DJay (Terrence Howard) is a Memphis pimp and a drug dealer with a dream. His hoe Nola (Taryn Manning) is actually more of a friendly co-worker. Shug (Taraji P. Henson) is a pregnant mess. When he buys a kid's keyboard from a street drunk, he renews his music dreams. He bumps into his old schoolmate Key (Anthony Anderson) who with Shelby (DJ Qualls) helps him record his songs. It's a struggle as he hustles for the recordings and the chance to get his music played. He aims to bring his music to successful rapper Skinny Black (Ludacris),but it's a long winding road.

This movie has loads of atmosphere due to the gritty Memphis locations. On the surface, it's another blaxsploitation movie about the hustle, rappers, drug deals, pimps and hoes. But it's much more about the downtrodden who still have their own dreams. It takes the stereotypical characters and give them life. Also there's a scattering of white characters here. So it's not a simple movie about pimps and hoes. Then there is also the great music. There is still no other Oscar winning song quite like "It's Hard Out Here for a Pimp". The performances are superb especially Terence Howard. Even Anthony Anderson puts in a solid dramatic performance.

Hustle & Flow is a strange hybrid. Part rap, part urban drama and set in the south.

Terrence Howard is a Memphis pimp, Djay who runs a stable of prostitutes and still has trouble making ends meet. No wonder life is hard for a pimp.

After an encounter with an old school friend who also works as a music mixer he decides to write and rap about his life experiences and hopes to have a shot at the big time.

He hopes by persuading a big music star played by Ludicrous to listen to his tape.

Terrence Howard would not be seen as your first choice to play a rapping street hustler as he tends to be known for more urbane characters in films such as Crash.

He holds attention as the hustler and rapper who lives for today. He is no hero or even that sympathetic, he just wants to survive but at least he does have dreams and talent as the words seem to flow out of him.

I guess the film might be problematic if you do not like rap and the subject matters of rap songs. The swearing might be off putting for some.

There is tenderness, when Djay, Shelby and Key get together to make music and it's at this point the film displays its heart. Before that, it was Djay pimping out his women.

It's a hard knock life in general I'd say, not just for pimps and ... their employes. But be aware just because this is about a pimp and prostitution, this is not something that is meant to excite or arouse the viewer in any sexual kind of way. You may already feel offended that I even mention this, but one should know with what expectation one does go into a movie. You may be even relieved to hear that - especially because the movie does a great job not going into the details of that while still retaining the street cred ... pun maybe intended.

Also having such a strong lead with great performances by the other players is something that helps a lot. And while the female characters may seem weak at first, that impression is quite wrong (which you should be able to see for yourself, especially towards the end with one particular character). But Ludacris is the one who really impressed me. While his role is quite small, it is a very crucial one ... so his performance is very important! And he delivers on a nuanced and well written character (arc) - not just for himself, but for the movie and Terence Howards Djay! The soundtrack also flows quite well ... with songs that really go into your ear and body ... who'd think that a track about ... prostitues would bring goosebumps to the viewer (to most I would reckon) ... enjoy this for what it is - because it is very well made and it feels like taken from real life (which it very likely is composed of many pieces)