"Previously on "The Breaks"..." "Fouray manufactures receipts when he's on tour, and he pockets the cash when he's reimbursed." "You're gonna trust this ho over your boy?" "What the fuck you talking about?" "I have this fantasy that we would cut the album, and it saves hip hop from going pop." "Our audience is not interested in the noise you call hip-hop." "Hey, Bernard, this the kid I was telling you about." "Played that PE at WPPS." "Let me know if you're ever really ready to talk." "Otherwise..." "Hands against the car." " Wait..." " What'd I do?" "You can't arrest him!" "Deevee!" "Mr. Van Putten is my client." "You call fucking Juggy to get our friend out of jail." "I'm supposed to just let him sit in a cell because you got daddy issues?" "So you the middle-man?" "No, I negotiate with the label on behalf of the artist." "Thanks for your time?" "Gonna start my own label." "Better come on, boy." "He might be snitching, kid's gotta go." "How long am I supposed to be in here?" "You got somewhere to be?" "Nah, I..." "I mean, yeah, I'd like to go home, take a shower and whatnot." "They got a shower at the precinct." "Didn't you shower over there?" "Look, I..." "I mean, nah... nah, um, I... they didn't let me." " What they let you do?" " Nothing." " What'd you tell 'em?" " Nothing." "You sure?" "Yes, I'm..." "I'm positive." "So we gonna work together." "Most definitely." "A'ight." "Let's work." "We should fight more often." "What about in, like, ten minutes?" "Stop being so stupid." "Hey, should we try Deevee again?" "Where?" "He's not at his dad's." "You don't think he went back to Juggy's, do you?" "Last thing I need is my best friend and my girlfriend hanging out with Juggy all the time." "David, it was an emergency." "I got it, I got it, I'm..." "look, I'm glad that Deevee is not in jail, and I am glad that Juggy was at home." " Me, too." " Good." "Can you come back to bed now?" "Stop, I gotta go." "You know if I'm on the ground floor of Barry's new label, then I'm part of the foundation." "Yeah, but didn't you start, like, yesterday?" "Let him feel you out and... just, like, bring you along at his own pace." "If I'd've done that, I'd've never gotten the job in the first place." "I hear congratulations are in order." "You shouldn't have." "Little Mattie Taylor." "Head of black music." "From promo assistant to big office with a view." "Not that I was ever invited to the last one, but..." "Well, clearly you don't wait for an invitation." "Well, I guess that's the thing about foresight." "Where would we be if we waited for what we wanted?" "So, black music." "That's not where I left it, that's for sure." "But you got a solid roster here, right?" "You got Keith Sweat, Tay Six." "Don't forget Al B..." "with that face and that voice, women all over this country are gonna be wet with anticipation." "Well, not every woman." "What brings you by, Juggy?" "I heard you might be adding the hip hop to your repertoire." "My chairman says there's gold in them-there hills." "But he said that about disco too, so." "This might be different." "My son David, he's crazy about it." "He thinks radio's gonna catch on eventually." "What do you say you and me, we get out in front of this?" "Kids, what do they know, right?" "I don't know." "You want me to work some records for you?" "Be just like the old days, you know, but this time, you call all the shots." "That's really gracious of you, Juggy." "Are you also going to allow me to choose which markets I wanna push my acts in, or do you still owe Cap Reynolds a favor for Tulsa?" "My, Mattie." "No one's supposed to know about that." "Nobody does." "About Cap..." "Never in a million years." "You don't wanna hear me out?" "Juggy, it was nice to see you." "You heard the man, he likes this." "He's not even giving him another song." "Well, Tommy Boy is going to drop him if he doesn't deliver the song, which means that he won't be able to finish the new album, which means..." "Okay, that means that we take a different approach." " With D Rome?" " With everybody, with everything." "We let Tommy Boy drop D Rome." "What?" "We're