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Tupac fans worry that the Illuminati made a video disappear

Conspiracy theorists come up with all sorts of explanations for a missing Tupac Shakur video.

 

Fruzsina Eördögh

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Posted on Oct 31, 2011   Updated on Jun 3, 2021, 1:48 am CDT

Did the Illuminati, that shadow organization said to rule the world, take down an infamous Tupac Shakur music video?

Many YouTubers seem to think so.

About a month ago, the original “Hit ‘em Up” song by Tupac, which had roughly 60 million views,  was removed from YouTube.

Tupac’s “Hit ‘em Up” was a “diss” song, insulting East Coast rappers (during the East-Coast-West-Coast rapper rivalry), and the song hit controversial heights following Tupac’s death months later on Sept. 13, 1996. (No one was convicted for shooting Tupac, but East Coast rapper Biggie was a person of interest.)

YouTubers noticed the removal of the video almost immediately, and took to expressing their outrage via comments—with lots of profanity—on various Tupac videos. “YouTube will pay for this” is a common threat posted in the comments section.  

Even today, MegaSpeeddemon24 wrote “Didn’t dis video have like 60 mil views Smh” (smh is short for “shaking my head,” usually in disapproval).

Byuiso theorized “YouTube don’t want his message getting out,” while joshisakiller said (in all caps) the removal was due to people trying to “darken [tupac’s] shine… they’re still trying to destroy his image after death.”

Many YouTubers have taken to citing the Illuminati as responsible for the removal of the video, with many, again writing, that the Illuminati with “pay” for taking the video down.

“They deleted it, but Illuminati didn’t finish. Now they’re about to feel the wrath of a menace, YouTube we’ll hit you up….” commented VAlexRO21.

Many of these same YouTubers cite the dozens of Illuminati-Tupac conspiracy videos, some of which have been viewed almost two million times , as proof that the Illuminati was behind the removal of “Hit ‘em Up.”  

The Illuminati is said to be an all-powerful secret society, whose members include top CEOs of banks and even former United States presidents—and is a favorite  of conspiracy theorists.

The Tupac conspiracy videos assert Tupac was killed by the Illuminati because he was becoming too powerful, or because he had changed his “thug life” ways. Some videos include security footage purporting to show Tupac being beaten by security guards, and not rival rappers.

A YouTube spokesman told the Daily Dot via e-mail they don’t comment on individual videos, and referred this reporter to the community guidelines.  In general, YouTube only removes a video if it has been flagged by the community, or violates copyright infringement.

Both explanations are more plausible: “Hit ‘em Up” includes profanity—and the original video was not uploaded on a record label’s channel.

“Fuck this, they’re removing 2pac videos now? He’s dead, and they’re still trying to squeeze money outta his music! Is this youtube, or vevotube?” commented Koftabiatch123.

Other YouTubers, much like Elvis fans, refuse to believe that Tupac is dead. They’ve taken to posting videos featuring photos of Tupac with various popular singers, like with Beyonce, or with Rihanna (never mind that such photos could be photo-shopped).

Tupac being alive is considered an urban legend, and an article on Cracked.com breaks down how this claim came about. And just this year, the PBS site was hacked, with the hackers uploading a story on Tupac being alive and well in New Zealand.
 

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*First Published: Oct 31, 2011, 1:31 pm CDT