The setting is Detroit in 1995. The city is divided by 8 Mile, a road that splits the town in half along racial lines. A young white rapper, Jimmy "B-Rabbit" Smith Jr summons strength within himself to cross over these arbitrary boundaries to fulfill his dream of success in hip hop. With future and the three one third all he has to do is not choke.
Follows a young rapper in the Detroit area, struggling with every aspect of his life, wants to make it big but his friends and foes make this odyssey of rap harder than it may seem.