However, Hughes says throughout the process of making the documentary, he was able to explore Pac's complexities in a new way. "You look around the world you see the murals in Africa, South America, Asia... Everyone sees what they want in Tupac," Hughes reasoned. "He's one of the only 21st century figures that you can project what you want to see — love, a saint a sinner... whatever you want to see. It's almost biblical."
Hughes said he was also raised by an activist mother and was able to better understand Pac by taking a closer look at Afeni.
"I'm telling everyone this is something you need to watch with the entire family. And then you need to watch it by your muthaf---n self because they gonna be talking," Shanté said, laughing. "I watched it in its entirety— like 5, 6 hours of television. In the end, I felt like a hug."
Hughes explained it's because there are moments in the series that literally are a "grief circle." "I wanted to explore Black trauma and mental health," he said, adding that mental health wasn't something that was often talked about in the 90s.
Shanté agreed before offering a lighter observation — she does in fact, have a favorite Pac song, "Ambitionz Az A Ridah." "I realized it!" she proclaimed. "I'm a f---n ridah!"
Dear Mama premiers on FX on April 21, with the remaining three episodes releasing each Friday. The show will also be available on Hulu the following day. Tune in and catch the replay of Roxanne Shanté and Allen Hughe's interview on the Sirius XM app.
