Sega Adds Tupac Shakur’s Likeness to 'Stranger Than Heaven'

Nearly 30 years after Tupac Shakur’s death, Snoop Dogg has helped introduce another digital use of the late rapper’s image — this time inside a video game.

Sega of America and RGG Studio announced during Summer Game Fest that Shakur will appear in “Stranger Than Heaven,” the upcoming action-adventure game from the studio behind the “Like a Dragon” series. The reveal comes as fans mark what would have been Shakur’s 55th birthday on June 16.

The moment immediately recalled Shakur’s famous 2012 Coachella appearance, when a digital projection performed alongside Dr. Dre and Snoop Dogg. This version is different: Shakur is being placed inside an interactive game as Amaru, a character created with approval and supervision from Amaru Entertainment, the company tied to his estate.

Snoop, who also appears in the game as a smuggler named Orpheus, introduced the reveal with his son, Cordell Broadus. During the presentation, Snoop said he, Broadus and the Tupac estate worked closely together on the inclusion.

“The Tupac estate and my son and myself, we work very closely together,” Snoop said, according to PC Gamer and Video Games Chronicle. “So it just made sense to put him in this game, because his likeness and his spirit still lives on.”

Sega said Shakur’s portrayal was created without artificial intelligence and with permission and continuing oversight from Amaru Entertainment. The company said RGG Studio based the character design on archival photographs and footage. More details about Amaru’s role are expected later.

That no-AI detail is important. Fans have already seen posthumous albums, hologram-style performances, deepfakes and digital recreations of late artists. Estate approval answers part of the question. It does not automatically settle how people will feel about seeing Tupac’s likeness used in a new crime drama three decades after his death.

“Stranger Than Heaven” follows Makoto Daito across a 50-year story that begins in 1915. The game moves through five Japanese cities and eras, mixing crime, show business and combat. Snoop’s Orpheus finds Makoto after he stows away on a ship bound for Japan, while Broadus also plays a role that has not been fully detailed.

The trailer did not explain how Shakur’s character fits into the story. It also did not show him speaking. That leaves the central question open: whether Amaru is a meaningful story role, a careful cameo or another example of entertainment finding new places to put a dead icon’s image.

Sega and RGG Studio are clearly trying to get ahead of that concern by emphasizing estate approval, archival materials and the absence of AI. Snoop’s involvement also gives the project a direct connection to Shakur’s world. The two were linked by Death Row Records, West Coast rap and one of hip-hop’s most scrutinized eras.

Still, fans will judge the finished game by what it does with Tupac, not by who introduced the trailer.

“Stranger Than Heaven” is scheduled for release Jan. 15, 2027. For now, the safest read is this: Tupac is not being brought back. His likeness is being licensed into a video game with his estate’s approval and Snoop Dogg’s public blessing. Whether that feels like tribute, strategy or something in between will depend on what players see when the game arrives.

Fred Alexander Jr., Drummer for Funk and R&B Band Lakeside, Dies

Fred Alexander Jr., longtime drummer for Lakeside, sits behind his drum kit in a photo shared by The Original Lakeside - Unfiltered. The group remembered Alexander as “our friend, our family and our band member of over 40 years.” (Photo Credit: The Original Lakeside - Unfiltered/Facebook)

Fred Alexander Jr., the Lakeside drummer whose pocket helped carry “Fantastic Voyage” from the funk era into old-school R&B memory, has died.

Alexander’s death was announced by bandmate Stephen Shockley in a social media post. A cause of death and funeral arrangements were not immediately announced.

“Today is a Very Sad Day for our band Lakeside because we lost Fred Alexander,” Shockley wrote, calling him “The little General” and “The Backbone to all of our Records.”

Alexander’s role in Lakeside went beyond the drum kit. He was the drummer, the timekeeper and, later, one of the people helping keep the band’s business and road life together.

