Nas on Jay-Z at 2018 Complexcon.
The Hughes Brothers “stealing” Hype Williams vision for “Belly” to make “Menace II Society?”Jay-Z instead of DMX as the magnetic, yet erratic and gun toting anti-hero Tommy Buns? T-Boz being nervous about meeting her on screen husband Nas for the first time ever on set? “The God” and “The Dog” beefing while shooting in Queens? Oh and baby oil baby! Plenty of baby oil.
During last night's third annual ComplexCon in Long Beach, CA, Belly director Hype Williams, and stars Nas and T-Boz sat at a panel celebrating the 20th anniversary of the film. The trio addressed numerous urban legends regarding the filming of the legendary movie and revealed some never before heard gems about the production.
The concept of “Belly” had been formulating in Hype Williams’ mind for his entire life as a way to portray himself and his friends in their home borough of Queens. Williams, the self-proclaimed “nerd” of his crew, delivered his take on that reckless gangsters lifestyle, delivering subplots of betrayals, rivalries, a trip to the motherland and a political assassination plot. The story began actual formulation five years prior to its theatrical release by script co-writer Anthony Bodden, who was a friend of Williams since they were both pee-wee size.
“I got into a car accident in 1992,” Bodden told “King” magazine 10 years ago when the lauded publication was celebrating “Belly” reaching a decade birthday. “Hype, who I knew since kindergarten, came to my hospital room and told me: ‘once you get out of here, we’re going to start making movies.’”
Bodden began writing “Belly” in 1993, but was almost immediately hit with a disheartening blow in the form of the release of “Menace II Society.” Not only was Menace met with near universal praise, it delivered audiences the same type of raw, gritty look at the life of young black men from the neighborhood (in this case Watts) that Bodden and Williams hoped to capture.
“I got beat to the punch,” Williams said during the panel which was hosted by Damien Scott. “Everything I wanted to do, They did it. Everything I wanted to say, they said it... from a west coast perspective.”
Williams, who would soon ascend to the top of hip-hop hierarchy as one of the greatest video directors of the 90s (and possibly ever), discovered his power while crafting trailblazing visuals for the likes of Nas, Busta Rhymes, Puff Daddy and Missy “Misdemeanor” Elliott.
“It’s awesome to have people that are visionary; that are leaders and not followers,” T-Biz said of her director.
In the end, Nas was cast to star as Sincere and T-Boz as his better half Tionne.
“I hadn’t met my husband until I stood on set,” T-Boz told the crowd about why she was nervous regarding potential onscreen chemistry with Nas. “That was the first time we met [ever in life].”
Nas laughed and said he had no apprehension.
“Everybody liked each member [of TLC]. I was lit because I got to have T-Boz as my girl. I was on fire.”
Hype was under fire because of his casting of the film’s lead and show stealer DMX.
“I was crucified a little bit,” Hype said.
At the time of casting in 1996, X was more known in the streets for being a stick up kid than as a rapper. Nas was already a multi-platinum superstar and contender to the King of Rap title. T-Boz was part of TLC, one of the biggest groups on the planet. Dark Man X? He just started rising on New York’s mixtape circuit. His close friend Irv Gotti “begged” Hype to let X be in the film. Williams, of course, had a relationship with Gotti, having directed some of his earliest videos for IG’s artists. Trusting Gotti’s word and his own hunch, Williams felt X’s energy and knew he was a fit not only for the movie, but that he was going to be in the forefront of a change in hip hop music, which was wavering from the shine and gloss and heading back to the mud.
“X’s records didn’t come out until movie was shot. No one understood hip-hop was gonna change until X changed it,” Williams said on the panel.
“At first he didn’t have a DMX, a lead guy for Tommy in the story,” Nas explained. “It’s like he wrote [the character specifically] for [DMX]. The character description is just like DMX before we even met DMX. It all weighed on who’s Tommy. I knew [X] from the underground scene. He was coming. He was coming for whoever was on top. You had to be in the know to really know.”
The rap legend from Queensbridge called the casting of DMX “genius.”
“From the gate I was with it.”
Nas also said it was nothing but camaraderie between him and his longtime friend and fellow MC on set, dismissing any notion of friction between the two.
As for X’s now-infamous off camera wildness, Hype smiles and said “Early DMX was even worse. But this is what genius was. No one [else] could have played [Tommy] much like Tupac in the ‘Juice’ movie.”
There was even some talk for Jay-Z to play Tommy if DMX didn’t get the part.
“Were it not to be DMX, Everybody pressed for it to be Hov,” Williams revealed.”
Nas blurted “who?” Saying he didn’t hear Hype’s revelation.
“He’s a real hustler, he comes from a real place,” the famed director elaborated. “We were working with Def Jam. It was logical for it to be him.”
Def Jam was the home to both Jay and X at the time.
One of the looks captured on the movie, which would be hard to imagine Jay agreeing to, was being doused in baby oil.
“Hype had this vision we was gonna be oily.” Nas said later with a grin. “Whatever he was on, I was with it.”
“One of the main things I used to study was a lot of fashion stuff from France. I wanted the light to reflect off Black skin in a certain way film,” Williams explained. “The way I knew to do it at the time was through makeup. That’s why [Nas] keeps going back to the ‘oily’ thing. Maybe why everybody goes to it. But in reality it was so the light worked the way we wanted to off the negative.”
It was amazing though,” Nas interjected. “I wasn’t thinking ‘f**k they’re gonna be uncomfortable and they’re gonna be greasy on film.’ I’m purely thinking aesthetic again.”
“Belly” was hampered with budget cut problems and during the filming, as well as script-changes. Nas and Hype went so far as taking a short sabbatical from filming to work on the screenplay in upstate, NY. That trip netted Nas a writing credit on the film.
“I slipped in a few things,” Nas said slyly when asked to give specifics about his contributions. “Can’t talk about that.”
After a few laughs, he added “nothing that important.”
Hype also dismissed the myth that Ghostface Killiah makes an uncredited appearance in “Belly,” though he did reveal that Scarface was originally supposed to play a role but it “didn’t pan out.”
Through it all, “Belly” went on to make money at the box office and, despite being panned by critics, has gained a cult following that has grown throughout the past 20 years. Me and T-Boz both agreed that the movie is a certified “hood classic.”
A whole new generation of fans may soon get to see “Belly” on the big screen. To commemorate the milestone of the anniversary, Williams and company are making a push to get the film back in theaters for a limited theatrical run and get Def Jam to reissue the soundtrack.
