After a group of roommates went viral with their ‘basic’ Christmas card in 2016, they knew that they had to do everything to make 2017’s even better.
And it looks like Denver-based Austin Liberato, 30, and his roommates Daniel Carrig, 25, and Lizzy Braun pulled it off and then some after gaining online fame once again, this time by parodying an image of raps most famous stars.
Back in 1996, the members of the Death Row Records family were shot for a dramatic portrait for Vibe Magazine.
Cool customers: Denver roommates Austin Liberato, Daniel Carrig and Lizzy Braun and their dog Theodore parodied the Death Row Records rappers for their Christmas card
The original: Snoop Dogg, Dr. Dre, Tupac, and Suge Knight were shot for the portrait for Vibe Magazine back in 1996
The original image centers on four famous faces: Snoop Dogg, Dr. Dre, Tupac, and Suge Knight. Each appearing with just their faces, jewelry and a hand here or there.
For their new Christmas card, Austin, Daniel and Lizzy decided to take their own run at the classic portrait, even displaying some bling to match.
At the top of the card is Daniel, who mimics Dr. Dre’s pose by peering out the side of his eye as his face just emerges from darkness.
Austin takes the place of Tupac, complete with a bracelet and necklace, resting his face against his hand.
The bottom of the image is occupied by Lizzy’s version of the morose Suge Knight, giving off a stern look with a thumb against her chin.
Although all of the roommates nail their respective poses, it is the final participant – their dog Theodore – who truly takes the cake.
Previous success: Austin and his previous male roommates gained some attention last year for their ‘basic’ get-ups
The pooch appears professionally stoic, strategically placed in Snoop Dogg’s area of the image, sporting a golden chain for his dog tag.
Part-time photographer Austin subsequently shared the image on Reddit, writing: ‘This year’s Christmas card with the roommates turned out better than the expected.’
‘I posted it around 10pm my time and fell asleep,’ Austin told Yahoo. ‘I woke up to 50,000 upvotes on Reddit and about 20 texts from different friends asking if it was me in the photo. It was a fun morning!’
While not going quite as huge, Austin’s effort last year, featuring an image of himself and his two male roommates wearing ‘basic’ clothes such as a crop-top, puffy vest and ‘Namastay in Bed’ shirt.
The card went viral after it was picked up and shared by the @brosbeingbasic Instagram account.