo, yo, yo, yo, yo ♪
♪ Yo, yo, yo, yo, yo, yo, yo ♪
♪ Yo, yo ♪
♪ Yo, yo, yo ♪
♪ I'm looking ♪
♪ For a better day ♪
♪ Wanna live my dream ♪
♪ Step up in the spotlight ♪
♪ Wanna step up Step up in the spotlight ♪
♪ Want the money Want the fame ♪
♪ Want the love Not the same ♪
♪ I want it all ♪
♪ Step up in the spotlight ♪
♪ Wanna step up Step up in the spotlight ♪
♪ ♪
♪ Yeah ♪
♪ Ooh, ooh, ooh, yeah ♪
♪ Oh, oh, oh ♪
♪ Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh ♪
♪ Oh ♪
[Ola Runt's "Murda Gang" playing]
♪ ♪
[man singing indistinctly]
♪ ♪
[rapper] ♪ Holla ♪
[person singing indistinctly]
♪ I rep that Murda Gang ♪
♪ Rep my set It came with fame ♪
♪ Money, power I don't respect your chain ♪
♪ Dick in her mouth She don't know my name ♪
♪ B.I.P. shawty, nigga Why did you leave? ♪
♪ C.I.P. Sandman He Crippin' in peace ♪
♪ Sippin' on yellow It's muddy like grease ♪
♪ Seen a whole brick A nigga was three ♪
Oh, shit.
Sage Odom in this bitch?
Yo, what's happenin'?
Hey. Yo, big fan, bro.
Look man, you ever need a hype man, baby, I got you.
I'm fucking with you, man. Just relax.
Been following you for a long time.
Yo, I know about the school.
I know about your goddamn production company
you startin'.
I know about the goddamn wine bar.
Man, all that shit.
Hey, yo, yo, yo, and you know
I done knocked down several stallions
with that Sage Odom bumpin' in the background, right?
Not in here, though.
But you know what I'm talkin' about, man, come on.
[Sage] It's nice to meet you, dog.
Yeah. Matter of fact, I used to get down
with a little dancin' and rap shit, too, man, yeah.
But, you know, I got caught up in some bullshit, though.
Yeah, they said I did the thing at the thing,
which is completely false.
But they was like, blah, blah, blah.
Click-click. [scoffs] Now I'm here.
Whatever.
Look, just lettin' you know,
I got this bitch on lock, so whatever you need.
I'm talking coffee, clean urine,
ramen noodles, baby wipes.
It's nothing.
Thanks, but, no, thanks, bro. I'm good.
All right, cool, man. Yo, ain't nobody pandering to you, pimp.
Yo, like I said, I'm good!
All right, and I ain't hiring either, so Godspeed.
God what?
Like I said, man, if you need somethin', holla at your boy.
Name's Magic.
[hip-hop music plays]
[rapper] ♪ Yeah, catch me in The clouds, yeah, I'm flying ♪
[Rigo] Okay, okay, okay.
So, uh, should I hit them with the this with the that?
Or the that with the this?
Definitely this with the that.
-This with the that. Okay. -[Marquise] For sure. I mean--
Or I could really fuck him up and hit him
with this, with the that, and...
Shit, ahh. With these.
Oh, you gotta kill these motherfuckers.
Ooh boy, I'm about to kill these niggas, bro.
God damn, I'ma fuck Sage. You feel me?
Hell, yeah, nigga.
-[Rigo] Fuck. -Damn, man.
Hey, I still can't believe he caught us slippin' like that.
My bad, bro.
But don't even worry about it, nigga.
Everybody get lucky from time to time, you feel me?
I still would've beat that nigga ass for you and East.
Y'know East hated that motherfucker.
It wouldn't even be no Sage without East,
and all he do is talk shit about him.
[Rigo] Fuck Sage, a'ight?
Look, a couple scars and a bruise ain't nothing
but a small price to pay when, uh, business is booming.
You hear me?
The hell you get that from?
This is what I'm telling you.
Hey, man, chill. Look at this.
-What's this? -Mm-hmm.
That right there is a publishing contract.
Proof that not only did I murder Sage on national TV,
your boy gets paid for it.
-Word? -[Rigo] Yes, sir.
-How that work? -[Rigo] Pretty much
it's just a contract for the recording
and the writing and all that shit, you know what I mean?
Like, ain't never no money involved in anything
unless there's a contract.
Well, shit, where mine at?
I mean, you helped write with the lyrics and shit.
You know what I'm saying? But I performed it.
You know what I'm saying? So I put my name on it.
'Cause, you know, everybody thinks it's a freestyle.
How weird would it look if people knew
that I didn't write a freestyle that I performed?
You know what I mean?
So I just put my name on it, made it simple.
About to get paid, and then we gon' eat.
Don't even trip.
Ah.
♪ Nah, nah, nah, nah, nah yeah ♪
♪ Nah, nah, nah, nah, yeah ♪
[dramatic music plays]
♪ ♪
You sure know how to keep things interesting, don't you?
That ain't what the fuck I need right now, Cruz.
-Not what I need. -[Cruz] Oh. Oh, excuse me.
You wanna talk needs? Let's talk needs.
In four days, you have a preliminary meeting
to determine whether or not you're going on trial
for murder.
