The Hip Hop Express.

Earl is sitting in a seat on a train with his head down and his eyes closed in a deep sleep. He is suddenly startled awake by the sound of Gangsta Rap pioneer, Ice T's voice playing on the train's intercom. "Six in the mornin' police at my door, fresh Adidas squeakin cross' my bathroom floor. Out my back window I make my escape, didn't even get chance to grab my old school tape". The song being played on the intercom is "6 in the Morning" by Ice-T. As the song continues to play, Earl is slowly coming to and looks around to find three other young men also just waking up from a deep sleep. Two of them are sitting across from him, while the third young man is sitting right next to him.

As the four young men fully regain consciousness they realize that they are all strapped to the seats of the train like a rollercoaster, only able to move around their arms and legs and are unable to get up and remove themselves from their seats. Sitting across from Earl was a young man with a shirt on that had the phrase "Hit Squad" printed across its center. "Oh man, where am I?” asked the boy in the Hit Squad shirt. "A better question is where am I?" asked the boy sitting across from him wearing a shirt that had the words "2pacalypse" printed across its center. "It looks like we're on a moving train in the middle of I don't know where." said Earl as they were all becoming aware of each other. "Who are you guys?" Earl asked the others. “Well, I’m Andre.” Said the young man sitting to the left of the guy wearing the Hit Squad shirt. Earl noticed that Andre was wearing a shirt that said “Ruthless” printed across its center. “I’m Lesane.” Said the young man with the “2pacalypse” shirt on sitting across from Andre and next to Earl. “Since we’re gettin’ on first name basis, I’m Kevin.” Said the young man sitting across from Earl with the Hit Squad shirt on. “How bout you?” Kevin asked Earl. “I’m Earl. Does anyone know where we are or how we got here?”. “I ain’t got the slightest clue!” Lesane replied. “I also don’t know how I ended up in this black shirt with “2pacalypse” written on it.” “Mine says “Hit Squad” said Kevin. “Mine says “Ruthless” replied Andre in a confused tone. Noticing the words on everyone else’s shirts, Earl looked down and noticed the writing on his own shirt as well. The words printed across the center of his shirt said “Undisputed”. “I don’t remember getting this shirt.” said Earl to the rest of the group. “I think we all don’t remember getting these shirts. It also looks like we’re on a fast moving train to God knows where.” said Earl in a confused tone.

Everyone looked up at the windows across from where they were seated and saw the sight of wooded areas and lake water rapid flowing past their view. “Well we know we’re on a train!” Said Earl. “But the question is how did we end up here and why can’t any of us remember how we got here?” “Another good question is why are we here?” Lesane asked. Down the aisle of the train hung a tv screen from atop the ceiling. The tv suddenly turned on to reveal a man with a suit and tie on wearing a ghost face mask from the film Scream. The four men quickly turned their attention to the now turned on screen with vivid fixation.

“Hello” said the man on the screen in the ghost face mask. “Welcome to the Hip Hop Express. My name is- well we won’t worry about that part. The important part is who you are and your names are Lesane, Kevin, Andre and Earl. Gentlemen I have brought you all here for the chance of a lifetime.” “What chance is that and how do you know us?” Asked Andre inquisitively. “I’ve been watching you all for sometime, my boy. I’ve been keeping an eye on you all at the clubs and concerts you perform your music at and by the way, this is a chance to win 5,000 dollars by testing your knowledge of Hip Hop lyrics.” Said the man in a gleeful voice. “Why did you go through all this trouble just to get us here and why do you have us restrained?” Asked an angry Lesane. “Well Lesane, that’s because this isn’t just a game of a great cash prize, but also a game of death. If you win you get the money, if you lose you will be ejected from the train into mid air where you will fall to certain death.” said the man in a cheerful tone.

The four young men all looked at each other with concerned looks of confusion, unsure as to whether or not this stunt was a prank or if they were really in danger. “Now gentleman I am well aware that you all aspiring rappers yourselves and have a keen knowledge of artist associated with the names on your shirts. So I’ll be playing you the beat of a song from the artist associated with the quotes on your shirt. Your job will be to sing the lyrics of the verse right. If you get all the lyrics right you win your money and you get to live. If you get the lyrics wrong you will be ejected from the train to certain death.” The four young men looked out the window and noticed their train was high up on a cliff traveling over a lake and wooded area and they were aware that if they were ejected from the train they would fall to certain death.

