Director Allen Hughes went on the “Hell and High Water” podcast hosted by John Heilemann and shared some interesting things about the late rapper Tupac Shakur.
Asked about the difference between Snoop Dogg and Tupac, the “Menace II Society” director shared his insights. He noted that Snoop Dogg was a “real street guy out of all these guys,” comparing him to the rest of his label mates at Death Row Records for having the foresight to leave the label behind.
“Tupac on the other hand, while he came up in the inner city or the urban f**ked up ghetto, he’s not a street kid,”
“He’s an artist and an activist. He’s a performance arts kid and he’s delusional. He’s just delusional in a positive way. You have to be delusional to be a great artist,” he said.
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Tupac’s ‘Downfall’
He elaborated on the legendary rapper’s “downfall,” saying “The thing I think Tupac was addicted to the most was, when I think back, when he’s in a room like this and he sees us all reacting to whatever he’s saying, especially her [referring to a woman in the room], any woman, if they’re smiling, he goes to 10,”
“You thought 10 was the level. He’s at 50 now. And he’s so charismatic that he lost himself in his power to move a room.”
Hughes has worked with Tupac in the past when he cast the rapper for “Menace II Society” (1993) but later fired him for reportedly “causing trouble” on set.
In an interview with “Sway in the Morning” in 2013, Hughes revealed the real reason why he fired Tupac, “we would try to rehearse, and he would just say s**t and do s**t, get up, and he was just erratic.”
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The rapper retaliated months later by attacking the director. Tupac was sentenced to 15 days in prison and labor, and 30 months of probation, reports say.
According to the director, lost himself in the “persona of a gangster.” In the podcast interview, he added, “if you’re fortunate, maybe a third of your delusions become art. Two-thirds of it is bulls**t, and I think we saw two-thirds of Tupac’s delusions that weren’t the art.”
Bias?
Despite Tupac and Hughe’s rocky history, the latter is directing a documentary series to be released by Hulu the following year.
Hughes’ documentary series about Tupac and Afeni Shakur, the mother-son duo, entitled “Dear Mama.”
Fans shared their sentiments on the matter: “This man has no business directing anything on Pac and it’s sad Pac and Afeni [aren’t] alive to stop this.”
“Best believe when a documentary comes out there’s gonna be a whole bunch of bias and Shade being thrown at Pac way, it’s just funny how everybody forgets the fact that 2Pac with side by side with trench by Naughty By Nature fighting the Rollin 60s. 2Pac has always been that way but they always make it seem like 2Pac was trying to act like he was a part of them they need to learn how to do their own research on who they talking about, [sic]” another commented.
“That’s why [he] and his brother almost got their a** whooped by Pac… almost 30 years later and now we know Pac!” wrote another fan.
“Still hating… these dudes need some healing to do,” a fan added.
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