On this date, September 13th, exactly sixteen years ago Tupac Shakur (aka 2Pac) died following being shot a week earlier in his well documented (but still unsolved) shooting in Las Vegas, NV on September 6th, 1996.  The iconic NY born rapper/poet/actor is much loved the world over but in the Bay Area he seems to be especially beloved since it was in the Bay that he began his illustrious rap/hip-hop career. Back on June 16th, when the slain rapper would have celebrated his 41st birthday, there were several parties dedicated to him thrown in the Bay Area including one at Yoshi's with a performance from Digital Underground (the group he rose to fame with) while the two Bay Area Amoeba Music stores witnessed an increased interest in his music on that day.

But then 2Pac is always a hot item at the record store where record collectors are constantly digging for those countless 12" singles released during his lifetime and posthumously.  As well as in the three Amoeba stores fans can check for Pac material online from the Amoeba Music Online Shop where you can find such classic 2Pac releases as All Eyez on Me,  Me Against the World,  2Pacalypse Now, and  Strictly 4 My N.I.G.G.A.Z) featuring the single "Keep Ya Head Up" (video above). There's lots more 2Pac items available from the Amoeba Online Store Tupac Page including the dope 2Pac poster pictured left. This B+W commemorative poster, which sells for $12, is 24" by 36" and is shipped by Amoeba in a sturdy. durable poster tube. Rest in Peace Pac.

Tupac Shakur may have left this earth a full sixteen years ago come this September 13th (the anniversary of his 1996 death - the result of that infamous/unsolved shooting in Las Vegas, NV) but the beloved NYC to the Bay iconic rapper/actor, also known as 2Pac, Pac and Makaveli, is still very much with us to this day whether it be via his music getting played on the radio, his continued album sales at stores like Amoeba Music (he remains one of the best selling artists of all time), or his much talked about recent hologram appearance at Coachella during Dr. Dre/Snoop Dogg's performance two months ago.

And with today (Saturday June 16th, 2012) marking what would have been Pac's 41st birthday, many are celebrating the occasion as if Pac himself were here to enjoy the festivities. All over parties and events are being thrown in his honor (expect to hear a lot of Pac on the radio today too) including a special one in San Francisco tonight at Yoshi's with a performance from Digital Underground; the Bay Area based group that he first came to fame through back in the early nineties when he started out as roadie, dancer, and later rapper. Also on the bill tonight is an appearance by Bobby Seale - the famed 75 year old co-founder of the Black Panther Party of which both Pac's parents were members. Note that tonight's 10:30pm show is a benefit for the National Alumni Association of the Black Panther Party (NAABPP). More info on Yoshi's San Francisco Tupac celebrations here.

This is a joke and NOT really the lineup for next year's Coachella Festival in SoCal. The hilariously funny (in my opinion) fake "Coachella Exclusively Hologram Lineup" flyer above surfaced late yesterday online in response to the much talked about Tupac Shakur hologram appearance during Dr. Dre with Snoop Dogg's closing set on Sunday night last - and takes to a funny extreme the theory I predicted in the Amoeblog (Will Realistic Tupac Hologram Performance @ Coachella Signal A New Era Of Famous Deceased Artists in Concert?) I wrote in the hours following the end of last weekend's closing performance concert by Dr Dre. Note that weekend two of Coachella 2012 happens this Friday, Saturday, & Sunday (April 20, 21, & 22) with the same lineups as last weekend including Dr. Dre with real and hologram guests.  Find details here.

     

Never got to see Elvis Presley, James Brown, Frank Sinatra, Jimi Hendrix, John Lennon, Michael Jackson, Thin Lizzy with Phil Lynott, Gang Starr's Guru, Wu-Tang Clan with ODB, Bob Marley, Biggie, J-Dilla, Mac Dre or 2Pac in concert when they were alive? No worries. Now you can, or likely will soon be able to, see any deceased artist "live" in concert via the latest advanced, almost lifelike use of holograms if the success of last night's Coachella 2012 Festival is any indicator. During the SoCal festival's closing set last night by Dr Dre when, using state of the art high-tech 3D images of the deceased rapper, the late great Tupac Shakur (aka 2Pac) performed both a song by himself and then a collaboration on stage with Snoop Dogg.

Now while holograms are not new - even their use in big concert settings has already been done like last year when hologram technology was utilized by Mariah Carey who simultaneously did five different concerts across Europe - the profound impact of last night's lifelike Pac appearance is bound to have a major impact on use of the technology in concert settings.

As seen in above video the eerily lifelike hologram image of Shakur, who was gunned down dead 16 years ago, was simultaneously brilliant and spooky. The projected hologram was extremely realistic (even more so when you see it in person and not via video) right down to every little mannerism of the famous murdered rapper that it was like he was really there - and you could tell from the howls of the crowd that the audience members were really feeling it too.

1) Eminem Recovery (Aftermath, Interscope, Shady)

2) The Roots How I Got Over (Def Jam)

3) Drake Thank Me Later (Cash Money Records)

4) Nas + Damian Marley Distant Relatives  (Republic)

5) Reflection Eternal Revolutions Per Minute (Blacksmith/Rawkus/Warner Brothers)

This week's number one with a bullet at Amoeba Hollywood is the new Eminem album Recovery which many, including the artist himself, say is way better than his previous full-length release, last year's Relapse. In fact, on the new album track "Cinderella Man" the rapper goes so far as to label Relapse "trash." He goes even further on the new album track "Talkin 2 Myself," rapping, "Them last two albums didn't count," in reference to Relapse and its predecessor, 2004's Encore. "Encore, I was on drugs, Relapse, I was flushin' em out. I've come to make it up to you now," he promises of Recovery. The album finds the artist in full confessional mode, admitting his past pill addiction and also the weight he gained. "I'm hatin' my reflection, I walk around the house tryin' to fight mirrors / I can't stand what I look like yeah / I look fat," he raps on the song "Going Through Changes." Production wise, noticeably absent this time out is his longtime studio partner Dr Dre, who only produces the one track, "So Bad," which is one of Recovery's most instantly accessible songs. The rest of the production credit is split between a crew of producers, including Just Blaze, Jim Jonsin, and Boi-1da.