Youre fiancée, your dancers, your fans,
and not to mention your fucking attorney
needed you on your best behavior.
But you thought it was a good idea
to not only violate the terms of your house arrest,
but add assault charges to the shitstorm.
And now, now you wanna talk about your needs.
Calm down.
[Sage] You don't understand.
Sage, I get it. You're innocent.
And I understand why you're so fucking angry,
but you got to keep it together
and stop being your own worst enemy.
Copy that.
[Cruz] It's absolutely mandatory
that you get your temper under control.
You lose it out there, that's one thing.
You lose your head in here,
that shit'll get you killed.
♪ ♪
Hey.
Are you okay?
I'm just trying to keep it together.
This case is still very winnable.
Now, it's all contingent upon Sage keeping it all together,
which means you have to keep it all together, too...
because if you don't, well, he sure as fuck won't.
-Okay. Got it. -And one more thing--
I need you to pay my retainer.
Cruz, I swear, we are on top of it, okay?
It's just--the money's tied up in this tour.
But once Rigo starts recouping, I can--
Save... save the cash-flow story for somebody else.
-All right. -Pro bono is not my thing.
Don't let us down.
Hey, pay me my money.
[Da Brat] Rigo, so your song's streaming number one,
after that crazy BMT performance.
I mean, your name's just ringing bells
all over the place.
How does it feel being on fire right now?
Now, you know you only get to do this
for the first time once.
[Rigo] Oh, yeah. For sure. For sure.
Uh, it feels good. You know what I'm saying?
The hard work is finally paying off.
I mean, I'm on a show with Da Brat.
I mean, like, hey, I'm clearly doing something right.
[Da Brat] I'd say you doing a lot of things right.
And that Sage takedown was one for the ages, whoo!
[door buzzes, opens, closes]
[dramatic music plays]
♪ ♪
[indistinct chatter]
♪ ♪
[door buzzes, opens, closes]
[Sage] Where the hell you been?
I gotta leave in, like, a minute.
I am sorry. You know what?
I had the wrong thing on. They made me change.
I tried to get here as fast as I could.
-Okay. How are you? -Just fucking peachy, 'Lette.
I'm in jail for some shit I didn't fucking do.
What the fuck you--
I'm sorry. You don't deserve that.
I'm... I'm... I'm okay. I'm fine.
I spoke to Cruz. He said he's gonna get you out of here.
Plus, I got this tour under control--
Fuck the tour.
I'm about to go on trial for my life, 'Lette.
You think I give a fuck about a funky-ass tour?
-I get it, okay? -[knocking on door]
But like it or not, this funky-ass tour
is gonna help me afford to get you out of here.
We gotta pay Cruz's retainer, or else we're fucked.
[Sage] All right, whatever.
Just keep this little nigga Rigo under control, all right?
I will not have this little fucker dissing me
in front of 75,000 people,
making me look like a fucking murderer every night.
Matter of fact, I will die in this bitch
before I let that fucking BMT shit happen again.
Do you understand?
One thing about Rigo, I'ma always speak my mind.
And if that means taking a old sucka down in the process,
-hey... -[Da Brat] Ooh.
-All the better, you feel me? -[Da Brat] Yeah.
Well, that's actually where I wanted to go.
-Mm-hmm. -I mean, some people
still don't know why you would be fronting a tour
for a man accused of shooting your dad.
And then others feel like
you just doing this to build yourself up.
I mean, here you are, this young kid
who came up in Sage's program, High Water,
under his tutelage.
And now you tryin' to take down a icon
who people still have a lot of love for, Rigo.
The situation between me and him,
it's just that-- between me and him.
Well, that's true, but kind of not really,
because once you make a beef public,
you open the door for everybody to say somethin',
whether you like it or not.
A large segment of the population still feels like
Sage is being falsely accused
and you just a tool being used
to take down another powerful Black man.
[Rigo sighs] Yeah.
Uh, I hear a lot of crazy conspiracy-theory bullshit
like that, too, but this ain't that.
For instance, check out this tweet.
"Fuck Rigo. He makin' this whole shit up to sell records.
Game is rigged."
Another guy says,
"Fuck this puppet being used to take another king down."
Then he calls you some derogatory things
that I don't feel comfortable repeatin' before he says,
"These are the worst kind.
We see him, it's on sight."
Now, these are some pretty serious threats, Rigo.
-Like, are you worried at all? -Man, hell, no.
Ain't shit going down as long as I'm around, a'ight?
We ten toes out here.
Fuck out of here. That's on me.
-And who is this? -Uh...
That's, uh, that's my brother.
Uh, l-l-let's just say he's passionate.
-[Da Brat] Oh, okay. -Yeah.
[Da Brat] Well, he look mad.
[dramatic music plays]
[indistinct chatter]
[Poppy] I need to talk to you.
Okay. Talk.
Alone.
Will you excuse us, please?
So what? He's your bodyguard now?
No, he's just watching my back.
[hip-hop music playing through speakers]
[excited chatter]
♪ ♪
What the fuck is going on, Rigo?
You never said anything about receiving death threats.
Because they're not real threats, Poppy.
It's just people talkin' shit on the Internet.
That's what Twitter's for, all right?
Calm down. 'Quise got me. We are good.
See, there you go with that Marquise shit again.
