It’s the second weekend of Coachella 2012. Since the Pixies reunion in 2004, Coachella’s big press opportunity each year has been a high profile band reunion. In 2012, I’m most disgustingly jealous of everyone who heads over to see Refused and At The Drive In.
Last weekend however, the spotlight was stolen by Tupac Shakur’s guest spot during Snoop Dogg’s set. I can’t even count the number of times the video showed up in my Facebook and Twitter feed with some sort of “AWESOME BRO!” comment.
The animation was incredible. Appearing perfectly three-dimensional, perfectly to scale and performing a perfect montage of his greatest hits, Tupac’s performance was the creepiest, most disrespectful musical performances I’ve ever seen.
What really bothers me is that Dr Dre and Snoop Dogg took it upon themselves to have a human being re-animated. And, what’s worse, they put words in his mouth! Tupac was killed 3 years before the first Coachella festival, and yet in 2012 he took the stage exclaiming, “What the fuck is up, Coachella!” The vocal line and animation was not a projection of a past performance. It was a complete fabrication.
Most disturbing to me, is that the general public is eating this up. Has anyone stopped to consider that Tupac isn’t a character? He was a human being with a consciousness of his own. The “Tupac” performance was such a hit, that it’s now been suggested that we’re going to see “Michael Jackson” go on tour.
If my grandmother is ever brought back from grave with someone else’s words coming out of her mouth, I’m going to be pissed. Does celebrity mean that one loses the right to rest in peace? What do you think?
