MC Eiht is gearing up to deliver his new album Lessons this Friday, a project that features guest appearances from Kurupt, Havoc, Conway The Machine, B-Real, Dave East, DJ Premier, and more. With the album arriving imminently, Eiht took a moment to chop it up with the Murder Master Music Show, where he proceeded to reflect on his time working on Menace II Society, directed by Allen and Albert Hughes.
2Pac's Departure From "Menace II Society"">Leon Bennett/Getty Images
It's no secret that 2Pac Shakur was originally attached to play Sharif in the film, though heated disagreements over the character ultimately led to his departure. During his sit-down with the Murder Master Music Show, Eiht took a moment to reflect on the creative differences that ultimately led Pac to walk away from the production. "He was supposed to play Sharif! Unfortunately, everybody know the situation that happened," reflects Eiht. "It didn't work out because Pac was very vocal. He was very adamant about wanting his character to be seen more portrayed in the movie of why."
"There was no explanation of why he was the Muslim or why he was the peace brother," continues Eiht. "He felt that with all his other roles, his characters, and what we were representing that it should be addressed in the movie of why he was a Muslim or why he wasn't the one to go out and do the drivebys like we were doing. They didn't want to go through setting up his character on why he turned Muslim and he had a problem with that and that is why he opted out of the movie."
As for his own role in the film, Eiht took a moment to paint a picture of how Menace II Society impacted his life. "When the movie actually came out and I had to watch myself on the screen and moms, my sister and homies going to see it, females from school, I felt a little weird because I wasn't used to that level of popularity," he explains. For more from Eiht ahead of Lessons, be sure to check out the full Murder Master Music Show below.