Terrence Howard and Al Kapone want to perform 'Whoop That Trick' at Memphis Grizzlies game

Could some celebrity-led trick-whooping be in the Memphis Grizzlies' future?

Memphis hip-hop star Al Kapone hopes the answer is yes. Kapone said Thursday that he and actor Terrence Howard have collaborated on a (relatively) family-friendly rewrite of "Whoop That Trick" that they hope to perform at a future Grizzlies game at FedExForum.

Said Kapone: "It will definitely 100 percent happen" — maybe.

He said he and Howard want to save their performance for a meaningful game — one with significance for the season, or even a playoff game. (In other words, if this is going to happen, the Grizzlies may need to start whooping some opponents.)

Kapone's signature composition, "Whoop That Trick" was written for Memphis writer-director Craig Brewer's 2005 movie "Hustle & Flow," which earned Howard an Academy Award nomination in the category of "Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role" for his appearance as DJay, a soulful pimp who aspires to express himself artistically through music.

A different "Hustle & Flow" composition, "It's Hard Out Here for a Pimp," earned the Academy Award for Best Original Song, netting Oscars for its writers, the Memphis hip-hop artists Paul Beauregard (DJ Paul), Juicy J (Jordan Houston III) and Cedric Coleman (Frayser Boy). "Pimp" inspired many "It's Hard Out Here for (fill in the blank)" headlines and memes, but "Whoop That Trick" became ubiquitous in Memphis after being adopted by the Grizzlies and being embraced by the team's fan base as a rallying cry and anthem, providing what Kapone has called "will-to-win motivation."

Howard — who performs "Whoop That Trick" in the movie, abetted by several of his castmates — got together with Kapone earlier this week to revamp that "Trick," following Howard's return to Memphis for Wednesday night's Malco Powerhouse theatrical premiere of his new movie, "Showdown at the Grand."

The new film, in which Howard plays a Los Angeles movie theater owner forced into bloody battle with the thugs who seek to gain ownership of his property, will be onscreen through at least Nov. 16 at the Malco Paradiso and Summer Quartet Drive-In. To promote the film, Howard, his wife, producer Mira Pak Howard, and actors Jon Sklaroff and Mike Ferguson, who play violent "goons" in the film, will be in town through the weekend, to make appearances at the Paradiso and on local radio and TV show.

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A somewhat controversial sports anthem, "Whoop That Trick" presents a first-person portrait of a "gutta pimp slash drug dealer/ Born and raised in the 'M,' Memphis Tennessee" who threatens violence against both his prostitutes and their customers, if they cross him. But as is the case with many pop/rap songs, the lyrics in the verses are subordinate to the emotion generated by the boisterous chant-along chorus, which transforms the phrase "Whoop That Trick" into what Kapone has described as a promise of "underdog" defiance and a celebration of Memphis' underdog spirit.

Nevertheless, those lyrics contain several examples of the N-word, not to mention the B-word, the S-word, the F-word and other words not suitable for a FedExForum singalong. Kapone said he and Howard would perform an abbreviated version of the song, reworked for a more sensitive audience.

For example, said Kapone: "Like, when I say, 'I'm'a make these suckers recognize I ain't playin', ho,' we changed it to 'I ain't playin, yo.'"

According to the Grizzlies and FedExForum officials, nobody with the organization has talked with Kapone or Howard about performing the song. In any event, "Whoop That Trick" the past few years has been reserved for playoff games, so a Kapone-Howard performance this season is hardly inevitable. But, as DJay says at the end of "Hustle & Flow": "Everbody gotta have a dream."

This article originally appeared on Memphis Commercial Appeal: Terrence Howard, Al Kapone plan to Whoop That Trick at Grizzlies game