First, you dis Sage with Marquise in your ear,
now you're trusting him with your security?
When what you should actually be doing is not trusting him
because he's not fucking helping.
Okay, well, he for damn sure ain't hurtin'.
Okay?
Look, look, I got a meeting to get to, all right?
Calm down. We are good. We got this.
Chill...
with your fine ass, mm!
I'm killin' life right now, baby, ooh!
Ooh, ooh, ooh!
[Collette] Rigo, I swear,
if you pull some crap like that ever again,
I will cancel the tour my fucking self.
Go ahead and try! You can't cancel shit, all right?
And I ain't toning nothing down, a'ight?
If anything, I'm turning shit up around here.
Rigo, I am serious.
No more anti-Sage material.
You're... you're shitting on an innocent man, for God's sake.
He's not innocent. That's why he's in fucking jail.
But you don't give a fuck, do you?
'Cause Sage can't do no wrong in your eyes
'cause you just his fucking slave
with your brainwashed ass.
Would you talk some sense into him already?
What do you want from me?
I like ticket sales,
and they got a hell of a lot better after that show.
In fact, we just sold out Chicago.
So I'm saying, let Rigo be Rigo.
Keep up the good work, kid.
[Rigo] You hear that?
My show, my tour, my rules.
[Jimmy] Let me slow your roll, cowboy.
She's the only person in this room that's ran a tour before,
-so let's not get crazy. -Mm.
Whatever.
Like I said,
what I say goes on anything creative, all right?
And what is that supposed to mean?
That means you just stay in your little office,
answer phone calls, whatever the hell you do in here.
Do that, all right?
Just stay the hell out of my way, okay?
I'm out.
[Tal] Five, six.
[hip-hop music playing]
And smooth.
Keep your lines.
♪ ♪
Yeah.
♪ ♪
Yo, stay focused.
♪ ♪
[dramatic music plays]
[Angel] Tal, you good?
-[Tal] Yeah. -Wanna take five?
What?
-Wanna take five? -[Tal] Uh, yeah.
-[Angel] Yeah? -Yeah.
[clears throat]
♪ ♪
[Poppy] Whoa. Hold up.
Where you think you're going?
-You leaving? -[Tal] Yeah.
Um, sorry, I got to go home. It's something I ate.
You're going home?
Tal, you can't leave right now.
We have a million things to do. I need you here.
[Poppy] Tal, I need you--
Yeah, I get it, but unless you want to see me
puke my guts all over this place,
then I would just suggest you rethink that request.
Sorry.
I really hope you get to feeling better.
[door closes]
♪ ♪
Let's get this bitch.
♪ ♪
-[Tal screams in pain] -[laughter]
♪ ♪
[indistinct chatter]
You know what it is, fish.
Time to pay your taxes.
"Taxes."
I don't know what the fuck you talkin' about.
[Big Lotto] Let me explain it real fast.
It's real simple.
You know that bunk you got in there, hmm?
You pay rent for that, homey.
Word?
Word.
And you pay rent to keep breathin', too, motherfucker.
So you can put some money on my books by midnight,
or we can lace up tomorrow, you know what I'm talkin' about?
[clicks tongue]
Wastin' your time, pimp.
Like I said, I don't know what the fuck you talkin' about.
[dramatic music plays]
♪ ♪
Hey, yo.
Guards on your head, man. Chill.
♪ ♪
[Magic] Hey, what the hell are you doing?
♪ ♪
[groans]
I ain't no fuckin' punk.
Do you know who you fuckin' with?
Lotto calls shots around here.
Don't you ever disrespect him,
especially in front of other people.
So what I'm supposed to do, just be weak?
Look, everybody know you can afford the tax.
What you can't afford's a fade with that dude, man.
-[clears throat] -That elbow was just a warm-up.
Pay the tax. Make it to court.
Take yo ass home in one piece, man.
Thanks for the advice, but I got it, a'ight?
[Collette] What? Wait, what do you mean you got into a fight?
[Sage] It's like... it's nothin'.
Don't worry about it. What's going with Cruz?
[Collette] Ah, well, everything's under control.
I set up a private showcase for Rigo tonight
at The Tabernacle.
So we'll shake out Rigo's new numbers there
before we roll him out in front of a stadium crowd.
Yeah, yeah. Make him walk before we need him to fly.
I like that. Smart.
[Collette] And not only are we gonna use it
as a warm-up for the tour,
but Jimmy's gettin' us paid in cash,
cash that'll take care of Cruz's retainer.
Finally something good. I needed that shit.
'Cause let me tell you, I need to get the fuck up
out of here sooner than later, you feel me?
-[Collette] I'm working on it. -Hold on, hold on, hold on.
Now, what's... what's going on with this little nigga Rigo?
All right, we set him straight.
No more bullshit. No more disses.
[Collette] I told you I'd handle it, so it's handled.
Rigo's on a short leash.
In fact, I've got Tal working with him as we speak.
[Al] Yo, Justin, hurry up!
You're gonna be late for school!
-[Justin] I'm not going! -[Al] Say what?
You either go to school,
or you can throw on an apron and come to work,
'cause they're one size fits all.
[Justin] Why do I have to go if Tal's not going?
[Al] All these goddamn questions!
Get ready!
