HOW WE GOT ON
August 2013 Draft
By
Idris Goodwin
Sample-EXCERPT
Time: 1988
Offstage Setting: Suburban, Midwest America—maybe Michigan, Indiana or Ohio
Onstage Setting: A DJ booth with a mic, an easel, a few pieces to suggest locations
The Studio:
In the present, Selector speaking to the “listeners” (the
audience) from a microphone
Scene:
A moment from the past, performed as if it’s happening now – a fourth
wall moment
Dads: the remix:
Hank and Julian talking with their father’s voices (provided by the
selector) This is a hyper-reality in which scenes are cross faded together.
In Concert:
Any time Hank, Julian or Luann, perform their raps. This is a
manifestation of how they feel/ what they imagine.
CHARACTERS (4)
_______
HANK: 15, black boy
JULIAN: 15, bi/poly racial boy
LUANN: 15, black girl
How they sound?
Their speaking voices differ from those they adopt when they rap. Their rap voices
should reflect the ‘88 east coast sounds but with a suburban tinge. Hank idolizes Big
Daddy Kane, Luann idolizes MC Lyte, Julian can sound like anyone.
SELECTOR: Female, a woman of color (Black, Latina, Arab, Asian, or poly/multi
ethnic) with a voice for underground radio.
Age is not as important as the voice. She could be as young as 21 or as old as 60. She
must command and sustain---Her voice is magnetic, there is a hive of honey bees in her
throat, a rhythmic bounce. She speaks to the audience, to the characters—she controls
this world.
She provides narration, tangential information, and plays a variety of music from a record
player. Selector will also provide the voices of off stage characters referenced throughout
like Hank and Julian’s fathers, the coach, the battle of the bands host, the contest
spokesman, various teenagers, etc.
Concerning the repetition: Lines that repeat should be performed with the same
inflection and tone each time – these are not characters repeating the same lines because
other characters are not understanding them, these lines are being spun back and
replayed, spun back and replayed, spun back and replayed, spun back, spun back, spun,
spun, spun and replayed by Selector.
Words that Echo: Either manipulated by the sound designer or created by the actor on
page look like this (this this this this—)
_______
How they look?
Hank and Julian could have high top fades. However, the height of these fades should
never reach Christopher “Kid” Reid absurdity. No wigs either. (Trust me, you’ll thank me
later.) Julian probably has three cuts in one of his eye brows. Fashion wise - T shirts and
Tank tops with Nike Swooshes, Adidas, Detroit Pistons, Chicago Bulls, Cleveland Cavs
are also likely. Izod and Rugby shirts. High top sneakers, Julian probably has the first
edition Air Jordans, Hank most likely has a generic rip off. Baseball caps with the lids
flipped up. Julian always looks maybe 10 degrees hipper than Hank.
Luann dresses much more conservatively and modest. She should look like the last
person to ever listen to rap music, let alone create it.
_________
(Lights up on Selector in her studio.
She is drinking something colorful,
dressed comfortably.
She wears headphones. She puts
a record on. We hear Sufferer’s Dub
by the Upsetters.
Selector speaks into the mic to us her listeners for the evening.)
SELECTOR
Listeners. Tonight I bring you tones
Grooves, friction. Vibes and Vibrations off the wax melted.
Mother and father. Yin, yang. The Dub side.
Yeah. I bring you tones.
The flip to the A - I bring you the B side
I’ll be toasting.
I’ll be selecting.
The Waves. Steerin’ the wheel.
Welcome
I am Selector (Selector Selector Selector Selector--)
(the music plays)
SELECTOR
Perhaps you are here to take a little trip through memory
Maybe you “remember when”
Well, “remember whens”
-and there is nothing wrong with that
the wax artifact is memory – tangible
and here we use these wax artifacts
to take us back one time
Perhaps some of you are lost
thought you’d signed up - different
Well, there are no intermissions
so time to plug in
your open mind
(the music plays)
What I’m doin’ right now called--toasting
you know, riffin’
signifyin’
representing who I be over the groove
art of toasting blew life into Hip Hop
and Hip Hop spared a rib
to mold rap – which is the voice
Hip Hop is the body
toasting is the spirit
but I digress
We going back to ‘88, ya’ll (ya’ll ya’ll ya’ll ya’ll --)
Hip Hop culture is 15 years old.
