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Besides the obvious plot, there's a nagging insistence in telling us that "hip-hop is a mirror of our lives!" Oh please! All the boring importance-of-music stuff is so silly that it makes us care less and less about the characters. Although it does provide the film with its best running gag, about an awful black/white rap combo called Dalmatian (Weiner and Wyns). There are some smart moments in the script, as well as some genuine comedy that undercuts the encroaching schmaltz. But the romantic plot doesn't work at all, simply because it's both obvious and contrived. Even the inclusion of a lot of yucky romantic dialog doesn't help ("You're my air!"). Still, Lathan and Diggs are, as usual, very watchable on screen (although Diggs needs to get rid of that stupid semi-beard), while the consummate scene-stealer Latifah lights up any screen she's on. But you get the feeling that this is just another movie from the Hollywood assembly line, so why should we care?