Original subtitles

- Okay, bye-bye, baby. - Gina, baby, where you goin'?

Oh, to put my car in the shop the third time this week.

Oh, baby, I thought you got that car fixed already.

Please, Martin, my car backfires so loud

when I drive down the street, gang members be ducking.

- It's embarrassing. - Alright, alright.

Look, I got, I got a better idea.

- What? - Why don't you stay here?

- And lemme give you a tune, I.. - Hm..

Be-a-bing, let me drive it, let me drive it.

- Ha-ha-ha-ha. - Huh? Huh?

Martin, we can play auto-mechanic later, okay?

Oh, don't forget, we gotta go see

Pam's cousin sing tonight down at Nipsey.

Okay, yeah, Pam's cousin, now, is she Saint Bernard or..

...or half Cocker Spaniel?

Wassup? Wassup?

Wassup?

'Oh, man, yo, listen up.'

On the real, let's squash all this east-west nonsense.

I'm outty 5000.

Ah, alright, alright, well done.

That's right, now, the next brother coming to the stage

is a boy, and we didn't even know it.

I said we didn't even know it.

Well, alright.

Give it up for Teen-Knowledge!

Tommy, I know damn well

you ain't Teen-Knowledge.

This piece is called "To My Lady."

"I wrote this for you

"even though we broke up for no reason.

"And still I rise.

"I wrote this for you even though you keep sayin'

"'Back up off me 'cause you ain't gonna get jack!'

"But still I rise.

"I wrote this for you even though I still wanna grab

"a handful of that weave and just kiss you until you say

'Ow! Oh, Big Tommy, oh, you're the best. Ow! Ah!'"

Um..

"And still I rise.

"And still I rise.

And still I rise." Thank you very much.

Sit your corny ass down.

Ain't you drunk?

Hey, man. How-how'd you like that?

What the hell you come on, "Still I rise?"

- Damn. Man, you know what? - No, no, no, man.

Pam done put a root on you, man.

No, she didn't put a root on me, I just--

- She done put a root. - 'Okay.'

- Hey, you guys. - 'Oh, come on.'

- Babe, you look good! - Hi.

- Hey, how you doin'? Hey. - Thank you. Oh.

I want you to meet Pam's cousin. Martin, Tommy.

- This is Alesha. - Hi, Alesha.

- Nice to meet you. - Hey, Alesha.

- Guys. Yeah. - This Pam's cousin?

Well, you know, there's no family resemblance.

- Consider yourself lucky. - Ha-ha.

You-you-you're the lucky one.

- Shut up, Martin. - Hey, you lucky one.

You know, I can't believe I'm actually meeting you.

I mean, I watch your show on TV all the time.

- Seriously? Wait a minute. - Mm-hmm.

I thought they cancelled "ALF."

Stop.

- Okay, sto-op. - Did they cancel "ALF?"

- Okay, um, Alesha. - Alright, alright.

- Oh, no, no, no. - Alesha.

- Alesha. - Come on, stop it now.

Are-are you, are you ready to sing, girl?

Well, I'm a little nervous, 'cause I never really sung

any place outside a church before.

Oh, Alesha, don't even worry about that.

Girl, you know, you know how to sing.

Get up on that mic and sing. Tear it up!

- You, uh.. - Alright, girl.

Sure, sing. Uh, do what you do.

Come on, Alesha.

She-she just needs a little, a little time.

- Ahem. Clear your throat. - No, no, she don't need.

No, she don't need more time.

She's terrible!

- Martin. - Shut up, Martin. Just-just d--

You told me the girl was a singer!

'Oh, sing that.'

- 'Oh, alright.' - 'Yeah!'

- Alesha! - Whoo!

- Yeah! - Yeah!

Well, y'all, give it up for Alesha. Now, give it up.

Give it up.

Did you know that was my cousin?

She's, she's on my mother's side.

She's the first cousin on my mother's side.

- Pam, okay, okay. - Her mother..

We know that's your cousin, baby.

- Relax. - That's my cousin. Ha-ha-ha.

You know what, Alesha, you gonna make

somebody rich, girl, you need a manager.

- Manager, manager. - What, what's he--

- That would be me. - 'What?'

Welcome to MPM Management.

Martin Payne Management.

- Yo. - 'Your30 is here.'

Oh, cool, send him in.

Dex, the man who writes the checks.

- What's up? What's up, man? - My man.

- Wassup, my man? How you doin'? - Marty Mart.

What's goin' on, baby? How's the show?

How's married life? Uh, can I get you Kool-Aid?

Cappuccino, cup of coffee?

N-no, I'm cool.