Yeah.
-You all right? -Yeah, I'm good.
I'm just not going in today.
Hmm.
Don't you got some big tour, uh,
you're supposed to be getting ready for?
What's going on?
Is Sage just killing all the biracial dancers?
What the fuck?
It's just some stupid stuff at work--I will be fine.
Of course it's stupid. It's Rigo's tour.
He's stupid, but yesterday
you couldn't stop talking about how great it was.
"Yo, we doing this, and we doing that."
Now today, "What the fuck? What happened?"
I don't... I don't want to talk about it.
[Al] You don't want to talk?
Oh, okay. I respect that.
I'm not gonna press you.
But at some point, you're gonna work through this, okay?
You're not gonna sit here eating all my cereal,
talking about your feelings is hurt.
Fuck that. You understand me?
You want to work through it? Cut the grass. Paint the house.
Fix some shit around this--
Oh, you... oh, you putting your earbuds in?
You can hear me, nigga!
And, Justin, if you're not ready
in five, four, three--
Fuck it! You walking!
Better go. He'll leave without you.
-[crash] -[Al] Milk! Oh, shit!
Whoa.
Al!
-[Al groans] -Oh, my God.
-Shit. Ahh! -[Tal] Uncle Al.
[Al groans]
I'll call an ambulance.
No, call two.
One for me
and one for whoever left this spilled milk on the floor!
It wasn't me.
♪ How you think this shit About the work? ♪
♪ I put up with way too much ♪
♪ To let you keep on Hurting me ♪
♪ You know that you got Some fucking nerve ♪
♪ Yeah ♪
♪ If you want everything Got to give me everything ♪
♪ Why you got To act surprised? ♪
[Angel] They can't be serious.
They're really trying to ice us out.
Your guess is as good as mine.
♪ I can make a deal ♪
♪ If you're just good to me Yeah... ♪
But still, you can't let the small stuff distract you.
That goes for Marquise, too.
I know you're not talking.
What?
Okay, Davis and I have been spending
a lot less time together, if you haven't noticed.
I'm about the work right now. You should be, too.
♪ I put up with way too much ♪
♪ To let you keep on Hurting me ♪
♪ You know that You got some fucking nerve ♪
♪ Yeah, yeah, you got to Got to give me everything ♪
Yeah.
-Where's Tal? -Home sick.
Tell him he ain't allowed to get sick no more.
I'm just playing. I'm just playing.
-[chuckles] -[Poppy] You play too much.
[Collette] Okay, everyone, listen up.
So tonight we are doing a club gig
to work out the kinks on this show.
So consider it a dry run for Chicago.
So I need everyone to bring their A-games, okay?
Babe, did you see what I was putting together there?
I think on this part,
we should repeat and go here.
Yeah. You like that?
[Rigo] Be like, hey, what it do?
[Poppy] Okay.
Hey. Yo, man, fuck all of that.
What y'all need to do is get Angel and Odalie back up here,
'cause that shit was crazy.
[scoffs] Hold up.
Who the fuck you think you are speaking in our rehearsal?
Know what? That's an idea.
I like it. Smart thinking.
-What's your name? -Marquise.
[Jimmy] All right, everyone, listen to Marquise.
He fucking gets it.
Oh, hell, no.
I know you not just about to stand there.
Hell, nah.
I'm ready to get to work.
Hey, yo, you two, come on, get back up here.
[dramatic music plays]
♪ ♪
[indistinct chatter]
You're persistent.
I'll give you that.
Just checkin' in, bro.
By the way,
a couple tips to help you survive this bitch.
Number one, don't gamble.
If you lose, you owe, and that's bad.
If you win,
now somebody else is pissed off, and that's bad.
Two, never enter another man's cell
without his permission.
That's disrespect, and disrespect will get you killed.
And three, stay as clean as fucking possible, man,
unless you are trying to plead insanity.
Then by all means, shit all over yourself.
Trouble shitting? Holla at me.
I can get soy products in this bitch, too.
[snickers]
That... that's good to know.
[Magic] I'm serious, man.
You gotta stay chill in here.
[scoffs] That's why I be trying to laugh all the time,
'cause what's the use in being all mad, man?
Folks gotta learn to just put they anger aside
and just chill the fuck out
'cause it ain't like we going anywhere.
-You know what I'm saying? -Fuck.
What's up, bitch?
♪ ♪
I said what's up, motherfucker?
This ain't got shit to do with you, Magic,
so you can bounce your ass on up out of here, bro.
I think I'm good where I'm at.
Yo, yo, it's cool.
You cool. You can go ahead and go.
I'm fine.
I like it here.
♪ ♪
We'll talk.
What's up, man?
I'ma give you one more chance to make this shit right
before I make it real wrong.
I'm listening.
Pay what you owe,
and ain't shit bad gotta happen to you, cuz.
Sorry.
Can't do it.
[Big Lotto] You sorry?
Okay.
We can do this shit one of two ways, then.
My way or my way pissed off, motherfucker.
[Sage] Shit.
You want some, too? Huh?
-Fuck out of here. -I'm good, man.
Yo, I... I thought that you said be chill.
What I meant was, keep your temper.
See, in here, you gotta keep your temper
until it's time to lose your temper!
