Ice Cube and Mike Epps have done it once again with their newest film, Janky Promoters. Don't think because the movie went straight to DVD means that the movie isn't any good; it just meant that the company that financed the film didn't have any money to market and promote it, so they took their chances on distributing it exclusively with Blockbuster and hope that DVD rental sales can offset some costs. But the movie really is good, so don't skip by it just because....We start out with Russell Redds and Jellyroll running out of a club or venue, getting shot at by someone wearing corn chips and chucks, then it flashes back to how it all started. Russell and Jellyroll are partners, they promote shows in their hometown of Modesto County, California. Apparently, the two aren't that good at it because ticket sales for the upcoming Young Jeezy isn't doing too good. They claim Modesto is a 'walk up' town and ticket sales will pick up on the day of the event. They haven't paid for the venue, the talent, nothing; they don't have any money, period.
The day of the event, Jeezy comes to town and he wants his money up front. The two stall Jeezy to basically try to get him to perform for free but if that doesn't work out and the gate is short, hustle their way to having him perform for less cash. No one knows the plan but themselves, and when they involve the local drug dealer, an unproven local rapper, wedding money, alleged rape, and use a whole lot of front money on clothes and other material items, things really hit the fan.
We wouldn't say that these two are really janky (shady), but these two dudes just don't have the knowhow, or the clout to make a show happen, even with a headliner such as Young Jeezy coming to town. But when you start messing with people's money, you are going to have to answer a lot of questions and suffer the consequences. When getting involved in such a racquet, your hustle game better be tight and right. Neither Russell nor Jellyroll had the gift to get out of any situation and it was going to cost them their lives. Instead of being professional about everything, they played a lot and when people caught on, they couldn't do nothing but run. In the end, some of the important pieces fell in place for Russell and Jellyroll and all was forgiven, but in reality, most kats aren't so lucky.
To all the young inspiring hustlers out there, think things through first before acting on an impulse. Have backup plans for each one of your plans; make sure you don't screw anyone over in the process for your own personal gain, because the person you screw over today could be someone you depend on later. Imagine being in the shoes of Russell and Jellyroll, throwing wack concert after wack concert; not only you don't have respect for the game, no one will have respect for you as a promoter and as a person. All your street credibility will be gone and there won't be a snowball chance in hell you could ever make money trying to promote anything. Even with your name on a product could taint the efforts of a established promoter. So don't do it to yourself, and don't do it to others. Play the game straight and the game will be straight with you.