“This can’t be real!” said Kevin looking back at the Screen up above. “Oh but it is real dear Kevin!” said the man in a menacing tone. “It’s so real that you Kevin get to go first. Your song will be “Spellbound” from K-Solo. You should know this one very well because you’re a big fan of the Hit Squad, the group under EPMD which K-Solo started with. I’ll give you a few moments to prepare yourself and then I’ll play the beat. Best get ready, we wouldn’t want to miss a word.”

The screen quickly cut off and the four young men briefly sat puzzled in silence. “This has to be a joke.” chuckled Kevin. “We won’t know that for sure until he comes back on, how well do you know “Spellbound” Kevin?” Earl asked. “I mean, I think I know it all for the most part. “If this is real you better know it all, because we don’t know what’s gonna happen if you get it wrong.” said Lesane in a concerned tone. The screen above them quickly came back on and the man reappeared on the screen, this time he was wearing a mask that resembled the face of William Shatner from the slasher film Halloween. “Kevin my boy.” the man said in a cheerful tone. “It’s your moment of reckoning. I’m gonna play the beat and all you have to do is recite the first verse. If you rap it correctly you get your five thousand, if you get it wrong you’ll be meeting Bizzy, Krayzie, Layzie, Wish and Flesh at the crossroads. Here we go.” From a speaker just above their heads the instrumental to K-Solo’s “Spellbound” began playing and the four young men slowly started to nod their heads along. As the beat continued Kevin started to recite the first verse: “K what I’m about to say may hit a lot of people in a real strange way. Some said I should’ve said this a long time ago but I stayed amateur while others turn pro-“.

Before Kevin could finish reciting the lyrics the instrumental to the song cut off and the man in the Halloween mask came back on the screen above. “Ooohhh no, dear Kev!” The man said with false disappointment. “You missed a lyric. Instead of saying “some said I should’ve spelled” you said “some said I should’ve said”. Sorry K-Solo, but that’s a disqualification and an automatic ejection from the Hip Hop Express. As the screen quickly turned off, Earl, Andre and Lesane turned their attention to a frightened Kevin. "This is a joke right?" Kevin uttered in a shaken voice. As they all stared at each other in silence the train suddenly started to speed up and the lights on the train started to flicker on and off. "WHATS HAPPENING?" Kevin screamed. As the speed of the train increased, a part of the roof over Kevin's seat suddenly opened up and Kevin's seat started to shake rapidly from side to side. "AAAHHHHHH!!!!!" Kevin screamed as the seat shot him out of the hole of the roof of the train and into mid air. "NOOOOO!" screamed Andre and Lesane looking back at Kevin's body in the mid air distance. "Oh god, this is real." said Earl in a frightened tone.

"We have to get out of here or we're all gonna die." said Lesane in a shaken tone. "There is no way out." Andre replied. "The only way we're gonna get outta here is if we sing the right lyrics to whatever song Mr. No Name gives us." The screen turned back on and revealed the man now wearing a hockey mask that resembled Jason Voorhees's mask from the Friday the 13th films. "Welcome back gentlemen." the man said in a cheerful tone. "It's too bad we had to eliminate poor Kevin, it never is easy terminating a contestant with so much potential, but anyway, on to the next. Next up on center stage is Dr. Dre, aka Andre and Dre my boy, your song will be "Express Yourself" from NWA. A true Dr. Dre fan such as yourself should get this right, remember, all you have to do is get the first verse and you're good. I'll give you a few moments to prepare yourself, be back in a sec". As the screen cut off, Andre, Lesane and Earl were left in shock with their hearts racing in symphony together as the train gradually reduced its speed.

"We only got a few moments before no-name gets back up on screen and makes Andre go next." said Lesane hastily. "Andre how well do you know NWA's music?" Earl asked. "I know enough to get by on!" said Andre with a tone of uncertainty. "What's enough to get by on?" asked a concerned Lesane. Andre took a brief pause before he answered. "Well I do know "Express Yourself" but it's not exactly my top favorite NWA song. I know for a sure fact I know atleast the first verse by heart." "Then we better pray thats the verse he gives you to sing." said Earl with a hint of encouragement. Once again the screen came back on and this time the man in a suit was wearing a clown mask similar to the character Pennywise from Stephen King's It. "Hello again gentleman, Andre my boy I hope you brought your street knowledge with you because it's time to use it to express yourself, pun intended." the man said as he laughed menacingly.