-Fuck -I... I... I don't know what to say, dog. What--
[Magic] Don't say shit. Come on, let's go.
♪ ♪
Wow.
Doctor-prescribed Cheetos and couch, huh?
-I'm not in the mood, Pop. -[scoffs]
I don't care about your mood, 'cause while you were here
making love to Chester the Cheetah,
I was losing my job to fucking Marquise.
Hope you're happy.
Can you not say that name in this house?
-Who? -Marquise.
Don't talk about him around me. I'm serious.
O...kay. My bad.
I was just venting.
Since when did you and Marquise become a thing?
[sighs]
You remember the day that I auditioned for High Water?
The day that I ran there and begged Sage to let me try out,
like my life was on the line?
Okay, everyone remembers that, Tal.
What does this have to do with anything?
That's who I was running from.
Marquise is the asshole that beat me up.
[Poppy] What?
When I ran away from that school,
when I pissed myself, when I...
when I almost fucking died,
it-it-it was because of him.
It's one thing to see him out in the street
or-or to see him at a party-- that's fine.
I can accept that, but at High Water!
You know, the place that I ran to, no! Fuck, no!
Tal, I swear to God,
I had no idea that Marquise did that to you.
[sighs] I am so sorry.
Please forgive me.
But you know what? You know, fuck him, right?
Like, High Water is your house, and we're your family.
Okay?
You can't just walk out, because I need you.
We all need you.
I got your back, for real.
Yo.
-[door closes] -Hello.
Why you not dressed?
You do know we have a show tonight, right?
And you too. What's going on?
What, I gotta be the road manager around here, too?
Could've left the Cheetos.
[Poppy] You know what?
Why don't you go without me tonight?
-[Rigo] What? -Yeah.
Have fun with your new choreographer, Marquise.
Come on, don't do this.
I'm not trying to do this alone, a'ight?
I don't wanna do this without you.
Well, you don't act like it.
What? That's because I got a lot of shit going on, Poppy,
but you know you always on my mind.
I even wrote a song about you and everything.
♪ Nobody said it would be ♪
♪ Happy ever after With you and me ♪
♪ But I'm ridin' And that's a guarantee ♪
♪ Ain't no tellin' your story ♪
♪ Without me ♪
Man, can we just--
If you really wanna impress me,
make Marquise disappear.
It's that simple.
It's either him or me.
Well, Poppy, I can't do that. He's my damn brother.
Is he? Is that really true?
Because I think that's just some corner-boy gossip
got your head all fucked up, Rigo.
Yo, Poppy, come on. Look, can we just go?
No.
Have fun at your little show tonight.
And if you want to see me, you know where to find me.
I'll just be here at the house
with my friends.
[scoffs]
Whatever.
[sighs]
Pop, I... I didn't mean--
It's okay, Tal.
It's not about us. It's about him.
I just need him to acknowledge his shit for once
so I know I'm not fucking crazy.
But you are crazy.
[chuckles]
I still got your back, though.
Thank you.
[soft music plays]
♪ ♪
Can I have some Cheetos?
♪ ♪
-[knocks on wall] -Yo.
-Cool if I come in? -You're good.
[Sage] See what I did there?
I'm taking your advice.
"Respect a man's territory" thing.
Fast learner.
[chuckles]
A'ight, man, let's get to it.
What... what was that about?
Why would you do that?
I don't know.
Figured you were good people.
Yeah, but how do you know?
The way I look at it, only good people build schools.
You know, me and my partners used to come up to High Water
and hang out all the time.
-Yeah? -Hell, yeah.
Y'all had all the chicks.
[both laugh]
Shit, that's right. Nothing like dancers.
Man.
Yo, when I first heard about it, though,
a lot of people were badmouthing it,
saying it was a publicity stunt
and that you were just using broke people
to make yourself look good.
But it seemed cool as shit to me.
Shit, I even thought about auditioning once.
Fuck out of here.
-I came this close, man. -Oh, shit.
All right, come on, come on, what happened?
Man, when I was standing on line,
I started looking around
and seeing all these professional motherfuckers
and all this big-time shit,
and I-I was like,
"What the hell am I doing trying to be a dancer?"
You know what I'm saying? Like, that ain't my world.
Folks gonna be laughing they asses off.
So, when my turn came, uh...
to make a long story short, I basically punked out.
I know. Stupid, right?
All right.
[sighs]
And I still think about that shit sometimes, man.
Like, what would've happened
if somebody would've made me do that shit.
Know what I'm saying?
Who knows, man?
Maybe I wouldn't have ended up here.
[serious music plays]
♪ ♪
[upbeat dance music plays]
♪ ♪
[indistinct chatter]
♪ ♪
[mouthing words]
♪ ♪
Looks pretty good to me.
[Collette] We're good.
♪ ♪
[laughter]
[indistinct chatter]
♪ ♪
Bro, you see this shit?
It's crazy out there, but it's the new normal.
You hear me? This how it's supposed to be.
We here now, baby.
It's like you said, we just gettin' started.
Rigo.
You doing any of Marquise's songs tonight?
[Rigo] A couple of the words are his,
but the rest is all me.
[Marquise] Hey, dog.
Don't even trip on that, man.
She don't really know how we operate.
-Yo, respect out here. -[scoffs]
How do you feel about me rockin' with you tonight?
