It wasn’t nothing but a “gangsta” party on the night of April 15, 2012, rocked by Dr Dre and Snoop Dogg… with the help of 2Pac himself at one point, which was both creepy and a little unsettling. It was a hologram, but visual technology has gotten so advanced; we’re way pass 2001, folks; that I actually thought it was an impersonator. He should’ve been limited to just his Snoop and Dre collaborations though. Letting him perform Hail Mary; a song from an album he called Dre “gay-ass” on; took away from the theme of the show, along with a few other songs that have nothing to do with the two headliners. At one point, the crowd is jumping around to House Of Pain. But hey, those are relatively minor complaints. Overall it was a dope show. No, really. Snoop smoked a blunt on stage.

The element of surprise, for me, was dampered by the fact that the internet had been buzzing with rumors of other Death Row and Aftermath affiliated artists, including Eminem, taking the stage. But I like the way each “surprise” was rolled out one at a time. And I wasn’t expecting 50 Cent to be there. All that hip-hop star power on one stage was a sight to see, even watching it via “YouTube”; the audio mix of which was quite impressive for a live stream. But I guess that goes back to modern technology. The live backing band, which was only occasionally distracting in their experimentation, made me bob my head to even the songs I don’t like. I can only imagine how it would’ve been to be there in the crowd.

my rating = 4 of 5

2012