Tupac's albums and singles see a sales bump in the weeks following his hologram appearance at Coachella.
Following Tupac’s appearance as a hologram at the Coachella 2012 festival, sales have spiked for the late rapper.
According to Billboard.biz, his performance during Dr. Dre and Snoop Dogg’s headlining set prompted a re-entry for his Greatest Hits album on the Billboard 200 where his album returns at No. 129 with 4,000 copies sold, a 571 percent increase over the prior week. It’s the first time the LP has made it onto the chart since 2000.
Additionally, his albums All Eyez on Me and Me Against the World also saw a sales bump, moving 2,000 and 1,000 units, respectively.
His tracks “Hail Mary” and “2 of Amerikaz Most Wanted,” both of which were performed at Coachella, had increased sales as well. The former cut moved 13,000 downloads last week for a 1,530 percent sales increase, while the latter sold 9,000 units.
Former Death Row Records CEO Suge Knight reveals that no one saw Tupac dead, says he may be alive somewhere. An interview between former Death Row Records CEO Suge Knight and Tattoo and Cee Cee from Los Angeles’ 93.5 KDay took quite the interesting turn when the former CEO was questioned about remarks from people that believe he played a role in the death of rapper Tupac Shakur.
“I got a 45 inch bullet in my head. Into my skull by grabbing Tupac, pulling him down. That’s really what happened,” said Knight in an audio clip obtained by TMZ. “Second of all, people know what happened at the end of the day.” Knight later went on to reveal that no one saw Tupac dead and alluded to the fact that the rapper may in fact be alive and well somewhere. He also revealed that the man who cremated Tupac is now dead.
“Maybe the question is Pac really not dead. Pac’s somewhere else,” Knight explained. “I mean it’s the truth if you really look at it…Nobody seen Tupac dead. The thing is this the person who supposedly cremated Tupac, his mother wanted done quickly, he passed. So this guy got about three million dollars personally from me, cash. And next thing I know I never heard from the guy or seen him again.”
Knight’s interview with 93.5 KDay comes only days after a holograph image of Tupac performed at the Coachella Festival in California.
The quotables keeps coming with Suge Knight, as the former Death Row mogul threatened to put hands on Rick Ross.
While Suge Knight's wild speculations that Tupac may still be alive earned him a lot of publicity today, it looks like that wasn't the only memorable soundbite he dropped during his interview with 93.5 KDay. The former Death Row head honcho also threatened to put hands on Rick Ross over his song "Tupac Back."
Later in the interview with 93.5's Tattoo and Cee Cee, Suge Knight said that he will "beat the dog shit out of Rick Ross" if their paths ever cross. He explained that while he's not bitter to Rozay and actually enjoys his music, he feels it's extremely disrespectful that the MMG rapper would make a song titled "Tupac Back" when he maintains ties to Diddy, who Knight attributes to the murder of Tupac.
"I can't sit up here and say I'm bitter to Rick Ross, 'cus like anybody else, we don't know Rick Ross," Suge said. "That's a guy who uses somebody else's name. This guy comes from being a correctional officer. I don't got nothing negative [against him] personally, I just feel like he do do good music, and you can't take that from him. That boy got bars, he's gonna write…at the same time, I feel like there's a line you cross, and Rick Ross crossed that line. If you're gonna be with guy [Diddy] who killed Tupac, you can't go turn around and do a record [called] 'Tupac Back'…Rick Ross is a grown ass nigga. I'll beat the dog shit out of Rick Ross for manipulating these people out here."
Although the audio of the interview has yet to be officially published, 93.5 KDay is currently replaying the interview with Knight.
Dr. Dre says that the hologram was "strictly for Coachella" but that he hasn't entirely ruled out the possibility of taking it on tour.
Last weekend, Dr. Dre shocked attendees at Coachella by performing with a hologram of Tupac Shakur. But during a recent message thanking the fans, he killed rumors that he was going on tour with the technology and that it was strictly for the festival.
"It was strictly for Coachella, get it right. I want to get rid of all the rumors out there. This was not done for a tour," said Dre, who didn't entirely rule out the possibility. "If a tour happens, we'll see. This was done strictly for Coachella 2012, just for you."
Dre previously stated that he was in talks to take the hologram on tour, but he left it at that. Many weighed in on the technology, with rappers like Kendrick Lamar, Nas and Common praising the performance. C-Bo, on the other hand, said that Dre and Snoop Dogg were "vultures" for using Pac's image in that way.
Tupac fans must have done a double or triple take when they saw what the phenomenal advancement of technology can do. Looking like he did 16 years ago, tats and all and sounding as hard-core as the day he dropped his last rhyme, Tupac Shakur commanded the stage with his trademark edge, giving fellow rappers-- the ever cool and 'smoove' Snoop Dogg and Dr.Dre-- the rawness his fans enjoyed before he was gunned down in Las Vegas, Nevada on September 7, 1996 at the age of 25. He died 6 days later and fans everywhere were in shock.
Now they get a chance to see him perform again. Did he rise from the dead? No, just the modern marvel of holograms. Many said he looked so real, they were spooked for a minute. The hologram of the late rapper is indeed life-like. Check it out by clicking on the above video to witness 'a miracle:' 2 Pac is back, baby!
