Tupac Hologram Performance Goes Viral

"I’m a ghost in these killing fields" - Tupac Shakur at Coachella 2012

The Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival held in Indio, California opened on April 13 and will continue until April 22. One particular “performance” brought fans across the country together to cherish a rapper who hadn’t been in concert since his death in 1996.

            Tupac Shakur, also known as 2Pac, was an American rapper raised in New York City. Through his multiple albums with top-charting hits, Tupac had reached fans around the country. In 1996, his sudden murder brought a blanket of despair and loss across the United States. Shakur’s murder, still unsolved today, was thought to be the end of his career. However, during the Coachella festival, Tupac had risen for one last performance.

            Tupac’s live performace with Snoop Dogg and Dr. Dre at the Coachella Festival brought tears for fans around the country.Hollywood’s special effects studio, Digital Domain, created a 5 minute hologram performance of Tupac. They studied his actions, speech, and behaviors during his life to replicate a show just as he would have performed it when he was alive. It was estimated to have cost over $400,000 to produce. Because of his musical success, his “rebirth”went viral through the use of mass communication.

            Snoop Dogg, who was featured with Dr. Dre in Tupac’s show, posted a link on his Facebook page. Within hours, the post had over 70,000 Facebook “likes” and nearly 5,000 comments. Fans from everywhere flooded the YouTube video to see the performance.

            2Pac.com, the official webpage of Shakur, posted a discussion titled, “Coachella Resurrection” hours after the release of the video performance. Numerous fans commented on the post. John Lopez of Las Vegas, Nevada stated, “Tupac wasn’t the only thing that was resurrected last night…that performance resurrected a lot in ourselves…RIP.” The Huffington Post wrote, "Twitter was set ablaze by the performance". The famous pop singer, Katy Perry, tweeted, "I think I might have cried when I saw Tupac. #coachella." while Wiz Khalifa tweeted, "That Was The Best Shit I Seen In My Life!"

           Regardless of Tupac being dead or alive, his impact on society still lingers. Technology such as Facebook or Twitter can attract a lot of attention and has the ability to produce such a high reaction from fans and celebrities.