-Tonight? -Well, I mean, yeah.
You know, it's kind of one thing to see you
always doing your thing, but I don't know.
I think I'm ready to test out some of my shit.
I mean, yeah, look, I know.
If it was just me, you know what I'm saying,
I'd be cool with it, but this some Spartika shit.
You know what I'm saying?
I ain't tryin' to rock the boat just yet.
You gotta let me finesse this real quick.
You know what I mean? Hey, don't even trip, though.
As soon as I get in there, I got you. We on.
-Okay. -Yeah, that's right.
Okay, yeah. A'ight, cool.
Yeah.
[announcer] Ladies and gentlemen,
please welcome to the stage,
the next ATL legend in the making...
That's my cue!
[announcer] Rigo Octavio!
Mm!
Yo, showtime. Let's go.
[crowd cheering, indistinct chatter]
[fans chanting] Rigo! Rigo! Rigo! Rigo! Rigo!
Rigo! Rigo! Rigo!
[dramatic hip-hop music plays, air horn blares]
♪ Picked the wrong fight ♪
♪ Picked the wrong night, and I ain't gon' be here ♪
♪ For none of the pretty-boy Shit in these streetlights ♪
♪ Got one eye on the scepter ♪
♪ Keepin' one eye on my blood ♪
♪ Enemies on a stretcher ♪
♪ Down there breakin' They necks to look up ♪
♪ Police at my trap ♪
♪ Got the family in my guap ♪
♪ Got my name up In they mouth ♪
♪ I'ma have to shut 'em up ♪
♪ Yeah I'm on a whole nother level ♪
♪ Standin' up Under the pressure ♪
♪ Doing it better Than veterans ♪
♪ I'ma take the throne ♪
♪ Comin' for the top ♪
♪ I'ma be that King Kong Can't nobody stop ♪
♪ Y'all ain't ready for me ♪
♪ Hey, hey ♪
♪ Y'all ain't ready for me ♪
♪ Y'all ain't, y'all ain't ♪
♪ I'ma take the throne ♪
♪ Pops passed me this torch Gave me this fire ♪
♪ Got me this horsepower My fists clenched ♪
♪ And I'm Superman In this high tower ♪
♪ I'ma run up the business Like a track star ♪
♪ Olympic golden chains On my neck ♪
♪ Came through Drippin' with respect ♪
♪ Show me your pride And I'll humble it ♪
♪ Show me your castle I'll crumble it ♪
♪ Quick on my feet And y'all stumblin', fumblin' ♪
♪ Over the shit That I do in my sleep ♪
♪ And I'm ready To run with it ♪
♪ Ready for whoever Come with it ♪
♪ I ain't gon' never Be done with it ♪
[cheers and applause]
Great idea, Ms. Jones.
You see this? This shit's gonna work!
Yeah, you want to tell me when I've been wrong so far?
[cheers and applause]
Y'all ready to hear me shit on a jailbird, tonight?
[crowd cheers]
[Rigo] Yo, King, you know what time it is.
Boy, drop that.
[hip-hop music plays]
-Kid's a fucking natural. -Too natural.
Can we pull back on the Sage shit?
♪ ♪
♪ I see a lot Of niggas talkin' ♪
♪ But I ain't Really discussin' ♪
♪ Never been the type To argue ♪
♪ With motherfuckers Who dumpin' ♪
♪ I was rushin' To the scene of the crime ♪
♪ And they ain't catch it ♪
♪ Set to chop a nigga's Spleen on the ground ♪
♪ Covered in ketchup Now let us pray ♪
♪ And burn Sage To a mountain of dust ♪
♪ You son of a bitch You wicked as fuck ♪
♪ You backstabbin' Two-timin'-ass nigga ♪
♪ Really switched on East ♪
♪ Shoulda known his only son Was a hell of a beast ♪
♪ You feel me? ♪
♪ Fuck Sage Odom And you can quote it ♪
♪ He got away with murder And he floated ♪
♪ Shoulda noticed I was comin' ♪
♪ Cliqued up and reloaded ♪
♪ And now I got the chrome Gripped up ♪
♪ And exploded No withholding ♪
♪ You can't see you In the streets ♪
♪ You'll be out, my nigga ♪
♪ I'm a motherfuckin' rider A rider ♪
♪ Run up on me And we slidin', I'm slidin' ♪
♪ They be watchin' Never try us, try us ♪
♪ You gonna end up Hearing sirens, sirens ♪
♪ I'm a motherfuckin' rider A rider ♪
♪ Run up on me And we slidin', we slidin' ♪
♪ They be watchin' Never try us, try us ♪
♪ You gonna end up Hearing sirens, sirens ♪
♪ Yeah, yeah, yeah ♪
[muffled cheering]
[dramatic music plays]
♪ ♪
[Sage] I got a question for you, though.
How many niggas in here
you feel like might have the same story you got?
[Magic] I don't know.
-Never asked. -[Sage] Why not?
[Magic clicks tongue] This ain't quite the environment
to talk about your passion for the arts, you feel me?
Fuck that. Any environment is a good environment
to talk about some shit you passionate about.
What?
Nigga, you think High Water's just a building?
Nah, nigga, that shit is a movement
'cause I'm a fucking movement.