But, uh, you may wanna cut back on the caffeine, man.

You know all the record deals got you speeding like one..

"Get you caffeine, coffee, Kool-Aid, coffee?"

Boy, you a producer. What you speeding for, man?

I know, you right, you right, I'mma work on that there, but

listen, I hear you're managing now. Is that true, Mart?

- I thought you knew. - No, but come on in here.

Brother, tell me, who is this new singer

that y'all making all this noise about?

Oh, well, man, check it out, right?

It-it's this girl named Alesha, right?

I was down at this little amateur night thing

the other night, this girl ain't no amateur, man.

I mean, man, she was hittin' notes right

brought tears to my eyes.

And want nobody cuttin' on this, man.

This is how bad the girl

could rip it up. The girl can rip it up.

Well, check it out, man, you know me, I can't wait to hear

her, right, but first, Mart, I gotta check out this sax player.

- Is that cool? - Oh, okay.

Well, look, handle the sax player, you know

handle your business, I'mma just chill over here in the cut.

- My man. - Okay, cool, so..

- Handle your business. - Chilling in the cut.

- In the cut. - 'Okay.'

Uh, send the brother in.

Well, yeah, then you get security.

- What the hell? - Hustle Man?

Is that you?

Nah, chief, you-you got me confused with the next man.

I'm Hustle Marsalis.

I'm Brad Philip Williams' baby brother

'cause we got different fathers.

Hustle Man, look.

Uh, well, look here, brah, whoever you are

uh, my schedule is kinda tight, so show me what you got, brah.

Nah, nah, nah, nah, see, brah, you-you can't rush good music.

You know what I'm sayin'? You don't rush that, you don't.

Ah, this is butter. See what I'm saying?

You just sit back and cool out

to some of my smooth tunes, okay?

- Alright, is that cool? - Yeah, yeah.

Alright, here we go.

So, wassup, chief? Tell me where I sign.

Like, 'cause a brother like me think it's time to get paid.

No, no, no. That was the worst performance I've ever seen.

- Brah, really. - Hustle Man, Hustle..

Come here, mm..

Hustle Man, how the hell you gonna come up in here

with a gazoo stuck to a saxophone, man?

Man, a-and tryin' to get over, man. How you gonna do that?

Tsk, nah, nah, nah, nah, see, you can't say it to me

y'all wasn't tappin y'all feet, 'cause I seen y'all! I seen you.

Alright, I tap, I tapped my feet a little bit on..

But I'm saying that ain't gonna fly with him, man.

Now, look, I got some new talent

comin' in here that he needs to check out.

You got to roll out, Hustle Man.

But what, what about me, man?

I'm tryin' to strike a deal too, man, I'm tryin' to get paid.

Man, you know how much a pack of franks costs?

- Hey. - I'm out, man. Pshh!

Now, look, now that amateur night is over

if you really interested in some real talent

this girl Alesha has all the assets

to make the concept a reality.

Oh, well, that's all good, baby, now, you know me.

Okay, look. Bring her by tomorrow afternoon, right?

- Okay, tomorrow. - Let me check out, right?

And if she's as good as you say she is, then, Marty

you know what, you gonna be hell of a manager.

Oh, sure, you right. Sure, you right.

Oh, look, get Berry Gordy a message for me, alright?

- Right. - You tell Berry Gordy I said..

- Watch his back. - Mm!

That's right, ol' Marty Mart

gonna make more stars than Detroit makes cars.

- Ooh! We need more cars, baby. - Ah.

- And I'mma help you make 'em. - Ah!

And I damn sure ain't gonna be

gettin' the door by myself for long.

- No, no, no. - Ha-ha..

Smarty-pants, go, smash it!

Got this big audition tomorrow, right?

So let's take the song from the top, okay? Let's go.

I can't, I've sung it a thousand times.

What is it, you don't like my voice? I mean--

Alesha, it's not the song and it's not your voice.

Okay? It's the way you're singing it, Alesha.

Baby, you are singing as this

as if though you don't have no energy.

That's right, baby, you got to throw your drawers in it!

By the time we are finished with you

you gonna make Janet Jackson look like Shabba!

- Do you follow what I'm sayin'? - Mm-hmm.

Okay, give me, give me the mic, let me show you how it's done.

Okay, because, it's all about stage presence for one. Okay?

And you gonna let them people know you ain't afraid.

You know, you gonna sing to 'em and then you give it to 'em.

Uh, right there is where you wanna..

You see how I almost gave you all that?

But I couldn't 'cause I'm a manager. You're the talent.

- Okay. - Try that.

And try with fillin' in energy, baby

because we're about to blow you up.

- Right. You can do it. - Now, come on.