Rap music--younger--but it’s on the move
Now, this is not an uptown boogie down story
about the urban loins from which Hip Hop was squeezed
and no doubt
that story is beautiful
But tonight’s selection brings us to The Hill
Somewhere round Motown, just up from Chitown,
not far from Ohio, but not quite Indiana
the middle, the land in between, America’s bread basket.
there are no b-boys, DJs or taggers
but best believe
Hip Hop lived in The Hill
The summer of ’88.
the premiere of YO! (YO! YO! YO! YO!) MTV Raps
(Selector holds an unlabeled record
in her hand.)
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SELECTOR
We gonna start things off with Henry Charles. Fifteen. Or as he calls himself:
John Henry. Freshman. Or as he is called by everyone else: Hank!
(She puts the record on.)
(We hear:)
VOICE OF HANK
What up! Yeah, this the microphone Mafioso comin’ straight
out The Hill. Got that new album coming real soon. Dope lyrics, fresh beats-Yeah!
(This pre-recorded Hank
crossfades into the actual Hank
onstage talking into a cheap mic
attached to the back of his
boombox.)
HANK
(trying his best to sound authentic)
Glad to finally be on YO MTV Raps! I watch it all the time. I know usually you
got rappers from New York and Compton, but I do my thing too. I mean, I got the
skills to pay the bills – I’m fresher than anybody. Where I come from doesn’t
matter! It’s about how I get busy on the mic. That’s all that matter, right?
SELECTOR
Yes and No.
No but yes.
For Henry Charles and others like him.
In the land in between. In the middle.
Nowhere.
It was born in the mall. Station. Station. Station. Born on the radio.
Born by TV. Born in the mouth. Word of…that is.
HANK
(his real voice slowly revealing itself)
My parents’ music is all R&B, “Baby come close! Let me do this! Why you leave
me? Why won’t you come back?” Sometimes that’s how you feel. I guess.
Sometimes you feel like:
Awwwwww
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No rapper can rap
quite like I can
I’ll take a muscle bound man
and put his face in the sand
Because everybody, well, most people in real life. They take an “L”. Rich People.
Poor. Handsome people. Ugly. Citizens. Immigrants. Everybody takes a loss. But
in a rap song – you’re the winner, even if you’re small, you’re fat, even if you’re
black and you live in the hill.
SELECTOR
Hank – Henry Charles lives 35 miles outside The Urban Epicenter, we call
The City (City. City. City. City)
Henry Charles and his family were part of that first wave of African Americans
who left the City during Ronald Reagan’s first term.
HANK
No. Not a lot of black kids in The Hill. I stand out, sure. But not just ‘cuz of that.
Because I can rap. Oh yeah, they like rap out here, sure.
Not really though. As a joke I think. Even the other black kids say it’s ghetto.
They’re all so stuck up. Everybody out here listens to like Rick Astley, INXS,
Debbie Gibson.
But they know. Even if they don’t like rap, they love rap. Or at least they will.
Everybody will.
Anybody else?
There is NO competition. All the real good MCs live back in the City. But as far
as The Hill. I am the fresh prince.
SELECTOR
or is he?
during the second wave – As Bush Sr. readied his campaign posters
came another crop of the upwardly mobile.
So as Hank-Henry Charles boasts into his boom-box about being
the best and ONLY MC in the Hill
Just down the road at a different school there was another
4
(Selector holds up another unlabeled
record and puts it on the plate.)
VOICE OF JULIAN
The rhyme villain. The lyrical criminal. The smooth soul technician.
HANK
Oh, yeah –I heard of him.
VOICE OF JULIAN
I go by Vic Vicious! See, I’m part Latino.
(Pre-recorded Julian fades into
actual Julian onstage, gesturing
and posturing to an unseen listener.)
