Director Allen Hughes Says Tupac Shakur “Gave Into The Gangster Image”
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Director Allen Hughes reflected on his intricate relationship with Tupac Shakur and the work of the slain rapper during a new interview. Speaking with SPIN, the filmmaker described how the “Hit Em Up” performer changed throughout his career.
“Tupac signed his record deal three years too late. He signed in ’91, when Hip-Hop is all about gangster rap, ’88 was when the music he wanted to make would’ve fit in more,” explained the 51-year-old.
“You see him — that conflict within him — on the first album (2pacalypse Now, 1991), and then especially on the second album (Strictly 4 My N.I.G.G.A.Z.., 1993). There’s these meaningful, poignant, profound tracks. And then you hear these gangster tracks. On these first two albums he was trying to reconcile that.”
He continued to detail, “But ultimately he gave into the gangster image and lifestyle as a means to garner attention. He thought he needed to get the message out, but unfortunately, he got swallowed up by the image and the lifestyle.”
Hughes continued to discuss what he discovered about the Juice star while working as the executive producer, writer, and director on Dear Mama, the five-part documentary exploring the relationship between the rapper and his mother, Afeni Shakur.
“The thing that I discovered on Dear Mama was he truly is an artist. He’s a poet. He don’t see the world the way normal people see the world. He don’t see danger the way normal people see danger,” reflected the Dead Presidents director.
“I got in trouble with the [Shakur] family when I said this, but pure artists are delusional. Yeah. That’s part of what makes them great artists: they’re delusional. They’re sharing their delusions with us. But they don’t think they’re delusions: it’s real to them. So they don’t see the reality of things. They see the dream of it all. They’re living in a dream. That’s part of what made him so special… Tupac was subjecting us to his fantasies, but they weren’t fantasies to him.”
Allen and Dear Mama are nominated for the 75th Primetime Creative Arts Emmy Awards in the categories Outstanding Documentary Or Nonfiction Series and Outstanding Writing For A Nonfiction Program.
Recent developments have been made in the unsolved case of Tupac’s murder. In July, Las Vegas police conducted an official search of the home of Paula Clemons, the wife of Duane Keith “Keefe D” Davis who has maintained over the years that his nephew, Orlando Anderson, pulled the trigger. Davis claimed to be an eyewitness to the fatal shooting.
“It has been a while since the deadly September 1996 shooting. It’s a case that’s gone unsolved, and hopefully, we can change that one day,” expressed Metropolitan Police Department Lt. Jason Johansson.
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