A teenage rapper must use his musical talent to battle his nemesis and win against the girl of his dreams. ## Personality Fifteen-year-old Cyrus DeBarge is a talented choir director in Atlanta, Georgia, who writes rap lyrics under the pseudonym "Truth" because of his father Pastor Jacob's disapproval of rap music and his shy demeanor compared to his more outgoing best friend Kris McDuffy. Cyrus secretly works as a busboy at a club, "Off the Street", where the music label of their childhood friend, teenage singing sensation Roxanne "Roxie" Andrews, is sponsoring a songwriting contest. Roxie chooses Truth's song "Don't Run Away" as the winning entry but misidentifies Kris as Truth because the photo Cyrus submitted was of them both. Kris convinces Cyrus to let him keep the credit because he has feelings for Roxie. As Kris uses Cyrus' verses to get closer to both Roxie and his newfound fame, Cyrus begins to resent his friend. As Cyrus and Roxie get to know each other she says she can talk to him better than she can talk to Kris. Cyrus invites her to perform with the choir at his church. After their performance, Jacob humiliates Roxie in front of the congregation by condemning people living in "hip-hop-crispy". His wife Gail persuades Jacob to apologize to Roxie at the club, where he catches his son working and learns that Cyrus writes rap lyrics. At first, he's furious and grounds him, but Jacob comes to realize his son's raps carry positive messages and lift his punishment. The conflict between Cyrus and Kris comes to a head in a physical altercation. Club owner Levi convinces them not to let their friendship die. During a duet with Roxie, Cyrus takes Kris' place on the stage to sing "Me and You", revealing that he was Truth all along. Cyrus apologizes but Roxie storms from the stage wanting nothing to do with either of them. At a rapping challenge, Cyrus calls out arrogant rapper Lord of Da Bling. Cyrus wins the trophy by revealing to the audience that Bling is a fraud, having seen him the previous week working his day job as a taxi driver. Kris tells Roxie that Cyrus is a great person and only pretends he is not true for Kris. He says Cyrus is real and the one she needs to be with. Roxie goes to the church and hugs Cyrus as they sing "Let It Shine".