JULIAN
Julian Mark Hayes doesn’t sound very, you know, so I thought a name like Vic
was more, you know? Plus it’s kinda sharp. Like a blade. Not trying to stereotype
that Latinos carry knives or whatever. Anyway, I’m flipping it. I’m sharp with the
rhymes. Cut you…lyrically.
HANK
Some of the kids from school said a couple things about him.
SELECTOR
(as a teen)
He’s real good and I don’t even like rap.
HANK
Little rumors. Probably not true.
SELECTOR
(teen)
I heard Vic Vicious had a record deal back when he lived in The City.
JULIAN
The Vicious is like the old school. Everybody was treacherous, furious…Vic
Vicious. Somebody might get hurt.
HANK
It’s cool. There can be two rappin’ dudes in The Hill.
SELECTOR
5
(teen)
I heard he’s LL Cool J’s cousin.
HANK
It’s cool. There can be two rappin’ dudes in The Hill.
SELECTOR
(teen)
Oh, I heard-HANK
There can’t be two rappin dudes in the hill! Yo! Tomorrow I’m gonna send
word: “Vic Vicious, I want to square off!” (pause) You know, verbally.
SELECTOR
The battle was set.
First Friday of that December.
parking lot of the new mall on Fischer road.
noon.
HANK
What’s my---What—what—what’s my strategy? Everything I listen to right now,
most of it anyway, is a battle rap. Or about a girl. Sometimes it’s about Africa.
But usually, “I’m this. I’m that. You’re not.” A good battle rap has something
personal, specific, about the opponent like, “Your shoes are wack or your rhymes
are wack or your family is wack or you….you’re just wack”…but, you
know…even more specific.
So you gotta do research – that’s what my dad always says, not about battle rap,
but whenever I have to do a paper or something. He always says,
SELECTOR
(as Hank’s Dad)
There--There--ThereThere is a science to everything.
HANK
So I start to do my research on this Vic Vicious guy. Realize. I met this dude
before.
SELECTOR
In 1988--if you are in The Hill or The City--you want to be Michael Jordan.
HANK
6
Summer before we started our different high schools, we’re at the same basketball
camp.
SELECTOR
Basketball camp!
(Shift--Hank and Julian in scene--they are
side-by-side, doing defensive slides.)
JULIAN
These kids can’t ball
HANK
The same basketball camp.
JULIAN
These kids can’t ball
HANK
The same basketball camp.
SELECTOR
Basketball camp!
JULIAN
These kids can’t ball
HANK
The same basketball camp.
JULIAN
These kids can’t ball
HANK
We’re at the same basketball camp.
JULIAN
These kids can’t ball
SELECTOR
Basketball camp!
HANK
Huh.
7
JULIAN
Yeah, man. They suck.
(They move silently for a moment.)
HANK
I really don’t even like basketball.
JULIAN
Your D is alright.
HANK
Thanks.
JULIAN
Can’t shoot for shit.
(they move)
JULIAN
Bunch of rich punks. Everybody has new shoes on.
(beat)
JULIAN
Just cuz you got on new Jordans don’t make you Jordan.
(peers down)
HANK
Those Reeboks you got on look pretty new.
JULIAN
I like Reeboks.
(beat)
JULIAN
In my old neighborhood, these guys would be…man, they’d be crying.
HANK
Where are you from?
JULIAN
8
City.
HANK
Me too.
JULIAN
What side?
HANK
North, you?
JULIAN
West.
(they keep going)
JULIAN
You don’t like ball. What do you do then?
HANK
Rap.
JULIAN
Oh yeah?
HANK
You like rap too?
(Julian stops shuffling. Hank stops as
well.)
JULIAN
Yo, check this out…
SELECTOR
(as the coach)
Guys! Did I blow my whistle?! Hustle! Hustle! Hustle!
(Shift--Hank with the boombox)
HANK
Coach took him off the blue team and put him on the red team So we didn’t really
talk again after that. But now—I’m gonna do more than just talk. I’m gonna --What?
