Boyz n the Hood

South Central, Los Angeles; October, 1984

The story opens in 1984 with ten-year-old Tré Styles (Desi Arnez Hines II) and three other youths heading to school, on the way stopping to inspect a crime scene they encounter. At school, Tré misbehaves in front of his teacher and receives a three-day suspension after fighting with another classmate. While discussing the issues with his teacher, Tré's mother, Reva (Angela Bassett), elicits surprise from the teacher when she references her education as well as Tré's father, who the teacher had not realized existed. Frustrated with her inability to curtail Tré's history of disobedience, Reva sends him to live in the Crenshaw neighborhood of South Central Los Angeles with his hard-nosed father, Furious Styles (Laurence Fishburne), from whom she hopes Tré will learn life lessons. 

Menace II Society

The film begins in South Central Los Angeles in the Watts neighborhood with Caine and his friend Kevin, nicknamed "O-Dog", entering a liquor store. Caine begins to drink malt liquor out of the bottle, intending to pay for it when he gets to the register. The Korean storekeeper and his wife watch them suspiciously, and O-Dog rails against them. As O-Dog is finished paying and is about to leave the store with Caine, the shopkeeper tells O-Dog, "I feel sorry for your mother." O-Dog takes offense and shoots the Korean storekeeper and his wife, taking the video surveillance tape of the shooting before he and Caine flee. O-Dog keeps the tape and entertains his friends by showing it to them, and there is talk of a copy being made for others in the neighborhood to watch.  

South Central

Bobby (Glenn Plummer) is a young black gang member of Hoover Street Deuces, or simply "Deuce". He gets parolled from the Youth Authority and he meets up with his fellow gang members Ray Ray (Byron Minns), Loco and Bear. As it turns out, Bobby's girlfriend Carole (LaRita Shelby) gave birth to his son Jimmie (Christian Coleman) while he was incarcerated..The gang goes to Bobby's girlfriend Carole's apartment only to find out that she is not home. Ray Ray sees Carol outside the apartment of a heroin dealer Genie Lamp. The two sides get into in altercation until Carole breaks up the argument. Later, Bobby and Carol embrace as they look forward to being a family now that Bobby is out of jail. Soon after, Ray Ray calls a meeting with all the leaders of the sets of the Deuce gang in which he lays down the rules and introduces crack cocaine as means to financial gain for the gang. The Deuce gang attends a party at a small nightclub held by Genie Lamp. Genie is first reluctant to allow the gang inside until it is revealed by Ray Ray that Genie Lamp is running an illegal gambling establishment outback.