The Breaks series picks up where the successful VH1 original movie leaves off. It is 1990 in New York City at the height of rap's "Golden Age" of creativity, but corporate America has been hesitant to embrace the genre. Nikki (Afton Williamson) lands a dream job as the assistant to the legendary and out-of-control Barry Fouray (Wood Harris). Her best friend and producer DeeVee (Mack Wilds) is working with rapper Ahm (Antoine Harris) who is currently under investigation by the police for murder. How far will these driven young people go to rise to the top of the hip-hop world?
Written and directed by Seith Mann, the VH1 original movie, The Breaks, was praised for its authenticity and earned critical acclaim from The New York Times and Indiewire. Following the film's success, VH1 answered fans' demand for more of The Breaks by ordering a series adaptation.
Having worked years as a writer for the first rap magazine, The Source, and later as a record executive during hip-hop's ascent into the mainstream, Dan Charnas wrote the critically-acclaimed The Big Payback: The History Of The Business Of Hip-Hop - an epic, 40-year narrative of the executives, entrepreneurs, hustlers, and handlers who turned rap music into the world's predominant pop culture.