"Now Andre I'm gonna drop the beat and when I do all you have to sing is the first verse." "Ok" Andre responded nervously. The instrumentals to "Express Yourself" from NWA began to play and as Earl and Lesane sat anxious and quiet, Andre began to sing along: "I'm expressing with my full capabilities , and now I'm living in correctional facilities , cuz some don't agree with how I do this , I get straight and meditate like a Buddhist . I'm dropping favor, my behavior is hereditary, but my technique is very necessary-". Before Andre could continue the man in the mask cut the beat. "NO!!!" screamed a shaken Earl. "He was singin' it right, he was doin good." "Earl my boy!" the man said." He did not. Instead of saying "dropping flavor", our boy Andre said "dropping FAVOR". "SO WHAT???" Andre shouted. "I was one letter off, you can't penalize me for that, you know I had the right idea". "Sorry Andre my boy!" the man chuckled sarcastically, "Right ideas are not a suitable hand on this card table, see you around buddy".

As the screen cut off Andre desperately struggled to see if he could undo his seat. The train once again started speeding up as the three men started panicking in fear. "NO...NO...NO!!!!" Earl and Lesane screamed. "OH GOD HELP ME!!!" Andre screamed as the section of the train's roof opened above his head and his seat started shaking back and forth. "AAAAHHHHH" Andre screamed in terror as his seat shot him through the opening of the roof and into mid air, while the screaming of his voice grew faint in the distance. Earl and Lesane sat silently in shock, at a loss for words and overcome with agonizing hopelessness. Lesane looked to his left at Earl with horror on his face and his eyes nearly tearful as the train started slowing down again. Earl who was sitting with his head down staring at the floor of the train in misery finally looked up and acknowledged Lesane as well. "We're not gonna make it are we?" Earl asked Lesane in a hopeless tone. "YES!!!" said Lesane adamantly. "We are gonna make it. We just have to do our best and keep going. We can do this, Earl. We're Hip Hop heads, this is what we know best."

The spirit of fear and hopelessness that Earl and Lesane felt had now been replaced by a feeling of determination. ''Let's do this!" said Earl with conviction. Lesane stuck his left fist out towards Earl who bumped it with reassurance. "Aight Earl, I think he's gonna pick me first, but regardless of what happens to me, I need you to be ready for when he gets to you, got me?". "I got you!" Earl replied. The screen once again turned back on, this time revealing the man to be wearing the mask of Leatherface from the Texas Chainsaw Massacre films. "And then there were two, this train has gotten mighty empty." he said sarcastically to Earl and Lesane. "Lesane my boy, your time has come. Your song will be "If My Homie Calls" from your favorite rapper, Tupac Shakur. You know the rules, recite the first verse correctly and all life is yours. I'll give you a moment to get ready." As the screen cut off Lesane started anxiously preparing himself. "You got this one?" Earl asked. "Yes." Lesane replied. "Pac is my dude and that joint is one of my favorites." "Ok." said Earl with a slight sense of relief. "Like Pac said, hit em up, Lesane". "Let's ride." said Lesane with confidence.

The screen cut back on to show the man still standing there with his Leatherface mask on. "Alright Lesane my boy, it's your time to shine." he said with glee. "Drop the beat!" said Lesane with confidence. The instrumentals to "If My Homie Calls" from 2pac started to play and Lesane started reciting the lyrics of the first verse: "Ever since you was a pee-wee, down by my knee with a wee-wee , we been coochy-coo all through school, you and me, G . Back in the days we played practical jokes on . Everybody smoked with they yokes and they locs on . All through high school, girls by the dozens . Saying we cousins, knowing that we wasn't , but like the old saying goes: time goes on and everybody grows-". The beat suddenly cut off and a burning strike of fear ran through both Earl and Lesane as they silently stared at each other. "Lesane my boy." the man said. "You almost had it, but instead of saying "Everybody smoked with they locs and they yokes on" you said everybody smoked with they YOKES and they LOCS on". "The words were in the wrong place buddy boy and you know what that means."

The screen cut off and the train started to speed up. A fearful Earl was fixing to say something, but before he could, Lesane cut him off. "Earl I know what you want to do, but don't do it. All that's left now is you. Whoever this clown is, you can't let him win. Use your knowledge to redeem me, Andre and Kevin, you got me". With tearful eyes, Earl responded with a hint of hope in his voice. "I got you Lesane.'' As Lesane shook his head, part of the train's roof above his head opened up, the train peaked in speed, Lesane's seat started to shake back and forth just like the others before him and as he and Earl looked each other in the eyes one last time, Lesane was shot into mid air. No screams would follow Lesane's ejection, just silence as Earl was now the last one left.

