Adam Merkin, a white graduate student at University of California, Berkeley, is writing a thesis on the use of the word "nigga" in battle rap. To research, he attends a freestyle rap battle between rappers X-Tract and Behn Grymm, and brings his girlfriend Maya along; Maya is offended by the sexism she perceives in the lyrics used in the battle. Adam attempts to interview Grymm and is made fun of for his rhetoric. In the parking lot outside the event, Grymm is called out by young white rapper Billy Pistolz, but Adam steps in and delivers a freestyle verse accusing Pistolz of cultural appropriation. An impressed Grymm agrees to speak with Adam further.