The conspiracy theory that Tupac Shakur is still alive has been around for 25 years, and despite being debunked time and time again, it continues to persist.

The late rapper has been the subject of numerous headlines and new sightings reported in monthly tabloids, as well as featuring in a Snoop Dogg video and fronting the new season of Supreme as a hologram.

This all stems from the belief that Tupac faked his death after being shot in a drive-by shooting in Las Vegas on September 13, 1996 and escaped to Cuba.

One of the latest theories suggests that Tupac was flown out of Las Vegas by helicopter after a double switch, and is now hiding out in New Mexico.

Filmmaker Rick Boss, the director of the documentary 2Pac: The Great Escape from UMC, claims that the late rapper’s family is aware of the film and is “okay with the title.”

However, this still fails to explain why the conspiracy continues to persist.

The posthumous life of Tupac has been just as active as his life was, with seven of his eleven platinum albums being released after his death.

He has also headlined Coachella and been featured in Kendrick Lamar’s album.

Tupac’s posthumous album “Makaveli” was being marketed while his body was still warm, with billboards that read “Listen very carefully” and a music video for the lead single “Hail Mary,” which featured Tupac rising up from the earth to murder his enemies.

The Tupac conspiracy was perpetuated by Death Row CEO Suge Knight and the Tupac Shakur estate, managed by his mother Afeni Shakur.

Suge Knight suggested in a TV interview that “With Pac, you never know” and his son claimed Pac was living in Malaysia and working on a new album.

The 1997 music video for “I Wonder if Heaven Got a Ghetto” added to the conspiracy, with Tupac arriving by helicopter in the desert just a day after his murder.

Tupac’s lyrics also played a role in perpetuating the conspiracy, with references to plots to overthrow his enemies and surviving being shot.

On “I Ain’t Hard 2 Find,” he raps, “I heard rumors I died / murdered in cold blood, dramatized / pictures of me in my final state / you know momma cried / but that was fiction / some coward got the story twisted.”

These lyrics have been interpreted by fans as references to his 1996 murder rather than the five shots he survived in 1994.

The people who own Tupac’s music must have been aware of the power behind the confusion and the potential for a lucrative business decision.

The Tupac conspiracy continues to mutate, with people continuing to believe that the late rapper is still alive in Cuba.