This isn’t exactly breaking news, but it’s not every day you get to write about a deceased man entertaining an audience. TMZ reports that Dr. Dre intends to make damn sure his close friend and West Coast ally is remembered during his Coachella performance. He’s gone so far to ensure this that he’s having Nate Dogg perform alongside him. Only, as a hologram.
This isn’t the first time we’ve seen technology like this, with Will.I.Am showing it off on the news, Mariah Carey performing concerts around the world with it, and so on. Nonetheless, it may be the first major use to raise the question of what it means to project an artist no longer living. It’s exciting, and it’s practically touching that Dre so badly wants to perform with his old friend, but wouldn’t you feel a bit odd, rapping on stage next to a Star Wars rendering of a friend you lost?
Ultimately, of course, it’s up to Dre, and one can only imagine he shelled out serious change for the toys to make it happen, so it’s certainly important to him. Word is, that Nate will perform multiple songs, with Dre, Snoop Dogg, Warren G, Kurupt, Daz Dillinger, and the whole G-Funk crew. Also rumored to appear is Eminem. Stay tuned for more, if a video of the performance is released, it will be here.
This only raises the question: where’s 2pac’s projection? Actually, they probably just couldn’t get past legal issues with that one. For that matter, if Suge Knight’s still has any say regarding Pac’s material, one doubts he’d share it with Dre…