Okay.

- Yeah, uh. - Uh-huh.

Boom.

No, don't-don't-don't hold your rolls too hard, but..

Whoa, damn!

Now, you know darn well that ain't your song.

Man, let me do your song for you.

Uh, hey, hey, hey.

Pam, I'mma tell you, go ahead with that, okay?

I don't represent no damn..

You do that, that's it. That's how you do it.

- Okay. Stop. - That's how they do it.

- You represent-- - C-cut it out.

- You started it. - Y'all cut it out.

- He started. - Shh.

Alesha, girl, we got the perfect dress

for you to rock this audition.

That's great, but what I really need

is some extra help on those dance steps.

Alright, I got this. Now, this is what you wanna do.

Oh, yeah, yeah, you do, you do

wanna take advice from your cousin Pam-Pam.

- Thank you. - The dancing bear.

Come on, girl, you gotta give it some, you know..

- Give it something to look at. - Oh, no.

Pam, no, that's a little a stale.

You gotta give it your soul, you gotta give it more Diana.

That's right, you have to do it like my baby doing.

- See how she's doin'? - Don't worry.

I mean, and what about me?

Just sing. We doin' the dancing. You sing.

You better stop that..

Baby. Where are they, Gina?

Pam and Alesha should've been here a hour ago, Gina.

Baby, you made Alesha practice all night long.

- She probably just overslept. - What you mean, overslept?

You know what, it's Pam's fault.

She knows when the sun comes up

she's supposed to cock-a-doodle-doo.

- Martin, you gotta stop Pam-- - I'm not starting.

There they are. Right. Where you, where you been?

Alesha! Girl, you look beautiful!

But where have you guys been? Uh, you-you're late.

Oh, baby, it's no problem. You know what, Dex ain't here yet.

Dex ain't here.

No, Martin, there is a problem.

You made her rehearse so much that now she can't sing, man!

- What? - Go ahead.

Go ahead and show 'em, Alesha.

You hear that? Nothin'!

Uh, but the hell she can't. You know, Gina..

Get her some tea. Some tea right away, ba--

- This is all your fault. - Get-get the hell out.

You getting the hell out the way.

My-- I don't have to get out.

It's your fault she ain't, can't sing.

- My cousin. - She should've came dressed.

You know what? Okay.

Now, now, now, we didn't come this far to turn back now.

Oh, sucky-sucky now. What's goin' on, Martin?

- Hey, Dex, wassup? - Ha-ha. Hey, yeah!

Oh, you know, it's all good, it's all good.

Whoa, whoa, whoa, is this that singer

that you were telling me about?

How you doin' there? Alesha, right?

- Hi.. - Oh, Dex, check it out.

Check it out, as a manager, she doin' fine, man.

Well, look here, man, too bad we can't stay.

Yeah, yeah, we gotta get up out of here, we are waitin' on you.

We was here, like, what, two-three-four-hours.

You know, you know, that's hard for anybody to waits.

So, look, we gonna come by tomorrow, you know what I mean

and, uh, let you hear what she got to do tomorrow.

Whoa, whoa, whoa, no, no, no, see, I-I don't think so..

I got to bounce up to Japan, you see?

So we gonna do this, Martin, we, we really gotta do it right now.

O-okay, well, let me see if I brought a

'cause I don't know if I brought a..

- You know what? - Uh-huh?

I brought her background music.

- Bang! - I'll tell you right here, man.

What you doin'? You know I cannot sing. Okay, now--

Look, look, look, I got two words for you.

Milli Vanilli.

Hey, look, if they can do it, you can do it.

Girl, you know it's true.

Okay, follow my lead. Follow my lead.

Yeah, man, she's bad. Check this out.

You know, what I was telling you 'cause check her, would you?

Step up. Check out. Ain't she bad? Ain't she bad?

Hold up. Uh, hold on, hold on. I heard enough.

I know you heard enough, but she got some more in her.

Check it out, check it out. This is where, ka-ka-ka-ka..

Broken heart. There you go, baby.

Bring it to him, Alesha. Give it to him.

Ah-ah-ah! Ah! That's enough.

Don't give him no more. Don't give him no more.

Yeah. Yeah.

Whoo.

Ah. Whoo.

Girl, I'm proud of you.

Huh? I'm proud of you.

Whoo..

Ah, didn't I tell you?

Man, if I don't know nothin' else, I know talent.

- Ha-ha! Yes, you do, brah. - Ha-ha.

Tell you somethin', that voice, whoo, it is unbelievable!

Alesha, honey, do me a favor.

Hit that high note one more time for me, please.

Whoa, whoa, whoa, no, no. No.

