Over the past week, the world has been mourning the death of beloved Black Panther star Chadwick Boseman. Who passed away following a private battle with colon cancer, at just 43. 

Footage has surfaced of Boseman performing a Tupac song as part of a workshop for the 2014 Kenny Leon-directed musical, Holler If Ya Hear Me.

Boseman was set to star in the musical alongside Hamilton actor Christopher Jackson. However, just before the musical was set to launch on Broadway, Boseman was offered the role of James Brown in the film Get On Up.

Leon recalled: ““I remember him coming to me, this was right before we went to Broadway, and he said, ‘I told you I wanted to come to Broadway, but I just got this offer do this film.

“‘What should I do? I want to do this play.’ I said, ‘Chad, you gotta do the film. You have to go out West for a while.’”

In the wake of his death, Leon took to Twitter to share footage of Chadwick Boseman and Christopher Jackson workshopping the play. The pair can be seen dueting on Tupac’s 1996 song ‘I Ain’t Mad At Cha’.

“There’s no one quite like him,” Leon added. “When I posted the video, I was surprised at how surprised people were that he could do that. He was equally great in everything he touched.”

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He continued, “If you notice in that rehearsal and those videos, the ensemble is sitting around.

“You usually see people if they have to move a prop, but these actors were sitting there, focused on Chadwick. Who demands attention from fellow artists even in rehearsal? He brought himself 100% to every rehearsal. He was in performance mode, every rehearsal.”

Since the Tony-winning director shared the footage, there has been a push to find a way to release the entire filmed musical performed by Boseman.

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