gonna let Tommy Boy drop D Rome." " And we're gonna sign him." " To what?" "Fouray Records." "Barry, we don't have the money for a label..." "I didn't have the money when I started this company." " You ever had a check that bounced?" " Actually..." "I just need a way to show him that we're all about D Rome." "You know, some way to show him that he should believe in us." "Something that Tommy Boy won't do, something that Gordy can't do, so that motherfucker stop putting shit in D Rome head." "The Ride concert." "It's tonight." "Keith Sweat is the headliner." "Maybe we can get Keith to let D Rome spit his verses on that song." "Live, in front of thousands of screaming fans." " That's insane." " That's a great idea, yeah." "That's insane, that's exactly why we need to do it." "That's perfect, that's a perfect idea." "I love it, I love it, I love it, Ms. Unreasonable." "That's great, very..." "Where you going?" "No, no-no-no." "I need you to chill out here and work on that business plan for the record label, we need it perfect." " Come on, Barry..." " Stop, I don't even wanna hear it." "Come on, come on." " Hey, what's up, D?" " What's happening, man?" "King!" "What up, man, you making love to some lucky woman on-stage tonight?" "Ha-ha, Fouray." "What's up, baby?" "I know you ain't here for a cut." "Man, no-no-no-no, come on, come on." " Stop, please, I mean..." " He's good." "Recognize me, man." "I ain't the one with sharp objects." "Keith, I need to holler at you for one second about D Rome, though, you got a hot second?" "Your boy is hot." "He killed the remix." "That's what I'm saying, so let's see if we can, like, work it out he perform with you tonight on the stage?" "Hey, that's not the blade you used last time." "Remember how you sculpted right above my ear?" "Do that again, baby, come on now." "So, what's up?" "What you think?" "I mean, I guess so." "Is it cool with Bernard?" "Bernard?" "I don't need to talk to Bernard, bring up the past, for what?" "He only really care that you headlining his show and not Sampson's show, like, for what?" "Listen, you take Anita Baker on the stage," "Y'all do "Make It Last Forever."" "Do you need Bernard's permission?" "All right, baby, you got it." "Hey, bring your man side of stage." "I'll pass him the mic before I'm done." "Aah!" "That's what's up." "We're out of credentials." "Man, my name is my pass." "All right, hey, I'll see you later, man." "I'mma go get D Rome, you go get Josie and meet me backstage." "Look, make sure that he look right and y'all are on time, you got that?" " I got it, Barry." " Good." "That'll give me some time to... to work Mattie Taylor." "Listen, Nikki, good idea." "Very, very good idea, I like that." "Shit, Barry!" "I need credentials." "Have you ever tried to do, like, a..." "like, a hook?" "What?" "You know, like, a hook, like something that goes in between everything so it doesn't sound like you just... going on and on and on?" "I mean, people like to sing along." "I ain't singing." "I know you're not singing, but just..." "You think my shit's whack?" "No, no, no, man, not at all." "Then what the fuck is it?" "You just a fucking producer?" "You don't know what the fuck you're doing?" " I know what I'm doing." " What?" "I can't hear you." "I..." "I..." "I just said" "I know what I'm..." "I know what I'm doing." "So you can make it work without the hook." "Then make it work." "95.5, the Ride." "Show some New York City pride." "Name this Brooklyn band and this old-school jam and win two tickets to the Keith Sweat's concert tonight." " Man, Sampson'll hate that." " Will he?" "Yeah, he thinks he owns that account." "Boy, I wish I could've been there when you played that record." "Let me ask you something." "You knew he'd can you, why'd you do it?" "Because I showed him research that proved he could beat you by playing hip hop, and he told me to stick to getting his coffee." "Yes?" "I need your help." "What's wrong?" "Is Deevee okay?" "No, it's nothing like that." "Barry got Keith Sweat to let D Rome perform his verse on the remix tonight, and... but they don't have any