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Roxanne Shanté Interviews 'Dear Mama' Director Allen Hughes: 'It Shows the Love You Had for Him'

Roxanne Shanté Interviews 'Dear Mama' Director Allen Hughes: 'It Shows the Love You Had for Him'

Published Fri, April 14, 2023 at 6:26 PM EDT

In one of her most engaging interviews, Rock The Bells host and Hip-Hop legend Roxanne Shanté connected with acclaimed director Allen Hughes to discuss his upcoming docuseries, Dear Mama on her Sirius XM radio show, Have A Nice Day.

The much-anticipated project is a five-part documentary series about Tupac and Afeni Shakur “told through the eyes of the people who knew them best."

Shanté admits that she "hadn't seen anything like" the series, which offers an intimate portrayal of Tupac and Afeni. "When I tell you the way it was done it shows the love and respect you had for his mom, and him as an artist..." Shante said of the film and its visceral impact on her. "You did this from the true love of a Black brother to a Black brother and a Black mother to a Black mother."

Hughes said he was driven to create the film by a need to understand the enigmatic rapper/actor. "I wanted to understand him and I didn't understand him even though I knew him and I worked with him," Hughes admitted. "Me and my brother did his first three music videos and we had a complex relationship that gotta little funky toward the end."

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.

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