MTV Buzzworthy Blog › Craig Brewer

Hustle & Flow director Craig Brewer's $5 Cover may be over, but all of Memphis' best sex, fights and rock n' roll are all still waiting for you on MTV.com. Best rap, too! Resident rhymer Al Kapone and his super-talented son Young AJ make sure of that with blues-driven bangers like "Gettin' Mine" and "We On Deck."

Also on display are the monstrous homegrown talents of Amy LaVere, Snowglobe, Two Way Radio, River City Tanlines, Muck Sticky, Valerie June and Jack Oblivian. LaVere plays husky gothic folk dirges firmly rooted in her bluesy backyard. Snowglobe is a deadly hooky cross between Built To Spill and Belle And Sebastian, while Two Way Radio plays it sweet and twee with upbeat pop ditties. Muck Sticky's a rap clown, Valerie June is the twangiest little sweetheart you ever heard and River City Tanlines and Jack Oblivian growl like the world is ending.

Course I'm leaving one key player out. That's Lucero. The band fronted by $5 Cover's romantic leading man, Ben Nichols, is about as wildly freewheeling and charismatic as anything I've ever heard. An old personal favorite of mine, Bruce Springsteen's gravelly working class folk blues meet Lynyrd Skynyrd's country-fried, AM radio rock-crunch in every Lucero song. Man does listening to that band make me feel good.

Speaking of feeling good, plenty of that happens on $5 Cover, too. Boasting some of the steamiest bedroom scenes on MTV today (watch yourself, Kristin Cavallari), $5 Cover matches every tearful heartbreak with a frenzied bump and grind. And that's just when the cast isn't busy beating the hell out of each other at Memphis' best roller derbies, juke joints and blues halls. Long and short of it is, $5 Cover packs more authentic Southern soul action into every episode than KFC's got in a whole world of biscuits.

I'm gonna post the undeniably seductive episode 10 below, to give you a taste of what you been missin'. Once you're hooked, head back to $5 Cover HQ where you can watch the whole series for free! Get to it.

Tags $5 Cover, Al Kapone, Amy LaVere, Belle & Sebastian, Ben Nichols, Bruce Springsteen, Built To Spill, Craig Brewer, Jack Oblivian, Lucero, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Muck Sticky, River City Tanlines, Snowglobe, Two Way Radio, Valerie June, Young AJ

In case you somehow still need more reasons to tune into the Internet's best new show, I've compiled $5 Cover's steamiest scenes to give you a taste of just how far director Craig Brewer is willing to push the envelope. Clearly we're too classy enough (right, Tila?!) to broadcast all-out porn, but the Hustle & Flow director so expertly wields the power of suggestion, that at times it's even hotter than the real thing.

1. A New Drummer: Bass Master
$5 Cover's very first scene catches blues whisperer Amy LaVere in the act, doing a fearsome sans-pants tango with her stand-up bass. Scene 1! Memphis doesn't waste any time.

2. A New Drummer: Bed-Hopping
Minutes after Amy's private band practice sesh comes to an end, we meet her buddy Clare Grant, who's also lost her pants. But Clare's not wrestling an instrument. She's rolling around with Amy's boyfriend. Well, that is, until Amy walks in.

3. Head Change: Clare & Present Danger
After a spirited parking lot pep talk, Memphis rap clown Muck Sticky and kinky Clare take to the stage with an act that includes semi-nude S&M antics. Blame it on the Memphis heat!

4. Memphis Drama: Valerie's Secret
Valerie June is as cool and mellow as $5 Cover characters come. The drawling, dreadlocked singer-songwriter provides frequent easygoing comic relief. But there's no relief from Valerie's breakfast attire in Episode 3, which leaves nothing to the imagination!

5: Things to come...
Believe it or not, $5 Cover's steamiest clips are still yet to come! The new episodes premiering on MTV every Friday include new lovers, a heartbreak, a heart attack and a very physical reunion between Clare Grant and Lucero singer Ben Nichols. If you think your heart rate's up for all that action, check out new episodes of $5 Cover, and get more behind-the-scenes looks at $5 Cover on the $5 Cover blog.

Tags $5 Cover, Amy LaVere, Ben Nichols, Clare Grant, Craig Brewer, Lucero, Muck Sticky, Tila-Tequila, Valerie June