WATCH: Trailer for “Black Magic Mike” Male Stripper Film Chocolate City 

Here’s our first look at the Black answer to the acclaimed “Magic Mike” film called “Chocolate City.” The film stars Cypher Avenue favorite Robert Ri’Chard as a young, naive male review performer being trained by Michael Jai White, Tyson Beckford, Ginuwine, Darrin Henson, Vivica A. Fox, Romeo and Bolo The Entertainer (a real-life stripper that I’ve low-key been infatuated with for years now).

Here’s the official Synopsis:

Welcome to Chocolate City, where the music is hot, the mood is magical, and the exotic male dancers are simply delicious. Women go wild as these toned, talented men make fantasies come true… and the arrival of a young, new exotic dancer (Robert Ri’chard) has the spot sizzling like never before. At home, he is Michael, an inner city college student struggling to help his mother (Vivica A. Fox) make ends meet. However, when his part-time job doesn’t pay the bills, Michael begins to find success at a nightclub dancing as “Sexy Chocolate.” As the money starts rolling in, Michael must deal with the unexpected pressure of being the female clubgoers’ favorite flavor while hiding his new “job” from his mother and girlfriend.

My first take: It looks like a cheap after-school special. All of the “stage” shots are from exactly the same angles and looks. I didn’t see any creative shots and lighting. It doesn’t feel as cinematic as “Magic Mike” did with unique lighting, camera moves and lens flares.

Look at how much “bigger” the Magic Mike trailer looks:

I know, I know…this is a bigger budgeted studio film. Hard to compare it to an independent production. However, the overall story seems to have more depth here.

With this Black version of the Stripper films, the “desperately needing money so I’ll start stripping” story troupe seems redundant at this point.

Need evidence?

Literally one year ago we premiered the first episode of Tahir Jetter’s web series HARD TIMES featuring a young black man “desperately needing money so he starts stripping.”

As you can tell, this no-budget independent web series has more of a stylized cinematic look than the bigger budgeted “Chocolate City” trailer.

Need another example?

There’s the 2011 indie black film called “Shake” starring former stripper Thomas “Lucious” Crawley and “The Player’s Club” star Chrystale Wilson. In this film (you guessed it) Lucious is a young black man “desperately needing money so he starts stripping.”

Speaking of “The Players’ Club,” in that 1998 film, newcomer LisaRaye McCoy plays a young black woman “desperately needing money so she starts stripping.”

This begs the question: Do any strippers ever actually get into the business because they like stripping?

It’s well-known to regulars of our podcasts that Cypher Avenue co-founder Octavious Williams’ long-term partner is a former Male Review Performer named Prince D. Maybe we can get him on one of the future Cypher Avenue podcasts to let us know if there is truth to this cliche.

Until then, let us know your thoughts on “Chocolate City.” Are you eager to see it? Is the black male eye candy enough to grab your attention? If so, who are you most eager to see in the film?

Here are some screenshots to view while you consider your answers: