Tupac Coachella Hologram – Aftermath

Rapper's mother gives approval

The debate over Tupac Shakur’s appearance at Coachella is continuing, with the late rapper’s mother giving her approval.

It’s perhaps the most thoroughly dissected festival moment for some time. Snoop Dogg and Dr Dre were busy tearing Coachella apart, when the pair decided to introduce a special guest – Tupac Shakur.

A hologram of the late rapper was used, with the technology producing a genuinely beautiful moment. According to TMZ, Tupac Shakur’s mother gave her permission for her son’s likeness to be used and was “thrilled” with the results.

Giving only brief statements, Afeni Shakur explained that she watched the performance on an internet stream and found the experience to be “bittersweet”.

Meanwhile, MTV have tracked down Nick Smith, president of AV Concepts – the company who helped bring Tupac Shakur back to life for Coachella.

“We worked with Dr. Dre on this and it was Dre’s vision to bring this back to life,” he said. “It was his idea from the very beginning and we worked with him and his camp to utilize the technology to make it come to life.”

The image image of Shakur was created by Hollywood effects house Digital Domain, while Nick Smith refused to be drawn on further technical aspects. Tupac Shakur greeted the Coachella crowd, despite the festival’s first instalment coming a number of years after his tragic death.

Smith did reveal that AV Concepts could conceivably extend this technology to any performer. “You can take their likenesses and voice and … take people that haven’t done concerts before or perform music they haven’t sung and digitally recreate it,” he said.

Watch the Tupac Shakur hologram in action below.

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