Thug Life Army

Director and Memphis'' own Craig Brewer's Hustle & Flow film was alarmingly popular at it's recent Sundance Film Festival debut. The movie won the Dramatic Audience Award and sold for the biggest purchase ever at the film festival to Paramount Pictures for a whooping $9.5 million in conjunction with its Viacom sibling MTV Films.

Rap artist Ludacris said it best when he broke the big news midway through his performance at a packed club last week: "Let's hear it for ''Hustle & Flow. We made it for $2 million and just sold it for $9 million."

"All I had to hear was that John Singleton was doing a movie in the South — that's it, I was down," hip-hop’s Ludacris said also last week in a statement to MTV News.

In "Hustle & Flow," Luda plays a dirty South rapper by the name of Skinny Black who inspires a Memphis pimp "Glitter," "Ray" (played by actor Terrence Howard, pictured in article) in his hometown to attempt a career change to hip-hop.

The movie is wrote and directed by Craig Brewer, produced by John Singleton (Boyz n the Hood) and Stephanie Allain (Biker Boyz), and co-stars Taryn Manning, Anthony Anderson and DJ Qualls.

"It was special for me because I''m from the South," DJ Qualls said. "I watched the movie and thought, ''This is it. This is where I''m from,'' " he says in MTV News.

Speaking of where he's from, well not exactly (because Qualls is from Cashville), but speaking of Memphis; in local news, "Hustle & Flow," which will release this summer after a multitude of MTV ads and more, is scheduled to feature new music by some of Memphis'' hottest acts including Memphis'' own Al Kapone, Three Six Mafia's Juicy "J," Nasty Nardo, Yo Gotti and more local Memphis rap/hip-hop and urban artists including Memphis'' own Isaac Hayes and ''pimpin music'' legend Curtis Mayfield.

The movie's music composer is Memphis musician Scott Bomar, 30, a veteran of the local club and recording scene (and cousin to Justin Timberlake, another Memphis native).

Among those expected to be featured on the soundtrack, Al Kapone is one of those that is banking on the film boosting more than just his music career. The rap veteran is just one of many who scored a walk-on role in this Memphis-made movie which many are expecting to "put things on another level."