One of the highlights of this year's Rock The Bells Festival will undoubtedly be the hologram appearances of deceased hip-hop legends Ol' Dirty Bastard with the Wu-Tang Clan, and Eazy-E with Bone Thugs-N-Harmony. After the appearance of Tupac Shakur with Dr. Dre at Coachella in 2012, holograms have been all the rage in hip-hop, but few realize how much work goes into recreating a deceased star. For Eazy-E and ODB, it was a family affair.
The toughest part, said Rock The Bells organizer Chang Weisberg, was getting the respective families of each rapper on board, and not just for legal reasons. The family members, being the people who look, sound and know their loved ones best, form the key component in constructing a hologram.
"The family members were involved with the creation of the avatars," Weisberg confirmed.
In the case of Eazy-E, the former leader of rap group N.W.A., three members of his family contributed facets of themselves to make the display. Rapper Lil Eazy E (Eric Wright Jr.) provided the body for the rapper, and his brother E3 (Derrick Wright) provided the voice. Most surprisingly, Eazy-E's face will be that of his daughter Erin.
For ODB, the rapper's son Young Dirty Bastard stepped up to provide his father's body. His voice didn't sound anything like ODB however, so one of the rapper's cousins stepped in to provide vocals.
The performance is significant, as ODB's last performance with the Wu-Tang was at the 2003 Rock The Bells. Weisberg takes it seriously.
"I don't think RZA or the estates would trust anyone else to do this," said Weisberg, who has worked with the Wu-Tang for more than a decade. "I look at it as an amazing opportunity for the families to come together on both sides."
