The story follows 16-year-old Cyrus DeBarge, an aspiring musician who has a gift for rhyme yet lacks the self-confidence to take the stage and, through his rap song, tell his longtime crush Roxanne Andrews how he feels about her. After he and his flighty best friend, Kris McDuffy enter a songwriting contest, Kris is mistakenly named the winner for a song Cyrus wrote. Fearful of being thrust into the spotlight, Cyrus panics and allows Kris to take credit for his heartfelt lyrics and soon he's standing by as Roxanne begins to fall for Kris.