In 1999 Queens, New York, Tommy "Buns" Bundy [DMX] and his partner Sincere [Nas], along with associates Mark [Hassan Johnson] and Black [Method Man], murder five people during a violent nightclub robbery. After celebrating, Sincere returns home to his girlfriend Tionne Tionne Watkins and infant daughter Kenya.
The following morning and day, Tommy asks Sincere to help him sell a new form of heroin. Sincere, who has begun having second thoughts about his life of crime, reluctantly agrees. Tommy then visits Ox [Louie Rankin], a wealthy Jamaican drug lord, who agrees to obtain the heroin on the condition that Tommy repay him with a very special favor at a later date.
In Mark's grandmother's basement, the gang convenes to discuss the nascent drug operation; Knowledge [James Parris] is involved, and Knowledge tells his friend Tommy over the phone that Black had been talking about robbing his friend Sincere to get a larger share of the loot. Way too enraged, Tommy forces Black to strip naked in front of the others, wildly firing warning shots with a handgun into the floor.
The gang begins transporting heroin from Queens to Omaha, Nebraska, where they begin to overrun the local drug business. Big Head Rico informs the police of their activities. The resulting raid at their stash-house ends with Mark's death and Knowledge's arrest. Knowledge angrily realizes that Tommy will not bail him out of jail, and calls Shameek, a.k.a. Father Sha, to both infiltrate Rico's gang and kill Tommy. At a strip club, Shameek drinks shots that Rico spiked with hallucinatory powder and, under the influence, blows his cover by telling Rico that he was sent by Knowledge to kill him. As Rico gets up and attempts to inform his henchmen, he is killed by Shameek as he tries to flee. Shameek is shot by the bartender and stumbles out of the club. He shoots at and evades the Omaha police.
Tommy travels to Jamaica and repays Ox by killing Sosa, the son of a local drug lord. Back home, Tommy's girlfriend Kisha [Taral Hicks] is arrested by police and later bailed out by Tionne [Tionne Watkins]. Tommy finds out about the raid and leaves town. Sincere prepares to leave the drug trade and move his family to Africa, planning to leave on New Year's Day 2000. Meanwhile, while laying low in Atlanta, Tommy instigates an argument between Wise and LaKid, two marijuana dealers, which ends with both men drawing their guns and LaKid shooting Wise. After being arrested over the shooting, Tommy is coerced by a shadowy organization with unclear motives into assassinating a Christian preacher, Rev. Saviour, during a sermon on New Year's Eve. Tionne comes home and finds herself confronted by Shameek and his henchmen, who had broken into the home in hopes of finding Sincere, but were unsuccessful. When Sincere comes home, Tionne tells him what happened and insists that he get out of this dangerous life, which he agrees.
Tommy calls Sincere and asks him to come meet him at a diner in Harlem as they haven't seen each other in a long time. Comparing notes, they acknowledge that they have both changed. Tommy has been positively influenced by the Christian movement he has infiltrated and Rev. Saviour, and Sincere has similarly decided to change his life in a positive direction, telling Tommy of his plans to focus on his family and move to Africa. They marvel at how far they have come and how their paths have changed.
While Sincere talks to his barber outside a barbershop, Black arrives and shoots Sincere in the leg as revenge for his earlier humiliation. Sincere and his barber kill Black and his accomplice in self-defense before fleeing the scene. On New Year's Eve, a conflicted Tommy confronts Rev. Saviour before his scheduled speech and points his gun at him. Saviour convinces Tommy not to go through with his mission, even though this will put his life at risk. A tearful Tommy agrees, and the two men embrace.
Shameek breaks into one of Tommy's homes where Kisha is living, in the hopes of finding Tommy there. He interrogates and assaults Kisha, who manages to turn the tables and get a hold of Shameek's gun, shooting him in the face. In a voiceover, Sincere says he is now in Africa with his family, and reflects on recent events and his joy at starting a new life.