You know, fuck that. Every nigga is a fucking movement.
And every moment is a moment
if you looking at that shit the right way.
So come on. Lace up.
[hip-hop music plays]
What?
I mean... I mean dance.
♪ ♪
Come on, you said you wanted to audition, right?
Here's your chance.
Right here?
I mean, unless you got reservations
or you got somewhere else to be.
Oh, okay, okay, you on some scared shit.
Right, right. All right. I mean, who am I to judge?
Punk out.
That's twice you've punked out. I'm just--Oh, you--
Oh, okay, cool. Cool. All right. Cool.
-[Lil Jon] ♪ What? ♪ -♪ Lil Jon, Eastside Boyz ♪
[Sage] Show me somethin'.
[Lil Jon] ♪ Let's go ♪
[rapper] ♪ They calling me To come back to the streets ♪
♪ Sean P., AKA Sharp Crease ♪
I'm just waiting on you to impress me.
Take your time. Take your time.
♪ ♪
Oh, yeah, that's... That ain't it.
[rapper] ♪ Bring them Ks in ♪
♪ I'm still Attic A-double-T-I-C ♪
♪ It ain't a ho out there For real ♪
[Sage] All right, all right. Let's turn up. Let's turn up.
-Oh! -[cheering]
[rapper] ♪ I will go get it And I ain't selfish ♪
♪ I will let you And your ho feel it ♪
♪ Won't catch me sippin' on no Cris and got a cold feelin' ♪
♪ It's Youngbloodz A-Town Malt liquor sippin' ♪
♪ Comin' straight From the gutter ♪
♪ Toe-tag a mother... Leave 'em under a cover ♪
[Sage] All right, all right. Yeah.
[rapper] ♪ Tote the heat To make ya mug, then slug ya ♪
♪ If you don't give a damn Go on, throw it up. Hey! ♪
♪ Don't start no stuff Won't be no stuff ♪
♪ I post up, get to it Drink hand in hand ♪
♪ They call me Mr. Herringbone ♪
♪ 'Cause that's My right-hand man ♪
♪ Old school, straight foolish Like no other, indeed ♪
♪ With Lil Jon It's Youngbloodz ♪
♪ They crunk as can be ♪
♪ Attic Crew 105, that's If you lookin' to rumble ♪
♪ Cock back, bust aim Now I done got your number ♪
[laughs]
-You did that shit, nigga. -Yo.
Reminded me of me a little bit out there.
-[chuckles] Yeah? -Back then, bro,
-I used to be with my little-- -Whoa.
Yo, yo. What the fuck? He ain't do nothing.
You call fighting nothing? You're in the hole, buddy.
[dramatic music plays]
♪ ♪
Shit.
♪ ♪
[Rigo] I'm gonna make it do what it do.
Hey, appreciate the love, bruh. A'ight, you be good, a'ight?
Yes, sir. Yes, yes.
Much love, much love.
Oh, hey. You want me to sign somewhere? Okay.
What's your name, sweetheart?
Alexandria. Sign it right here.
Ooh. Okay.
[car beeps]
Where are you going?
There's an after-party, and he asked me if I wanted to go.
-Come on. -You wanna go?
You should be careful around him.
Maybe he should be careful around me
'cause I might fuck around and make him fall for me.
Remember what I was saying about focusing?
We should go home, and we should get some sleep.
Why are you being so boring?
Aren't we supposed to be having fun?
[Odalie] This is not really my idea of fun.
[Rigo] Appreciate you coming out, a'ight?
Get that tatted on there, too.
That's gonna be worth a lot of money, you feel me?
[Marquise] Damn, just wanna
invite y'all to the after-party at Luckies.
Followed by fine dining at the Waffle House,
but since you wanna side-eye a brother,
then there's more hash browns for me.
[Rigo] Oh, you got a unit? You got, like, a whole...
this a whole situation.
Charlie's Angels, plus one. Y'all looking good. Okay.
What up, Ten Toes? Talk that tough shit now.
Yeah, excuse me, but, uh, I know you motherfuckers?
Nah, motherfucker, but I know you.
[indistinct chatter]
Ignore her.
-I want them hash browns. -[Marquise] Yeah?
What else you want?
Get the fuck out of here, niggas.
What the fuck's going on?
[dramatic music plays]
♪ ♪
[gunshot, people screaming]
Oh, shit!
Stay down!
-[guard] All clear! -[guard 2] You good?
-You need medical attention? -I'm straight, bro.
You sure? I got a car nearby, Mr. Octavio.
Yeah, man. Who the fuck are you?
Your boss hired us.
What boss? I ain't got no fucking boss.
We're here because of Ms. Jones.
Hey, bro, you straight?
'Quise, what the fuck, man?
You had one fucking job, man! One!
You couldn't even do that?
Hey, hey, I'm so sorry, bro.
-I didn't mean-- -Man, don't "I'm sorry" me.
Miss me with all that shit.
Maybe if you was focused
on what the fuck you were supposed to be doing
instead of trying to get on the goddamn stage and be me,
this shit wouldn't have happened!
-Oh, see, now you pushing it. -Pushing it?
I don't give a fuck, 'Quise!
I almost got shot 'cause you was out here sleepin'!
God damn!
No wonder why my dad put you on them shitty-ass corners.
