The Hughes brothers and Williams were in their early twenties when the film was released, and as such it contains an unflinching rawness which you suspect an older filmmaker would have shied away from exploring. It centres on best friends Kane (Tyrin Turner) and O-Dog (a career-best Larenz Tate), two teenagers searching for direction in a neighbourhood that only points one way – straight to the bottom. So many kids never make it out the hood, and I was more interested in telling their story.”ĭirected by Allen and Albert Hughes, Menace II Society is a graphic account of life in Watts, LA. “Boyz was all about the one kid who makes it out, but that was just a fairy tale. “We wanted to make the antithesis to Boyz n the Hood,” reflects screenwriter Tyger Williams, who wrote Menace II Society. Released just two years later, Menace II Society took audiences to a far darker place – if both films existed on a 12-inch single, it’s fair to say that Boyz n the Hood would be the radio edit to Menace II Society’s uncut version. When John Singleton’s Boyz n the Hood was released in 1991, it made an instant impact on audiences who were drawn to its emotive story of a kid making it out of South Central Los Angeles and into college. Yet to some the film was a sanitised version of life in the hood, which traded the gritty social commentary present in gangster rap for a far more palatable message of hope. We speak to filmmakers, rappers and historians to find out why these iconic works continue to endure. This essay series looks at how five films released during rap’s golden era – King of New York, New Jack City, Juice, CB4 and Menace II Society – helped to shape American hip hop culture.
Screenwriter Tyger Williams reflects on the legacy of the Hughes Brothers’ controversial crime saga, which turns 25 this year. Beats, Rhymes and Cinema: Menace II Society
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