Sophia Michaels
FX has released the trailer for its five-part docuseries “Dear Mama: The Saga of Afeni & Tupac Shakur,” which offers an emotional and reflective look at the bond between Tupac, the legendary rapper who died at 25 in 1996, and his mother, Afeni. Tupac was born in 1971 when Afeni was 24 and she was a Black Panther and political activist who instilled her values of freedom, power, and revolution into her son. The two had a complicated relationship, as Tupac detailed in his song “Dear Mama,” and Afeni eventually became addicted to crack cocaine. Afeni passed away in 2016 at age 69.
The series is directed by Allen Hughes, who previously directed the 2017 HBO music docuseries “The Defiant Ones” about Jimmy Iovine and Dr. Dre. Hughes and his brother Albert, who have also directed together as the Hughes Brothers, have a long history with Tupac. The rapper was originally cast in their 1993 film “Menace II Society,” but they fired him and he was charged with assault and battery, serving 15 days in jail.
FX says that the new docuseries “defies the conventions of traditional documentary storytelling to share an illuminating saga of mother and son.” Hughes talked about Tupac in a 2022 interview with the YouTube channel “The Art of Dialogue,” saying that while Tupac was from an urban background, he was an artist and activist who was “delusional in a positive way.”
“Dear Mama” will be released on Hulu on April 21. Watch the trailer for “Dear Mama” ahead.
