Jason’s Lyric, 1994
In 1994, Jada Pinkett was the girl that Hip-Hop rooted for. We wanted the scruffy fly girl from A Different World that was rumored to have had the heart of Tupac, to win. And so when Jason’s Lyric came out, we delighted in seeing a soft side of our girl, our generation’s Lola Falana. Yes, we loved the Red Table Talk queen, the story was powerful and the cast held up the integrity of the screenplay with heartfelt performances.
A story about a family directly impacted by the Vietnam war and how the father’s wartime-incurred Post Traumatic Disorder had a devastating effect on his sons. One, played by Bokeem Woodbine, turned to the streets, and the other one, played by Allen Payne, just wanted to get out of the suffocating grips of his southern community. Written by Bobby Smith, Jr. and directed by Doug Mc Henry, Jason’s Lyric was a romance story that had a dramatic crime twist.