2Pac Hologram Performance Opens Doors in Music World

Photo Credit: http://cdn.psfk.com/ Photo of Hologram on right

Tupac Shakur, American rapper, was shot and killed in 1996.

                Tupac Shakur performed at Coachella festival in 2012.

                                Last weekend, at the Coachella Music Festival in southern California, fans were astonished as they watched Shakur perform with fellow rappers Snoop Dogg and Dr. Dre.

                What seemed like a miracle and perhaps the answer to fans prayers was merely a hologram of Shakur.

                Shakur appeared on the stage with detail so real it was hard for fans to process.

                The hologram showed every piece of Shakur from his abs to his tattoo bearing, “Thug life.”

                Shakur reached to the sky and his fans screaming out to his fellow rappers Dre and Snoop, whom answered back as if he was the real thing.

                Seconds later Shakur addressed the fans themselves and the concert screaming, “What is up Coachella?” A personalized shout out to fans from 2Pac, enough to give fans goosebumps.

               Shakur opened up with a performance of his once hit song “Hail Mary” and then performed the song “America’s Most Wanted” with Snoop.

                Snoop and Shakur interacted with one another dancing with each other and conversing back and forth.

          Coachella is a music festival that shows bands varying from The Black Keys to Dr. Dre.

              

           The festival created a hologram to portray Shakur performing on stage with his fellow rappers, something that has not been seen since Shakur’s death in ’96.

                The realistic look of the hologram was mind boggling.

                The ability to have a deceased, legendary performer like Shakur to appear again this day in age is a huge step in the music industry.

                This opens up doors in the industry because it can result in the public being able to view deceased artists who died decades ago once again.

                Elvis Presley, Janis Joplin, Whitney Houston, Kurt Cobain are all legends.

                This hologram can allow for the reincarnations of music legends.

                “It wasn't some cheap acting, it was like he was actually there; the gestures, the tone, the enthusiasm...everything which 2Pac embodies in rap was 100% apparent in the performance,” according college student Umar Asif.

                Asif explained that the performance of the hologram was so realistic it was like watching the real-life Shakur, something he has always dreamed of.

                Technology like this allows for people who were too young to enjoy a musician like Shakur before he died to now being  able to experience his stage presence and feel as though they seeing the real thing.

                This allows for an opening to allow the musicians music to stay in the industry and to never be forgotten.

                “For '90s rap lovers like myself, it was even more touching to see that the legacy of a visionary like himself is still very rooted in contemporary music,” said Asif. “His impact on the world of rap won't be forgotten for a long time, if ever.”

                Bob Marley, Frank Sinatra, Jimmi Hendrix the list of legends goes on and on.

                Some people find the hologram performance to be morbid, and in a way it is.

                Bringing someone metaphorically back from their resting place to perform once again and then leaving fans and loved ones to once again have to deal with their passing.

                However, this also allows for music fans to have the ability to become closer to the musicians that they once loved.

                Fans play legend’s songs, musicians cover their songs and DJs mix their songs into mash-ups to keep their legacy going.

                Well if we can continue to play the music of a legend that has passed, why can’t we watch them perform it? Is that not the same as watching an old music video?

                “As an avid listener of 2Pac, seeing his "reincarnation" at the Coachella music festival was something that I could only dream of,” said Asif.

                This opens a lot of doors and possibilities in the music world.

 Now that we know that the music industry holds the technology capable of producing such things, you can’t help but wonder where this could go next.

                “I had no idea that such technology was available, and the scale of perfection of which it offered was eerily astonishing because it felt like watching a ghost in action,” said Asif.

                Full concerts, tours containing multiple legends, appearances in music videos, the possibilities are endless with what can happen with this ability.

                At the Coachella performance with Shakur, it showed Snoop and Dre interacting with the hologram and performing a song like the group did years ago.

                I personally would pay money to see a performance of Nirvana together again with a Kurt Cobain hologram.

                Although it would not be the real thing, it would be the closet I could ever get to seeing Cobain perform.

                It would allow for a fan to enjoy the concert atmosphere while watching a realistic performance from their once favorite artist.

                This is more thrilling than sitting and watching an old music video on YouTube.

                Cobain was the front man of the punk rock band Nirvana who took his own life in 1994.

                Perhaps doing another performance like this with a hologram of a legend may make the event lose its greatness, however, for fans of music legends I think it leaves us wanting more.

                Fans can do nothing but sit, wait and hope that maybe the next ghost from legends past, will be their idol.