Tupac Shakur has arrived at a type of Saint Hood status within both the urban and Hip Hop communities. How do I arrive at this assessment you ask? The reaction to Dr. Dre and Snoop Dogg using Tupac’s hologram image has been similar to those reactions from religious communities in response to the defamation of, say, Jesus or Saint Mary. It was made clear that Dre and Snoop had walked a thin socio-spiritual line when they used Shakur’s image. Conversely, the positive emails I received from former students, youth, and adults alike about Tupac’s “appearance” were also noteworthy. It was as if the “Saint” had re-appeared in his common setting to entertain from the grave in a ghostly holographic image echoing rumors that he was still alive. Still,  C-Bo called Dre and Snoop “vultures” and “parasites” for using the image. C-Bo was “offended” by the use as he felt Tupac is a sort of “hallowed ground.” Max Eddy considers the “Tupac hologram a fascination with resurrection” and that it is “distressing.” Eddy asserts that, “The Tupac Hologram is most distressing as it’s an entertainer completely stripped of its humanity.” And even Joe Carter discusses the “resurrection” significance within the performance.

Death brings with it a certain social protection for most individuals. For example, my grandfather never really had a good relationship with people. However, at his funeral an overwhelming majority of the people talking about him remembered the “positive” memories. Death tends to give the individual a shield posthumous for their name and character. Yet, with Tupac, there is a certain hallowedness that fans have when his image is misused or defamed. In comparison, the Mexican American pop-star Selena has the same social status among her followers—slander her name, and you are liable to, at worse, be killed yourself. Tupac, it would appear, is at the same level as that (although to my knowledge no one has been killed recently over slander of Tupac’s name).

Partly because of what Tupac represented to and for so many people. He was their voice, their theological reference, their place of examining pain, meaning creator in times of need. Therefore, it should be of no surprise that Tupac is as protected as he is and that some of the reactions received regarding this hologram are that of frustration and anger.

What I find equally as interesting is the technology used to create this image of Tupac. In some scenes

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