'Cause you out here fuckin' up.
This shit got me wondering, nigga, are you even my brother?
'Cause we don't have fuck-ups in this family, nigga.
[groans]
Nigga, life was easier when you was locked up, bro.
-It's like that? -[Rigo] No, nigga.
It's exactly like that.
Now go somewhere, nigga! Leave me the fuck alone!
Bounce, 'Quise! Why the fuck you're still here?
Leave!
♪ ♪
[officer] You're absolutely sure you've never seen
either of those two men before?
Never in my life.
Okay.
We'll contact you if we need any more questions answered.
[Collette] All right. Thank you, Officer.
You all right?
Did not see that coming.
You saved my life.
[scoffs]
That's what I do, Rigo. I handle shit.
I'm about anticipating what's next,
and I'm really fucking good at it,
even if you don't want me around.
I know. I know, all right?
It's just hard, 'cause...
like, as far as I'm concerned,
you and Sage are the same person.
[scoffs] That's not true.
I am my own person.
I had a life before Sage, and I had a life before High Water.
[Rigo] I understand that, but...
it's just hard as hell to trust you.
[Collette] Are you serious?
You really don't trust me?
You know, Sage hated when I brought you into High Water,
but I knew how talented you were.
So I complicated my life anyways,
because I believed in you.
I knew you could be a star.
And, shoot, should I remind you who put you on this tour?
Damn. And then made you the headliner.
And here you are,
questioning if I'm the one that's against you.
You know, it really, really, really hurt me
when you sat in my office and you told me
my creative input is of no value.
You know your entire career
is my vision, right?
I mean that in a good way.
And I was right.
I mean, look what you did tonight.
Thanks.
[singer vocalizing]
♪ ♪
He is singing for his life. Ain't that right?
-Al, are you watching? -Hmm?
-Mm-hmm. -Who you think gonna win?
Because the guy beforehand was killing it.
Maybe they're both gonna win.
It's a TV show. They can do anything.
[Al] I need to let you uh, walk to school more often.
You pretty smart.
[dramatic music plays]
♪ ♪
Somethin' happened to Rigo.
What's wrong? What...
I don't know. I just need to get across town.
Take my car.
Thank you.
♪ ♪
Since you're on a roll...
Mm...
...I would like your thoughts
on, uh, this one joint I'm working on,
if that's okay with you.
So now you want my creative input.
Okay, woman, will you just make up your mind?
Okay, okay, okay.
-Show me what you got. -[Rigo] All right.
[gentle hip-hop music plays]
I see someone's trying to sexy it up a little bit.
All right, I like it.
Like, I'm trying to get in everybody's pockets.
You know what I mean? I want all the money.
It's just... I'm just struggling on some parts.
You know what I mean? See, look, right here?
Here come the hook.
♪ ♪
That sound crazy, right?
No, no. Actually, no, it's not that bad.
It's just maybe, you need to fix the Auto-Tune in the mix.
It doesn't really go. You know what I mean?
I feel you. You know...
sometimes you can kill them with the tuxedo
-with the Jordans, you know? -Mm-hmm.
But uh, other times you gotta go full tuxedo mode on 'em.
You know what I'm saying? And this is definitely
one of those sophisticated, full-tuxedo-type vibes.
Here we go.
Man, I'm trying to get my Sinatra on.
-You feel me? -Okay. Okay.
All right, look, hey, just picture this, a'ight?
-Mm-hmm. -Vegas.
-Mm-hmm. -I got the Tom Ford on.
I got the bow tie undone,
the diamonds glistening, as usual.
You know what I'm saying?
Got a stogie on deck, you know?
[Collette laughs] Oh, my gosh.
You probably want me in one of them Sage Odom's hats, too,
don't you?
[laughs]
Okay, come on, just play the fuckin' song already.
How about you meet me at the stage?
[Poppy] Come on, Rigo. Don't do this to me, please.
-Pick up. Pick up, please. -[line trilling]
♪ Ain't no telling your story Without me ♪
♪ Ain't no telling my story Without you ♪
♪ And no matter what ♪
-[Collette] Yeah. -♪ Know that I got... ♪
Uh, we can flip it. Hold on, hold on.
♪ Nobody said it would be ♪
♪ Happy ever after With you and me ♪
♪ And there is no guarantee ♪
[both] ♪ Ain't telling Your story without me ♪
♪ Ain't no telling my story Without you ♪
♪ No matter what Know that I got you ♪
-Ain't no telling my story-- -Ain't no telling your story--
-Your story. -[both] Without me.
-Without you. Okay! -Boom.
[suspenseful music plays]
♪ ♪
[both] ♪ Hey, nobody said It would be ♪
♪ It would be ♪
[both] ♪ Happy ever after With you and me ♪
♪ But I'm ridin', I'm ridin' And that's a guarantee ♪
[Collette] ♪ That's a guarantee ♪
[both] ♪ Ain't no telling Your story without me ♪
[Rigo] ♪ Ain't no telling Your story without me ♪
-[Collette] ♪ Without me ♪ -[Rigo] Yeah.
[Collette] ♪ There ain't No you without me ♪
[Rigo] Just like that.
[Collette] ♪ There ain't No you without me ♪
♪ Oh, oh ♪
♪ ♪