9
First battle? Where’d you get that from? You gotta check your sources. No, no,
no, I been in a million battles. I’ve never been taken out. First battle.
SELECTOR
And now for something completely funky
(Selector puts on Pungee by The Meters)
SELECTOR
(Over Pungee)
Battle rhymes.
When you start—drop a lot of popular nouns – words people will know but be
surprised to hear – they’ll be like
Oooooohhhh snap!!
say the other guy is not actually a guy at all
say you got intimate with his mother. Or his sister
Use techniques like metaphor
HANK
If rap was a shoe, you’d be a sandal
SELECTOR
simile
HANK
Black and heavy, just like an anvil
SELECTOR
hyperbole
HANK
Ice Mr. Freeze MCs to a Standstill
SELECTOR
alliteration
HANK
compete with this casual
confident cool kid
you get cancelled
SELECTOR
never ever cry. No crying. Ever.
10
(Pungee fades out)
HANK
First battle? Where’d you get that from? You gotta check your sources. No, no,
no, I been in a million battles. I’ve never been taken out.
First battle.
SELECTOR
Not that it isn’t obvious--painfully
but the battle
first friday of that December
parking lot
new mall on Fischer road
noon
was Hank’s first battle
not counting of course the times he’d
verbally demolished his flip side
in the mirror
It would be his first and last
(Hank speaking into the boombox)
HANK
So I guess you wanna know what happened?
The parking lot of the new mall on Fischer road was packed--even some of the
stuck-up black kids who say rap is ghetto. I never knew so many people liked
rap.
I got there before him. He came like fifteen minutes late. He had on the new
Jordans. He was actin’ like he didn’t remember me from basketball camp. I
caught him eyeballing my bike. Which is nice, but his is even nicer. So I start
thinking:
I am gonna crush this kid, lyrically, and take his bike as my prize.
(Shift--Julian and Hank in scene,
preparing to battle!)
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JULIAN
You go first.
HANK
No. You.
JULIAN
No. We’re closer to my high school. So you’re a guest in my kingdom. You go
first.
HANK
I moved here before you. You’re a guest in my kingdom. You go first.
(Shift – Selector in studio)
SELECTOR
In a battle a rapper should go second
the memory of the first can get hazy
second rapper can flip what first rapper said
flat on its back
Bend the lines into daggers
strike the audience
make ‘em say
“Oooooohhhh snap!!”
(Shift – Julian in scene)
JULIAN
Don’t cry. I’ll go first.
(Hank at the boombox)
HANK
And off he went. He didn’t say anything about how bad I was at basketball last
summer. Nothing about my shoes. And they were lookin’ busted. He was just
rippin’ it. Line after line--crystal clean like a recording. On top of that…he looked
very cool the whole time--like it ain’t no thing. My mouth was like (opens mouth)
when he drops the last line. The crowd, even the stuck-up black kids who say rap
is ghetto--they erupt!
Now, most people would be like, “How am I supposed to follow that?” But I
thought: Yo, my verse is solid.
12
(Shift–Hank in scene)
HANK
(a little flat, not fully confident)
“Ain’t nuthin’ Vicious bout this villain
his vowels ain’t vibrant
his vocals don’t hit
he’s softer than violets
I break him apart
Resort to violence
Show up at his funeral
Black clothes
And violins”
SELECTOR
(the crowd)
Boooooooooooo. Boooooooooooo.
(Shift–Hank into the boombox)
HANK
I kept on. I was gonna say my rap. They couldn’t hear me.
They were already patting Vic on the back. Even people from my own school!
And then he took off on my bike!
(Shift—Dads: the remix)
SELECTOR
(as Hank’s Dad)
A loss---A loss---A loss—loss---loss
A loss is an opportunity. It will take you twice as long to walk to school then to
bike, therefore, you have twice as much time to reflect on what went wrong.
HANK
It’s rap, Dad, not science.
SELECTOR
(Hank’s Dad)
It’s not the end of the world.
HANK
I’m supposed to be the rapper. And now he’s the rapper.
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