Sure, Jay-Z brought out Beyonce at Coachella in 2010, and Kanye West gave festival goers his ballerina-assisted best with Bon Iver last year. But how many hip-hop headliners could resurrect Tupac Shakur from the dead? Dr. Dre and Snoop Dogg,
the G-funk maestros who provided Weekend 1 of Coachella with a
thrilling outro on Sunday night (Apr. 15), took their joint
performance to a new level when they were joined by Tupac — their
fellow West Coast rapper who was killed in 1996 —Â in hologram
form, sharing the stage with the digitally recreated rapper and
letting his likeness rattle off “2 of Amerikaz Most Wanted” and
“Gangsta Party” in the middle of their set.
The
Tupac reveal was the high-tech, unique, admittedly strange
highlight of Dr. Dre and Snoop Dogg’s West Coast homecoming, which
coincides with the 20th anniversary of Dre’s “The Chronic” album
later this year and the umpteenth delay of his enormously
anticipated third album, “Detox.” While hip-hop fans still await the
good Doctor’s studio return, Snoop and Dre touched upon their newer
material by way of multiple guest stars.