Alexander joined Lakeside in 1977, just as the Dayton-born band was moving into the stretch that would define its recording legacy. Lakeside had come through the Midwest funk circuit, early label stops and industry false starts before finding its place with Dick Griffey’s Solar Records, the Los Angeles label that also became home to acts including the Whispers, Shalamar, Midnight Star and Klymaxx.

That Solar run made Lakeside one of the most reliable self-contained funk and R&B bands of its era. The group’s records were not built only around lead vocals or studio polish. They moved because the band could play.

Alexander was part of that engine.

On “It’s All the Way Live,” the band’s 1978 breakthrough, Lakeside turned a stage command into a groove. On “Fantastic Voyage,” its signature record, the group built a party anthem that became bigger than its original chart moment. The song reached No. 1 on Billboard’s R&B chart and later found another life in 1990s hip-hop when Coolio used it as the foundation for his own “Fantastic Voyage.”

Alexander’s role also extended into the group’s survival after its main chart years. A 2025 Truth in Rhythm interview described him as Lakeside’s general manager, and Shockley’s tribute pointed to the administrative weight Alexander carried inside the organization.

Cheryl 'Salt' James Brings Gospel Lift to Solo Rollout With 'Overcomers'

Cheryl “Salt” James appears in artwork for “Overcomers,” her new single featuring Erica Campbell. James, one half of Salt-N-Pepa, is building toward her debut solo album, “Salty N Lit,” after a run of major legacy honors for the pioneering rap group. (Photo Credit: Cheryl “Salt” James/Bandcamp)

Cheryl “Salt” James has spent four decades in hip hop history as part of a group voice — sharp, playful, direct and impossible to write around.

Now she is building a solo chapter in her own name.

James, one half of Salt-N-Pepa, released “Overcomers” on Friday, a new single with Grammy-winning gospel singer Erica Campbell. The song is the latest step toward James’ forthcoming debut solo album, “Salty N Lit,” which has been announced for spring/summer 2026.

On her Bandcamp page, James described “Overcomers” as “an anthem for my seasoned Queens,” framing the record around women who have carried struggle, faith, self-love and survival into another season of life.

That tone is not a break from the Salt-N-Pepa story so much as a narrowing of the lens. Salt-N-Pepa’s best records were never just party records, even when they filled the floor. “Push It,” “Expression,” “Let’s Talk About Sex,” “Shoop,” “Whatta Man” and “None of Your Business” moved through clubs, radio and video countdowns while pushing women’s voices deeper into rap’s center.

The solo material shifts the setting but not the spine. “Chosen” opened the rollout last year. “Kings & Queens” followed in January, with a video filmed at The Hip Hop Museum in the Bronx. “Diamonds in the Light” arrived in March. “Overcomers” brings Campbell into the frame, giving the project its clearest gospel connection yet.

The timing matters. James is releasing solo music after a run of institutional honors that has placed Salt-N-Pepa’s influence back in formal record. The group was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2025 in the Musical Influence category, with Missy Elliott presenting the honor. The Rock Hall describes Salt-N-Pepa as the first major all-female rap group to go both gold and platinum and the first to win a Grammy.

Salt-N-Pepa, with DJ Spinderella, also received the Hall of Fame honor at the 2026 NAACP Image Awards. At that ceremony, James did not simply keep the focus on the past. She used the moment to perform the opening verse of “Kings & Queens,” folding the solo work into the larger arc of the group’s legacy.

That is the more interesting story than a veteran rapper “stepping into a solo era.” James is not trying to outrun Salt-N-Pepa. She is working from inside the authority that catalog gave her, using it to speak more directly about faith, age, survival and purpose.

Hip-hop has not always known what to do with women who helped build the form and then refused to disappear into tribute packages. “Salty N Lit” arrives in that space: not as a comeback, exactly, and not as nostalgia. It is a late-career statement from an artist whose voice helped make room for women in rap to be funny, sexual, outspoken, spiritual, stylish, political and grown.

With “Overcomers,” James is not asking whether she still belongs in hip-hop’s story.

She is writing from the position of someone who already does.