Won't be no high..

Won't be no high notes

till we see some C-notes.

You didn't know it was about the C-notes.

- Ha-ha. You funny, Martin. - Ah, yeah.

That's what the C-note's about.

Okay, okay, uh, uh, Alesha.

Could you, uh, hit it one-one more time?

First of all, you don't listen to nobody

who haven't signed you yet. I'm your manager, baby.

Come on, now, look, um, don't start high, start low

'cause then it comes out, then all your

your flavor, your juice, um, your, of your voice, it works.

So, okay, now try it one more time on your low bass.

Oh, no, I didn't say go that low!

Ooh!

Oh, Alesha!

Martin, uh, wha-what's goin' on here, partner?

She can't sing at all.

Look, it's not like that, Dex, okay?

It's, she-she-she's just having a bad day, man.

Well, look, here at Midtown, right, I need

'somebody that can sing every day. Now, you know this, man.'

Now, look, you're my partner, and I'm not disrespecting

nothin' like that, but, you know, maybe she go on back to TV

you know, leavin' the music to the professionals, you know

'cause, honey, she just, she ain't ready.

I'm ready now.

That's enough, baby, that's enough, that's all.

Don't give no more. Don't give no more.

Ah! Whoo!

Don't give no more. That's it.

Now, Dexter..

...do we have a deal?

Do we have a deal at Midtown or

do I have to take Alesha over to Motown?

- Whoa, whoa, hey, whoa. - Baby, let's go to Motown.

Because Dexter didn't believe me

in the first damn place. Yeah? Oh, you signing something?

We got a deal, baby.

Those are C-notes, go you shop till you drop!

That's right, that's right, look, look, look..

That-that's the check. Alright, go on, take that outside.

I'll be out there in a minute.

You-you blew it, you blew it a cappella, baby.

- Did she blow it a cappella? - Did she?

Whoo! She blew it acapulco. Whoo!

Oh, man, oh, man. Let me ask you a question, Dexter.

Is-is, is gettin' a singing contract that easy?

- You serious? - Yeah.

Well, look, I'mma tell you somethin' I ain't never told

nobody before, whatever, but, uh

I used to do a little singing myself.

- Really? - Yeah, back in the day..

I-I was, I was, you know

I-I was one of them singers to be reckoned with.

You know, I mean, I used to sing

sing lead singer for The Stylistics.

Go crazy, go wild.

And I kicked it a little somethin' like this

check it out.

That's all I'mma give you till I get a record contract.

But that's-that's basically how I was singing back instead of..

See, I always float with mine, oh, that is all good.

If you ever wanna sign me to a record deal, what we gotta do?

Ooh, have my people call your people.

Ah, sure you're right.

- Ah! Uh! - Ah!

Alesha, you got my money!

Hey, baby.

Are you still down?

Am I still down?

Damn right I'm still down, Gina.

I can't believe Alesha left me for another manager.

- Martin. - Put all my hard work in it.

I know, baby.

But, uh, baby, at least look at the bright side.

At least you still got this big signin' bonus.

Martin, you think we can use some of that money

to fix my car for good?

- I don't believe you, Gina! - What?

You wanna use that money to spend it on yourself?

Oh, Martin!

Baby, I'm the one who did all the work.

Remind you, I'm the one who did all the work, Gina.

Martin, baby, I need a reliable car.

How am I supposed to get to work?

I-I-I don't know. How am I supposed to know?

Maybe you get to work with these.

- No, you didn't. - Yeah. Uh..

No, you didn't use that money from Alesha to buy me a new car!

- Boy, I love you! - That's right.

Who the best husband in the world?

- You are, you are, you.. - Who the best husband?

That's right, I'm the best husband--

Yes, in the world.

Martin, I think I wanna go on a overdrive, boy.

- What? - Oh, yeah.

Girl, you serious?

In my new car! Aye, wanna ride?

Well, I guess we gonna have to do it in the car, Gina.

I, you know, I-I was one of them singers to be reckoned with.

You know, you know, I used to sing

sing lead singer for The Stylistics.

Yeah, yeah, they originally wanted Gerald Levert

but at the time his father wanted him

to keep the music in the family, so he didn't.

You know, he-he went, went on and did his thing with them.

Uh, Five Taps called

but Levi had a, already had the lead on that

so I couldn't get in the groove there.

You know, Temptations had "Silent Night" out

which was blowin' everybody out, you know?

You know, people could not believe

this was a Christmas song

that was just playing over at Christmas.

So, '76, Stylistics was thinking

we was thinking, "Okay what could we bring out

"that's gonna make all the kids go crazy, go wild?"