30 years ago, Jason’s Lyric was released
In 1994, the 2 hour film starring Allen Payne and Jada Pinkett Smith made its
way into theaters by way of PolyGram Entertainment. The film focuses on two troubled
brothers who, after witnessing domestic abuse in the home, venture off down different
paths. One of the brothers, Jason, played by Allen Payne, becomes a sales clerk at an
electronics shop and meets Lyric, played by Jada Pinkett Smith,, a waitress and the two
begin a complex relationship.
Set against the backdrop of the urban landscape of Houston, Texas, the film
pairs the grit and heaviness of drama with the vulnerability and resilience of romance,
creating a poignant film that has long been lauded as a classic after its release.
Jason’s Lyric was released at a time where African American actors and
actresses were coming into a special space within mainstream film, along with fellow
classics: Poetic Justice (1993), Boyz In The Hood (1991), New Jack City (1991), and
more.
Writer Reggie Ugwu, in his 2019 article for The New York Times, “They Set Us
Up to Fail’: Black Directors of the ’90s Speak Out”, writes, “For the first time in a long
time, things seemed to be changing in Hollywood. Black filmmakers were making
inroads where their white counterparts had long been parked, bringing with them an
array of perspectives and experiences seldom recognized by mainstream American
production companies.” With the release of the aforementioned films, movie-goers also
began to reflect the ever=changing demographic. Suddenly, African Americans began
to see their everyday stories reflected on the silver screen.
Moreover, the film was one of the first professional credits of many of its stars.
Payne, at the time known for his role as Lance Rodman on sitcom The Cosby Show and
films New Jack City and CB4, went on to star in subsequent films Vampire In Brooklyn
(1995) and Double Platinum (1999) as well as popular TV series Tyler Perry’s House of
Payne. Pinkett-Smith, at the time known for her role as Lena on Cosby Show spinoff
sitcom A Different World, went on to star in subsequent films Set It Off (1996), The
Nutty Professor (1996), The Matrix: Reloaded & Revelations (2003), as well as
Facebook Watch show Red Table Talk.
Today, Jason’s Lyric is seen as one of the first films of its kind to reflect an then-
new African American formula of an urban romantic drama that would birth subsequent
films Love Jones (1997), Soul Food (1997), The Best Man (1998), Love & Basketball
(2000) and more.
