2Pac’s holographic appearance at Coachella this year may be the most overhyped/coolest thing I’ve ever seen.  If you haven’t seen it yet, view the video below:

I’ve heard from multiple people that it was better on video that it was in person, but it’s still pretty technologically amazing.  This article from the Atlantic has a different take on it.  A profoundly critical one.  Take a look:

And much like Spinal Tap, Hologram Tupac carries traces of graying desperation. Dre’s The Chronic turns 20 years old this year, and with the exceptions of Wiz Khalifa and Kendrick Lamar none of the vaunted lineup of guests onstage for Dre and Snoop’s set represented fresh talent. Eminem and 50 Cent are household names but well removed from the best music of their careers. Warren G is a sentimental favorite; Kurupt is the answer to a trivia question.

Dr. Dre is 47 years old, Snoop is 40, and Hologram Tupac is forever 25. Hip-hop may have finally aged into an era of Oldies Revues—lavish and ludicrously expensive Oldies Revues, but Oldies Revues nonetheless—and Hologram Tupac stands as a marker of faux vitality, a callback to glory days, a nod to a crowd geeked on nostalgic sentiment. Seen in this light, Hologram Tupac starts to feel crass and exploitative, a mutually agreed-upon sham between performer and audience, the high-tech evolution of the Elvis impersonator.

I don’t think I felt that strongly about it.  I was more impressed from the tech side of things than anything else.  I guess I never gave it a second thought.  Give us your thoughts below.

There’s so much that could be be said about the Beastie Boys’ MCA.  At 47, he died way too soon.  After fighting cancer for a few years, he finally lost the fight and has, hopefully, moved on to a better place.  It’s an unbelievably tragedy to his family and a huge loss to the hip hop community as a whole.

The Beastie Boys were pioneers of the art form, and did more to expand hip hop horizons than half of the records of the last decade combined.  They were unabashedly passionate, and minorly rebellious.  They won over listeners from the suburbs to the city.

Rest in peace, Adam.

Check out the classic Sabotage, below.

The Beastie Boys kept things pretty interesting, even in the last few years.  They released a full-length short film titled Fight for your Right.  It just goes to show how many people they reached, because this star studded film has some pretty unexpected (and fantastic) cameos.

Adair Lion has been getting some good press out of this lately, particularly because he calls out Lil’ Wayne and Kanye in the track.  Give it a listen. 

“I wasn’t earning enough money to support my family, so I decided to get some extra income by putting my record collection up for sale,” Gershenz tells NPR’s Scott Simon. “I opened the store, built some shelves with the help of a rabbi friend of mine and, little by little, the music took over.”

Gershenz turns 90 next month. He and his shop are the subject of a new short film by Richard Parks, Music Man Murray. The filmmaker says he first visited the store as a teenager.

“It’s kind of like a temple when you go inside,” Parks says. “It doesn’t feel like you’re in a record store. It feels like you’re in someone’s personal collection.”

There is a interesting video out there covering this story that is worth a view.

Holy crap.  32 more chapters of R. Kelly’s trapped in the closet are coming soon.

May someone have mercy on all of us.

NPR has a really fascinating look at the rise of Trip Hop, starting from its humble origins in Bristol, UK.    It’s written in a romantic and nostalgic way, and includes language so pregnant with meaning it may actually need a c-section before you’re finished reading the article.  Case in point:

The sensuous groove fulfilled a timeless human need for a bass-heavy sound to touch the secret recesses of the imagination and lure our dreamworld onto the dance floor. Trip-hop was tailor-made for the moment — and it happens every night — when a bopper wants to get tender. Or when domestic listeners seek to wander within themselves.

It’s still a pretty great read, especially if you’re like me and still love to wander the streets with some Massive Attack whenever you start feeling introspective.

Not a bad trick if you have some good headphones with not enough padding.  All you need is some velcro and some additional padding.

Check out their first track here:

Or watch their video:

It’s a far way from Jesus Walks, but worth a look all the same.

Here’s some never before seen footage of Yeezy and a then partner in rhyme Phenom rocking in Chi-Town at the legendary Double Door spot. As you can see Kanye’s energy and voice is relatively the same all these years later, the video captures a teenage Ye, approximately 18 or 19 since this was recorded circa 1996. Take a look and listen to the rhymes he was kicking, very ATCQ influenced (in my ear’s opinion)..the hook on the first song takes a line off ODB’s “Brooklyn Zoo”. At the end of his set (2:10), a very winded and confident Mr. West proclaims “Kanye represent the sexy niggas, fly niggas”..yeah that’s the Kanye we know, alright.

Check it out.

COD CREW & WU TANG NINTENDO VIDEO from WEN1COD on Vimeo.

Props: TheRapUp