T-Pain paid tribute to the late Oliver Tree in a powerful way over the weekend.
The rapper surprised fans at Electric Forest over the weekend by debuting an unreleased collaboration they recorded together before Tree’s death earlier this month, according to TMZ. The emotional moment took place during T-Pain’s back-to-back set with Shaquille O’Neal aka DJ Diesel at the Michigan festival.
Fan-recorded footage captured a preview of the track, which begins as a slow, reflective song with Tree singing about chasing dreams before building into a high-energy dance song. As the music played, a montage of Tree appeared on the giant screen behind the performers, making the debut a heartfelt tribute.
Tree died on June 14 at the age of 32 after a helicopter collision over Recreio dos Bandeirantes, a neighborhood in southwestern Rio de Janeiro. Six people were killed in the crash, and authorities are still investigating what caused the crash.
T-Pain, born Faheem Rashad Najm, paid tribute to his friend on social media on the day he died by sharing a video from a meeting in 2023.
“I will never forget this lesson from Oliver or the time we had [Nappy Boy Radio podcast]. Thank you for sharing your art and for always being different in the best possible way. See you on the bright side,” he wrote.
In the clip, the pair hug before Tree jokes, “Isn’t it cool that we’re both DJs now? We’re done with singing!”
