(Menace II Society, 1993: O-Dog, A-Wax, and Caine)

It’s been 20 years since  Caine (Tyrin Turner) and O-Dog (Larez Tate) ran rampant through South Central, hoo banging and murdering disapproving shopkeepers in the cult classic, Menace II Society. While in hindsight, the movie wasn’t a cinematic masterpiece, it was a must-see shared experience that defined hip hop culture in the 90′s, alongside other movies like Boyz in the Hood and Juice. So it’s interesting to hear Allen Hughes, one half of the Hughes Brothers directing duo (Menace II Society, Book of Eli)  opens up about the making of Menace, and his own infamous brush with violence. Hughes visited Sway (Sway’s Universe) to talk about how late Tupac Shakur was fired from the cast of Menace, sparking a huge brawl and a lawsuit. It’s certainly a topic that has dogged the director for two decades but Hughes speaks candidly about meeting the rapper for the first time, developing a close friendship, and the moment it all went south with ‘Pac’s “erratic” behavior:

“He was going nuts, pacing back and forth in my office,” Hughes recalled. “He was very passionate. I can’t remember what he was complaining about, but he said to me across the room, “Why you smiling n*gga?” And me, I start smiling when I’m getting ready to fire on somebody..”

Watch the 3-part Allen Hughes x Sway interview on…
The Menace II Society legacy…
after the jump….

Allen Hughes Talks With Sway:

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