Every ounce of fear that Earl had previously felt had now left him. He was now engulfed with a competitive determination to win his round. He felt he it owed to the everyone else who did not survive to win. There was no one else for him to ruminate over the losses with, all he could hear was the sound of the train, all he could feel was the shaking of his seat from the train’s speed, with the endless scenery of trees and water that was below him outside of the windows of the train. “I’m gonna win my round!” Earl told himself. “I have to win, I’m not gonna die here.” The screen finally came back on and the man reappeared. This time he wasn’t wearing a mask, he was just wearing a white bandana with a small collage of deceased rappers including: Tupac, Biggie, Eazy-E, and DMX among others tied around the lower part of his face. “Well Earl my boy, however this ends is all on you. I’m aware that one of your favorite rappers is the late great DMX. The song I’m gonna give you is actually a forgotten gem that X was featured on. The song is “Most High” by Jerzee Monet featuring DMX. All you have to do is sing his verse. I’ll give you a moment to prepare yourself.”

Earl sat in a calm silence thinking about the song. “Wow.” He said to himself. “This song really is underrated. It had such a great sound and message that enough people didn’t pay attention to, it was part of what made X so captivating. The irony is I really am most high up on this train on a date with destiny.” he laughed. “I think I’m ready now.” he said with confidence. Earl sat anxiously waiting for the man to pop back up on the screen, but instead he was greeted by the instrumentals of the song “Most High” by Jerzee Monet featuring DMX. He didn’t hear or see the man, all he heard was the instrumental of the song. After waiting quietly for a quick second he mustered up the courage to sing the verse of DMX: "I only walk in the dirt, but my steps are guided and no matter how dark my path gets, I light it. I ain't never been ashamed of the pain, can't hide it , yet da road was rough but I decided to ride it. Step carefully, wit half of me walk wrecklessly , that's just an X in me, cats gettin' popped like ecstasy . Yo money jus sounds just like you, oh you just an extra me . Give or let me fly or gimme death , words that I try to say with my last breath . And if my last breath ain't long I thank the lord for my life, that way my last breath ain't wrong. You not keepin money with the hood right there . You don't really wanna go right there . You gonna get left right there . You be takin your last breath right there."

Earl completed the verse with a sense of relief. All he could think about was how every second he kept expecting the music to cut off and the man on the screen reappearing to tell him he was disqualified, but the moment never came. The instrumental to the song gradually started cut off, not like the abrupt stops he heard during the previous three rounds. For a brief moment all Earl could hear was the sound of the train in which he was riding. The train then began to speed up in an erratic manner like it had done three times before, only there was no shaking in Earl's seat. He looked out the window to his left to see that the train was now approaching a dark tunnel. As the train got closer and closer to the tunnel Earl's heart started to race. When the train finally entered the tunnel it gradually began to slow down, eventually coming to an abrupt stop.

The screen above finally came back on and revealed a man who was not wearing a mask or any type of facial covering, but simply a natural face. "Congratulations Earl my boy. You've won the challenge. You got all the words right and didn't miss a letter. Way to go you Hip Hop head." The screen then faded to black. After the screen cut off the restraints of Earl's seat automatically removed itself from around him. From above Earl's seat a small opening appeared and out of this opening fell an envelope into Earl's lap. He picked up the envelope to inspect it and what he found was a big stack of 100 dollar bills, he knew it was his 5000 dollar prize money. Earl then quickly got out of his seat and made his way to the train door which opened itself automatically for him as he ran out of the train.

Earl stepped out of the train and into what looked like an empty subway station that was mostly dark with just one light on a pole next to him barely glaring. "I can't believe I made it out!" he said to himself. Earl then looked to his right and saw a small stairwell that looked like it led up top to the outdoors. As he began to make his way to the stairs the train behind him that had just put him through his traumatic ordeal departed itself off into the night as he looked back in the distance. As Earl started walking up the stairs and out of the subway he started hearing music and a crowd. When he made it to the top of the stairs and out of the subway, what he saw was a giant audience of people cheering on the streets of Times Square in New York City while rapper Ice-T was on stage performing his Gangsta rap classic "6 in the Mornin". ""Six in the mornin' police at my door, fresh Adidas squeakin cross' my bathroom floor." Earl began to join the crowd while everyone sang along. With all the cheers and enjoyment of Hip Hop taking place around him, Earl looked back at the subway one last time and then turned his attention back to the crowd and the stage with a grateful heart. "Hip Hop saved my life. I'm alive and well because of Hip Hop."