Trapped in Dodge City, a drug-infested war zone in southeast Washington, D.C., Ray Joshua, gifted young MC, copes with the despair and poverty of his neighborhood by using his wits and verbal talent. One day he is arrested when his drug dealer is gunned down while talking to him. He is put to prison where two rival gangs, Thug Life and the Union, want to recruit him as a member. In jail he finds truth in himself and his craft through Lauren Bell, a beautiful and charismatic writing teacher who leads him to the path of salvation. Using his talent for poetic rap, Ray learns to survive and rise above the pain of his lost generation.