credentials, and I need to get in." "What?" " Barry got Keith Sweat..." " No-no-no, I got that, but I'm confused why you're here." " I need a credential." " Nikki... artists who are scheduled to perform can't even get passes, so..." "You don't understand, David, I need to get in." "You don't understand, I can't give out any more passes." "Okay, so just turn your head away for a sec and get us an order." "I can't do that, Nikki." "David, it's me." "I'm sorry." "You know, you're too good." "You say that like it's a bad thing." "It's not, it's sweet." " Nikki, I..." " No-no, it's okay, it's cool." "I'll see you tonight?" "Yo, yo, cut it!" "Say something." "You're just not breathing." "Like, you're not... you need to find pockets to breathe in." "Like, think of, I don't know, like, every S-word or something like that." "Or if you don't wanna do that, then we can just, you know, go line-for-line and punch in." "Punch?" "What you talking about?" "Punch in." ""Punch in" means, like, to record, like, line right after another line, like..." "Yo, we need to talk." "Yo, get the fuck out the hallway." "Bounce!" " What happened?" " Yo, Geronimo's crew called Bug over there about Kennedy's men on some wild shit." " What you mean?" " They chopped the nigga up, man, on some Freddy Krueger shit, dog." "What happened to you?" "Had to get his body off the street." "I ain't no fucking see him that way." " Go clean up." " All right." "Hey, you heard me, man?" "Nigga, move right now." "That's exactly what Bruce expecting us to do." "Push now, we gonna have half of Brooklyn on our ass." "We gotta square it with Bug's people." "No doubt." "Prep School." "Not gonna work out." "Call Scooter." "Word." "Thanks so much for this again." "Hey, no problem, we'll get you in." "Hey... put this on." "Yeah, take..." "Yeah." "Hey, Nikki." "Power up, dab some on." "Yeah, you're good." "Follow my lead." "Hey, there, Josie Cho, shooting the concert for Ebony Magazine." "This is my editor... actually, the editor of Ebony Magazine." "Ms. Monica Cole." "Look, her flight got delayed, and her luggage got lost." "The luggage containing her credentials." "Look, I don't care if you're the Margaret Thatcher, you ain't getting in here without a pass." "Wilkinson... what's your first name?" " George." " Nice to meet you, George Wilkinson." "Can you direct me to the nearest pay phone?" "Why?" "Bernard Masters is my neighbor and personal friend." "I just wanted to let him know what a fine job his security was doing." "Right this way, Miss." " He's here." " That was great." "Reminds me of sneaking in to CBGB's when I was 13." "13?" "Damn, girl, you didn't look a little young?" "Power ahead, worked then, works now." "What're you doing here?" "I told you I was coming." "Barry got you a pass." "David, meet Josie, my new friend." "Josie, meet David, he's my boyfriend." "Nice to meet you." "Nikki, I'll see you in the dressing room?" "Yeah, yeah-yeah-yeah, thanks." "So your girl got you a pass." " No." " Then who?" "Inquiring minds want to know." "Yeah, we do, it's usually pretty hard to get into a Ride concert." "But, hey, you are a hustler." "You say that like it's a bad thing." "It's not, it's, sweet." "Look," "I'll find out how you got in later, but I gotta get this stuff upstairs." "I'm feeling good about tonight, baby." "I... we making a deal, and I know..." "I know." "Mattie Taylor's around here somewhere, I can smell it." "Really?" "And what're you gonna tell Mattie Taylor when you find her?" "I'm gonna tell her the time is now to get with Fouray Records." " We about to blow up." " Prematurely." "Dude, you are like the fucking Grinch." "We are not ready to meet with Mattie." "She know I got my ear to the streets." "She might not admit it, but she know I'm what she missing." " We talking about the same Mattie Taylor?" " Yes!" "Yeah, the one and only Mattie Taylor." "That's who we're talking about, Grinch." "Look, let's just talk to her once we've got some talent locked down." " I hear you..." " And some production money." "Please, this is the only shot we get business with her." "Okay, I'm