Technically? It wasn’t a hologram - which is defined as a light-beam-produced, three-dimensional image visible to the naked eye - but rather a two-dimensional projection that employed a theatrical technique first outlined more than 430 years ago. It raised his arms to roars before he began to perform his posthumous 1998 single “ Hail Mary” and 1996 hit collaboration with Snoop, “ 2 Of Amerikaz Most Wanted.” On this night, the “Tupac Hologram,” what many still call the virtual being, was born.Ī holographic image of Tupac Shakur is seen performing with Snoop Dogg during day 3 of the 2012 Coachella Valley Music & Arts Festival at the Empire Polo Field on Apin Indio, California.

Dre and Snoop having already floated through nearly 20 tracks, though no moment would compare to what came next.Ī computer-generated Tupac made this proclamation to the crowd of 80,000. It was the perfect surprise for the final act of the night on the main stage - Dr. Dre and Snoop’s set, a shirtless figure emerged, with a “THUG LIFE” tattoo on his stomach, pinky rings on his hands, pants sagging and Timberlands on his feet. Fifteen years, seven weeks and three days after he was pronounced dead as a result of internal bleeding from five gunshot wounds he sustained in a Las Vegas drive-by, Tupac performed again. For six weeks, Croshaw, along with fellow supervisor Steve Preeg and their team, had worked tirelessly to make what seemed psychologically, and spiritually, unfathomable: They had to recreate Tupac Amaru Shakur.Īnd they did. That’s what Janelle Croshaw, visual effects supervisor of Academy Award-winning studio Digital Domain, said she thought to herself in the moment. The hood of Marshall Mathers’ jacket draped over his head as he watched in silence. Dre looked on with Eminem, who was a scheduled special guest for the show. Nothing seemed to go right during rehearsal as Dr. Dre” Young had a specific vision for his headlining performance with Snoop Dogg.īut the miscues were relentless: unanticipated flashes, rendering errors, plain old glitches, you name it. With just four days until the start of the 2012 Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival, there was no room for any more mistakes.

The mood and scene were one and the same out in that empty Southern California field. Tupac Shakur on the “Outro” of his fourth posthumous album, Better Dayz (2002) Expect me, n-a, like you expect Jesus to come back / Expect me … I’m coming.

Tupac songs hail mary