Allen Hughes, director of ‘Dear Mama,’ dissects the relationship between Tupac and Snoop Dogg and what led to Tupac’s death, calling the rapper delusional.
On the heels of the premiere of ‘Dear Mama’ the documentary series about the lives and times of hip hop icon Tupac Shakur and Afeni, Allen Hughes sits down with John Heilemann of Hell & High Water exclusively on The Recount.
Kicking off the 10-minute interview clip, a throwback video is shared of Tupac and Snoop Dogg’s MTV interview days before Tupac was shot on the Vegas strip. According to Heilemann and Allen Hughes, Tupac is putting up a front for the cameras during the interview in attempt to convince viewers everything in his world is perfectly fine, when in reality Tupac is “scared” says the host.
The fallout between Tupac and Snoop is then discussed, where Hughes praises Snoop Dogg for wanting to remove himself from Tupac and Suge Knight and pursing peace with Diddy and Biggie. It has been well documented that Snoop Dogg’s appearance on Hot 97 after the MTV interview, where Snoop stated he had no issue with Puff Daddy and Biggie Smalls did not sit well with Tupac.
Tupac had been beefing with Biggie and Diddy as Shakur believed the two was not to be trusted given the fact they were connected to those who had shot and robbed Tupac at Quad Studios in 1994. After joining Death Row records and forming a bond with Snoop to the point where Shakur supported the Dogg Father throughout his murder trail, Tupac saw Snoop’s peace comments about Biggie and Puffy on Hot 97 as a betrayal.
Allen Hughes viewed Snoop’s overall decision to distance himself from Tupac as the right move coming from someone who is the “real street guy out of all of these guys” as stated by the ‘Dear Mama’ directed. Host Heilmann goes on to praise Snoop’s “streets smarts” and calls Tupac’s beef with Biggie Smalls “ridiculous” as he try’s to figure out why Snoop was the better person than Tupac.
“But, what’s the difference between those two guys,” Heilmann asks. “They both come from poverty. They’re not that different. What’s the difference between those two that makes one the kind of artist that Snoop is and the person that Snoop was and the other leads to ‘Pac?”
Allen Hughes who worked with Tupac in the early nineties, before their public fallout which consisted of Allen firing Tupac from a lead role in a movie, a physical altercation which resulted in Allen putting Tupac in jail, says he has the answer to Heilmann’s question. “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,” Allen Hughes says. “You have to be delusional to be a great artist.”
“The thing I think Tupac was addicted to the most was when I think back was, when he’s in a room like this and he sees us all reacting to whatever he’s saying, especially her (points to a female in the room), any woman if they’re smiling he goes to ten. You thought ten was the level, he’s at 50 now. And he’s so charismatic that he lost himself in his power to move a room,” Allen Hughes explains.
Tupac’s murder is also discussed in the clip, as Allen Hughes says there’s no mystery when it comes to Tupac’s death citing Shakur’s beat down of Orlando Anderson resulted in hip hop losing its top artist.
The docuseries ‘Dear Mama’ first episode premieres on September 15 at the Toronto International Film Festival, with the entire five-part series airing on FX later in the fall. (View: Tupac, Afeni Docuseries’ “Dear Mama” Teaser Premieres On Mother’s Day)
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