gonna make the shot count, I promise." "It's gonna count." "Hey, no doubt." "Not even a wristband." "Okay." "Mr. Keith goes on exactly 9:15, and we're closing with "Make You Sweat."" "Have you go out there at 9:55, can you do that?" " Yes." " Let me guess." " The boss loaned his lanyard." " Nope." "Yeah, well, you need an ID." "So you couldn't get in on the guest list." "And you are not the type to flirt your way in." "You posing as somebody." "Left some poor guard shook." "You could've just given me the credential." "Yeah, but where's the fun in that?" "You clearly don't need one." "See you later." "Damn it!" " Hello?" " It's me, I got your page, what's up?" "Nikki, it's you, I gotta talk to you." " Yeah, what's up, what?" " Yes, no, in person, okay?" "Um, where are you at?" "You hear this kid?" "I'm telling you, this kid is the next Michael Jackson." "Orson, you remember when you used to tell me that Little Foster Silvers was gonna be the next Michael Jackson?" "I remember when he said Jermaine Jackson would be the next Michael Jackson." "You know what, now that we're on the topic of great '70s music, Orson, you really oughta license my Bob James masters." "You got his late '70s albums, right?" "I got all the early ones." "We could put out a greatest hits CD." "A million flat." "Exactly what're you doing these days, Juggy?" "Little of this, little of that." "I'm working records for Mattie Taylor, that's what I'm doing these days." "I'm gonna call your bet." "And I'm gonna raise you a G." "Mattie hiring you, what for?" "She's got a national staff now." "She likes my personality." "I knew you were bluffing." "You cleaned me out here, I gotta get back in the game." "750K for the masters." "You didn't pay more than 500 grand for those masters." "Okay, 600,000." "That's a tidy sum for a day's work." "What else you wanna get rid of?" "Nothing." "I thought you were cashing out." "Why would you think that?" "No reason." "You got me looking like I'm going to church or something." "I'd love to got to that church." "Chill out, man, you dope." "The ladies gonna go crazy when you step on the stage." "Word up... fresh, man." "Yeah, you could definitely catch it." " For real?" " Yeah..." "I don't know, babe, got me feeling like" "I gotta sing or something." "I'm looking like a real herb right now." "You right about that." "Come on, kid, car's outside." "You ain't performing with no Keith Sweat, fuck that." "All right, next band is gonna have you in some phony rayon shirt, polka-dot pants like you Kwamé." "Hells no, let's go." "No, we ain't going nowhere but on that stage." "Our headliner was born right here in Harlem, U.S.A." "Although he's been known on the nightclub circuit for years, he made his living on Wall Street." "How's that sound?" "You wanna do it again?" "Yo, you had that security guard shook like that white girl in Rita's." "Whatever, man, where have you been?" "One of Ahm's guys picks me up last night." "I've been holed up with him." "He picked you up to do what?" "Make music." "Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome." "Bernard Masters from The Ride, New York." "As the voice of the people of New York City..." "I take great pride when one of our own takes the stage." "I love you!" "Whoo, I love you, too." "I'd've been happy to watch from the wings, but when my brother called me personally," ""and he said," Sampson," ""the beautiful ladies in the house" ""need your special type of smooth to introduce my groove,"" "I had to come out." "Ladies and gentlemen, I am honored to give you the crooner, the lover, the one that makes you feel like no other." "Give it up for Mr. Keith Sweat." " I thought Sampson worked with PPS." " He does." "That research you did for Sampson, you still got it?" "Yeah." "Meet me in my office, first thing tomorrow morning." "You're leaving?" "If I don't leave right now," "I'll kill him." "You ain't learned shit from the last time you tried to pimp this man out for some New York swing bullshit, man." " Strategies..." " Yo, yo, hold on, I found my man, D..." " You ain't find..." " You're trying to ruin this