Tupac Shakur would’ve turned 44 years old today (June 16th). The west coast legend lost his life at the young age of 25 and his impact on hip-hop ever since has been of the utmost importance.

Jhene Aiko, the talented singer who was only 8 years old at the time of Pac’s death, has had a special connection to Tupac ever since she watched the 2003 documentary, “Tupac: Resurrection.” She’s since paid homage to the west coast icon on multiple occasions, but for what would have been his 44th birthday, Jhene took the homage-paying to the next level.

The “groceries” singer teamed up with photographer Danny Williams and MTV to recreate three of Pac’s most iconic photos. She also gave MTV an exclusive interview to coincide. Read some quotes from the interview:

When she got the inspiration to recreate the photos

“I would say like a few years ago. It’s been a few years, but every birthday of his I always want to do something. I feel like I have to give his legacy some type of present.”

How did things change for you after seeing “Resurrection?”

“I remember getting home from watching that and just feeling so inspired and I wrote this long journal entry about how inspired I was and motivated. I was so in awe of his story that I just dove in. I got books and I tried to find everything about Tupac. I started watching all the interviews, I started becoming obsessed and it wasn’t about the music at that point. It was about him as a person and what he did as far as aside from music.”

Read the full interview here and click the following page to see the three re-created photos. Happy Birthday Tupac!