For the last two and a half years I have been an executive producer on an FX/Hulu multi part documentary series that will air later this year. Under the direction of director Allen Hughes, we’ve been conducting interviews, looking through hours of archival film and photos and coming to terms with the legacy of this extraordinary mother and son.
While we’ve been working the Tupac estate has been building an audio/visual experience titled Wake Me When I’m Free that recently opened in Los Angeles in space just across the street from the LA Live entertainment complex. Using big screens, nicely mixed sound design and the writings of both mother and son, the estate has built a very compelling journey that taps into the black radical tradition of Afeni and the rap radical music of Tupac. The long term goal is for the show to travel around the country. Right now its open in Los Angeles and worth a visit, since it captures the complexity of a family who’s story holds a mirror up the little known story of black radical activism in America and how the tension between that background and rap riches, defined one of hip-hop’s legendary figures, a young man who squeezed several life times into twenty-five years.