man's image..." " You found him?" " That's right, I found D." "You couldn't find your own ass if you was wearing it on your damn face." "What've you done for your man, D?" "The same shit I did for your black ass back in the day..." "You steal his money?" "You stole his money?" "I ain't steal no fucking money." "What, you got some proof?" " You're a thief!" " Damita?" " Yo, what's up?" " You tell me." "What is going on with Barry and Gordy?" "Girl, nothing, they're just business partners." "You know, they're passionate..." "Yeah, I do, cut the bullshit, Nikki." "You know I know you." "Okay, okay, but it's off-record." "The hell it is, if Barry Fouray and Gordy Charlton are fighting, that's a story." "What if I can give you an even bigger story?" " I'm listening." " Fouray is about to be a label." "I could hook you up with an interview with Barry." " That's it?" " That's a big deal." "He won't meet with just anyone." "All-access, behind the scenes." "I'll do the best I can." "Okay." "But... you gotta sing the song." "What?" "Are... you're kidding." " Come on." " Guess I have a story about Barry Fouray and Gordy Charlton." "Wait... wait, wait, wait." "I can't believe I'm doing this." "Higher." "Girl, you can do better than that." "I'm sorry." "I'd like to meet her." "I'd like that, too." "Ten minutes." "Damn." "Right?" "What's up?" "Smoke usually did this." "All right, so Bug have four corners and three years to 18." "The way I think," "Smoke started doing 19 after they knifed Disco." "16 thou." "Hold up, hold up." "Could've made it to 21." "I'm gonna pull the truck around." "RB still bores you?" "Damita!" "Damit..." "Damita Alonzo." "Yo, you look good." "You too, except for a little sleep in your eye." "I'm sorry." "I'm fucking with you." "Hah, funny, funny." "I thought I heard somebody say you were in New York." "Yeah, I'm working at the Village Voice." "No shit?" "That's dope." "I mean, we could never get you out of that hatchet office at G-Dub, so, you know." "Maybe you didn't try hard enough." "So I guess I missed my shot?" "You said it, I didn't." "Yeah, yeah, wait till I tell Bernard about your little plan." "Should've known you'd brought your ho." "You're acting like a real dick right now." "Where were you?" "You'll try anything to make me look wrong?" " Whatever." " You a sucka." "I didn't even know you was that kind of sucka..." "What are you doing?" "You're supposed to be on the side of the stage in, like, two minutes." "You hear those two?" "I could be in the studio right now." "Yo, you hear that crowd?" "You gonna let a jacket stop the guy from doing what he was put on this Earth to do?" "Hell nah, sister." "Good." "'Cause you ain't wearing that corny shit anyway." "Yes!" "Yeah, boy!" "What'd I tell you?" "What'd I tell you?" "What'd I tell you?" "I told you, I told you, I told you." "You killed it." "Thank you so much, New York, I love you." "It's good to be home." "Keith, that's what's up, man, word." "Hey, good-lookin', Keith." "Y'all taking my man?" "Y'all taking my man?" "You good, I'mma see you at Rita's." "I'm gonna host a concert for one of my artists, all you have to do is call." "Well, here I am." "Ringing in your ear." "How about the Tonys, Labor Day Weekend?" "How about the Garden?" "Barry's personal assistant." "Haha, hey now, don't worry." "I'm a gentleman, even when being face to face" " with a Judas..." "Security!" " Hey, stop." "Hey!" "She don't even have credentials." " Get her up outta here." " Time to go, let's go, come on." "Hey!" "She's with me." "With you, Ms. Taylor?" "D Rome." "That was a nice touch." " What's your name?" " Nikki Jones." "Mattie Taylor." "Would you like to join me for a cocktail?" "So, what is it that you wanna do, Nikki?" "I wanna be in AR." "Really, that's surprising." "Mattie Taylor, it's very nice to see you here." "And I see that you met my slave." "Good to see you too, Barry." "Listen, I wonder if me and you could build on distribution for my new label." "Right, hip hop." "Yeah, of course, what else?" " What you got?" " I got what you need to get on board for distribution." "All