T-Pain shared an unreleased collaboration with Oliver Tree in honor of the musician just two weeks after his shocking death.
The rapper, real name Faheem Rashad Najm, was performing with Shaquille O’Neal, aka DJ Diesel, at the Electric Forest festival in Michigan in the late hours of Saturday, June 27, when he unveiled the new track, per social media footage.
Fan clips captured the emotional moment when T-Pain, 41, rolled out a video montage of clips of the late Tree as the track played.
The song’s public release came two weeks after Tree died in a mid-air helicopter collision over Brazil’s Rio de Janeiro. He was 32 years old.
Singer-songwriter Oliver Tree has reportedly died. He was 32. Two helicopters crashed into one another in southwest Rio de Janeiro on the morning of Sunday, June 14, according to a same-day report from CNN Brazil. According to the outlet, Tree was one of six fatalities from the reported crash. Further details about the reported collision […]
In T-Pain’s video montage, Tree was seen performing, riding a scooter down multiple hills and goofing around with friends. As the throwback videos played, T-Pain held his hand in the air before asking the crowd to wave their arms from side to side in unison.
T-Pain and Tree were known to be close friends, with the former often hosting the latter on his “Nappy Boy Radio Podcast.”
T-Pain Ethan Miller/Getty Images
News of Tree’s death circulated online after CNN Brazil reported on the fatal helicopter incident that occurred on June 14. The outlet stated at the time that two helicopters had crashed into one another, resulting in the death of six people including Tree. There were no survivors.
The musician and artist had been traveling in Brazil as part of his world tour at the time. After performing in São Paulo on June 6, Tree was scheduled to take to the stage in Lisbon, Portugal on July 1.
A spokesperson for Rio de Janeiro’s State Civil Police Press Office told USA Today in the collision’s aftermath that an investigation was being conducted to determine the “causes of the aircraft crash.”
Oliver Tree Rob Kim/Getty Images for iHeartRadio
Once a forensic examination that was conducted at the scene is finalized, the Aeronautical Accidents Investigation and Prevention Center will release its report. The outlet added that preliminary reports indicated that the falling helicopters crashed “into the parking lot of an electric car dealership, igniting a fire that consumed at least 20 vehicles.”
Tree’s team revealed via an Instagram post on Sunday, June 21, that his body had been recovered and transferred to California. The post, shared via Tree’s official account, also announced that he will be honored via a forthcoming foundation. “His legacy will live on through his foundation/endowment named ‘Dr. Oliver Tree’s Extremely Epic Grant For Baby Geniuses’ coming soon,” the post stated. “This is something that Oliver had put together before his passing, written in his will. We will make sure his wish comes to fruition so that more joy, love and art can be spread into the world, that was his final wish.”
T-Pain shared his own tribute to Tree via Instagram in the wake of his friend’s death. “Thanks for sharing your art and for always being different in the best way possible. See you on the brighter side,” T-Pain wrote hours after the news broke.