2Pac’s Greatest Hits LP Enters Billboard Top 200 Thanks to Hologram

The 2Pac hologram paves the way for ‘Pac’s Greatest Hits album to land back on the charts for the first time since 2000…

There’s definitely power and lasting impact behind the 2Pac hologram at the Coachella music festival on Sunday (April 15).

That’s because Billboard Biz is reporting that 2Pac’s Greatest Hits album has re-entered the Billboard 200 chart for the first time since 2000, as it moved to No. 129 with 4,000 copies sold, according to Nielsen SoundScan. That’s a gain of a whopping 571% over the previous week. The legendary MC, who was tragically murdered back in 1996, also saw gains on classic albums like All Eyez On Me (2,000; up 95%) and Me Against the World (1,000; up 53%). The boost in album sales even had a trickle down effect on songs like “California Love,” and “2 Of Amerikaz Most Wanted,” which both seen gains in sales as well.

There’s no doubting the fanfare that the 2Pac hologram received a few weeks back, appearing on stage alongside Snoop Dogg and Dr. Dre. The virtual ’Pac’s popularity even sparked net rumors of Dre, Snoop and the 2Pac hologram heading out on tour.

However, Dre strongly refuted any such idea, commenting that the virtual ’Pac was only for Coachella.

“As you know, we had a hologram of Tupac Shakur show up as a part of our show, and I want to thank a couple of companies out there that made my idea come to life,” the West Coast pioneer began in a message to his fans, posted on the YouTube page of Interscope Records, where he is signed. “I wanna say what’s up to AV Concepts, who actually projected the hologram; I wanna say what’s up to Digital Domain for actually putting the image together—they did an incredible job and everybody out there loved it.

“It was strictly for Coachella—get it right,” Dre added. “I wanna get rid of all the rumors out there…this was not done for a tour. If a tour happens? We’ll see. This was done strictly for Coachella 2012, baby. Just for you.”

 

Dr. Dre and Snoop to beam in dead stars (2Pac and Nate Dogg) at Coachella

Dr. Dre and Snoop Dogg are headliners at the 2012 Coachella Music Festival. They will be using holographic technology to beam in for the performance both Nate Dogg and Tupac -- neither of whom is alive.

Barack Obama Calls Kanye West a Jackass Again

The Commander-in-Chief dubs ‘Ye, a fellow Chi-town native, a donkey for the second time in less than three years…

President Obama still thinks Kanye West is a jackass.

When writer David Samuels of The Atlanticrecently asked Obama about who he prefers, Jay-Z or Kanye West, the Commander-in-Chief gave the nod to Hova, before referring to ’Ye as a donkey once again.

“Although I like Kanye,” Obama told Samuels. “He’s a Chicago guy. Smart. He’s very talented.”

“Even though you called him a jackass?,” Samuels shot back, referring to 2009 interview footage, in which Obama originally called Yeezy a jackass.

“He is a jackass,” Obama said with a wink. “But he’s talented.”The comment marked the second time in less than three years that Obama has called Kanye, his fellow Chi-town native, a “jackass.” The first occasion came shortly after West’s meltdown during the 2009 MTV Video Music Awards at which Yeezy infamously interrupted country pop princess Taylor Swift’s acceptance speech for Best Female Video to proclaim that the Moonman should have went to Beyoncé.

“Yo, Taylor, I’m really happy for you, I’ma let you finish,” Yeezy said. “But Beyoncé had one of the best videos of all time,” he shrieked, even visibly horrifying Beyoncé herself who was seated in the front rows. “One of the best videos of all time.”

Although Obama may have been having fun with the comment, there are those who Kanye has seriously drawn the ire of. Last week, PETA (People For The Ethical Treatment of Animals) and Theraflu took exception to West’s new record, “Theraflu.”

G. Dep’s Murder Trial Begins With Opening Statements

G. Dep’s lawyer says there’s just too much inconsistencies to convict his client, while the Manhattan Assistant DA believes Dep’s startling confession to a murder more than 17 years ago is enough to book him…

Opening statements were delivered in the murder trial for rapper G. Dep in a New York court on Tuesday (April 10), his wife, Crystal Sutton.

Dep’s lawyer suggested Tuesday that there were too many inconsistencies to convict his client G. Dep, born Trevell Coleman, 37, according to the Associated Press.

The AP also reported that Manhattan Assistant District Attorney David Drucker countered by saying that the key evidence came from the “most reliable” source: the rapper himself.

In December 2010, Coleman walked into the New York Police Department’s 25^th Precinct in Harlem to make the startling confession that he shot and killed John Henkel in a botched robbery attempt back in 1993.

When asked why he confessed after 17 years in an exclusive interview conducted on Rikers Island last spring, Coleman said:

“I didn’t feel like I could keep going on, living my life—indulging in life and feeling the highs and lows and just basking in what I thought was a good life—knowing what I did affected someone else’s life.”

“It was the fact that I had children that I thought about stuff like that,” he continued in the interview. “I didn’t feel it was fair. I just wanted to take care of that, and have some resolve for the situation. I didn’t know what was going to be the outcome, but that was the only way I knew to deal with it.”

G. Dep released his debut album, Child of the Ghetto, back in November 2001, while being a signed artist for Bad Boy Records. The LP spawned hits such as “Special Delivery” and “Let’s Get It,” which features Diddy and helped spawn the Harlem Shake dance craze.