right, call my office on Monday, we'll schedule something." "That's great, I'll set it up, let's go." " Come on, come on." " Barry." "I need to use the ladies' room, can I just meet you downstairs?" "No... no-no, meet us at Rita's." " We out of here." " Got it." "Ms. Taylor." "It's Mattie." "Mattie." "About AR, what was so surprising about that?" "I don't know, just something about you." "I don't get the sense that you're the type to aim for the middle." "I'm not." "Hip hop is gonna take over the music business." "Fouray Records is gonna be a force." "Loyal, aren't you?" "I try to be." "That's good." "It'll carry you far." "As long as you have the right partners." "Donald, meet Nikki Jones." "It's nice to meet you." "Man, you gonna do it?" "Hey." "Yo, we're here about Bug." "This is for you." "I'm sorry about your loss." "Okay, cool your jets, Batman." "I'm bad at that." "When'd you get home?" "Just a minute ago." "What're you doing down here?" "I'm..." "I'mma clean up." "What you know about Banks and Hampton?" "Baby Phee." "Boy, you don't know nothing about no Jack Ashford." "Man, this takes me back." "You know, we used to be up on Marcy Av, blazing." "They had a little hole in the wall, right under the train." "All the fine women." "That sounds dope." "Yeah, it was that same club, matter of fact, when I was dancing with this fine, young lady." "What was her name?" "Don't make me lie." "But I do remember her boyfriend's name." " Reggie." " Reggie?" "Reggie." "Yeah, man, that was... that was the first time I ever saw a gun." "And it was pointed right at my face." "What..." "What happened?" " What happened?" " I got shot at." " What?" "!" " Yeah." "Bullet missed me by less than an inch." "Hit the wall behind me." "And all I could think about was you." "Me?" "When was this?" "A couple of months after you were born." "Your mother was already gone." "You could barely lift that big-ass head of yours." "And you... were gonna need your daddy." "Look, son, I get it." "You wanna be young, do the music and all that." "But you can't do nothing if you're dead." "Junior... go down south." "Got to your Aunt Adona's house." "Couldn't find you after the show." "Did you get my page?" "You know, you shouldn't take the train back this late at night by yourself." "I took a car." "Okay." "Why are the lights off?" "I need to talk to you." "With the lights off?" "I wanted to see what it felt like." "To sit in the dark?" "To be you." "Sitting here alone, waiting for me to come home so you could ask me about something or something I did or said that you don't think is right." "What're we talking about, Nikki?" "Juggy wasn't home yesterday." "I know." "You know?" "Which means you called him at his office phone." "Which begs the question, how did you get his office number?" "And you're not gonna ask?" "No." "If I ask, you're gonna think that I didn't believe you when you assured me that you hadn't told Juggy that Sampson fired me." "You're also probably gonna think that" "I concocted some theory that you actually had talked to Juggy, that you actually had told him Sampson fired me, and that he then gave you his number so you guys could talk without me finding out about it." "Some theory." "The truth is, he's listed." "You probably just... looked him up in the phone book." "Look, I know that we're different." "You bend the rules a little." "I write 'em." "I hate my father." "You admire him." "And yeah, there is a part of me that is worried that there is a part of you that is like him." "But you're not, I know you're not." "You would've told me if you were." "I might be more like him than you realize." "So, then... you are." "I'm not judging you anymore, Nikki, I love you." "I can't change that." "I love you, too." "Now, when you're ready," "I am prepared to pretend we had the loudest, longest, nastiest fight we have ever had." "Okay?" "But before then," "I need to take a shower." "I am so funky, I swear... staff at Ride has taken some kind of revenge on my white ass... they're working me like a dog." "Wait." "I'm sorry, David." "But I need you to put your shirt back on."