(Warning: video performance contains mature content and language that may be offensive to some).
Holograms might be new to the West but they are very popular in Japan and widely used. Singing sensation Hatsune Miku sells out stadiums in Asia and has millions of adoring fans. Many in Japan wait for hours to buy tickets to hear this popstar sing. The punchline? Miku is a hologram like Tupac. (Click on the link below to see this modern marvel perform).
The rapper, born Lesane Parish Crooks in East Harlem, New York June 26, 1971, later changed his name to Tupac Shakur but most called him by his stage name 2Pac. At the time of his murder, the young rapper sat at the top of the pile, along with rival Biggie Smalls better known as the Notorious B.I.G.. Smalls too was gunned down at the prime of his life on March 9, 1997 in Los Angeles. He was only 24.
Tupac sang about such violence and lived his life on the edge as well. To date, no was ever arrested or charged for his murder.
But whether he lived "The Thug Life" or not, he was good at what he did --so good that even in death, his music continued to sell, making him na serious contender on the Rap/Hip/Hop scene. By 2007, he had sold over 75 million albums worldwide.
Titled as 'Thug Life ' has been tattooed on none other than RihannaRihanna's knuckles after she took inspiration from Tupac who also had the same tattoo sprawled across his stomach.
The Only Girl In The World star then tweeted these pictures of herself with her fists clenched to show off the pale pink etching.She captioned:
'♫ All these b****es screaming that 2pac back ♫ #THUGLIFE.'
Last September, Rihanna was seen from the balcony of her hotel in Brazil with writing on her hands in a pink Sharpie pen.
She was was also seen hanging out with Machete actor Danny Trejo at the parlour. Later on she posed with her tattoo artist.
The 23-year-oldactress is a huge fan of tattoo as it is clear from the fact that she has already 14 to 15 tattooes scribbled on her skin including a music note on her ankle, a Pisces sign behind her right ear, the word 'love' on her left middle finger and a trail of stars on the back of her neck.
Jeezy reflects on his struggle to get his voice back in working condition.
Young Jeezy recently stopped by KYLD WILD 94.9 to speak with host Nessa, who asked the rapper to run down his top five rappers, dead or alive. During the interview, he revealed an unlikely assortment of emcees, a combination of the deceased and contemporaries.
“Tupac, B-Legit, Juvenile, Scarface and Jeezy,” he said, swapping out his own name at Nessa’s request. “Ice Cube,” he added.
The Snowman also reflected on hurting his vocal chords from not knowing how to properly perform. He said that his nine months off from recording was a learning experience, and that he’s far more invigorated following his recovery.
“Nobody ever taught me how to perform, in the studio or whatever. I just had to learn on my own, and I was yelling when I was performing and I tore my vocal chords. I wasn’t able to talk for nine months. I had to have surgery and it was just different, because I felt like I was going to lose my gift at that point. But I told myself that if I got through it, I was going to give it 180 percent and I got through it. So that’s where I’ve been at - at 180 percent.”
Detective Greg Kading says that key documents have been concealed. In his upcoming book Murder Rap, due October 4th, former LAPD Homicide Detective Greg Kading claims that the police department has “extensive tapes and documents” with confessions from those involved in the murders of Tupac Shakur and Notorious B.I.G.
According to LA Weekly, Kading was cut from the case right when he was approaching closing the file. An informant told Kading that he was offered $1 million to kill Tupac and Suge Knight, and that Sean “Diddy” Combs commissioned ‘Pac’s murder in September 1996.
Additionally, Suge Knight’s baby’s mother, identified as Theresa Swann, reveals that the former Death Row Records kingpin gave her the money to pay gang member Wardell “Poochie” Fouse to kill Biggie. Combs responded to the claims via email, stating, “This story is pure fiction and completely ridiculous.”
On the fifteenth anniversary of his untimely death, Atlanta University Center's Woodruff Library has opened up a special collection in honor of 2Pac.
Back in 2009, the Atlanta University Center Robert W. Woodruff Library announced that in conjunction with the Tupac Amaru Shakur Foundation, it had begun amassing the writings and personal works of rapper Tupac Shakur for a special educational collection. Now, on the fifteenth anniversary of Shakur's death, the two years of extensive research and collection has paid off with the official opening of the Tupac Amaru Shakur Collection for Scholarly Research.
According to a recent press release, the Woodruff Library has assembled over 30 boxes of handwritten song lyrics, poems, tracklists, video treatments, manuscripts and pieces of memorabilia from Pac's friends, family and collaborators. Some noteworthy pieces include a handwritten songbook featuring cuts from 2Pacalypse Now and original drafts of poems from The Rose That Grew from Concrete.
“We’re honored to have partnered with the Tupac Amaru Shakur Foundation to preserve the artistic legacy of Tupac Shakur through this collection,” said the CEO and director of the Woodruff Library Loretta Parham. “He transformed the landscape of hip hop culture and was one of the most compelling voices and talents of his generation. As an academic library, we feel privileged to be the stewards of the Shakur Collection and to promote for scholarly research.”
The total amount of materials featured in the collection spans between the years of 1969 to 2008, totaling over 11 linear feet in total. The collection will serve area universities, including Clark Atlanta University, Morehouse University and Spelman College.
