Tupac Shakur’s iconic ring sells at auction for three times its estimate
Published on Jul 28, 2023 at 4:22 PM (UTC+4)
by Alessandro Renesis
Last updated on Jul 28, 2023 at 5:05 PM (UTC+4)
Edited by
Kate Bain
This is arguably the most important ring in hip hop’s history.
It was worn by Tupac Shakur in his final public appearance before his death and it has just sold for crazy money through Sotheby’s.
In fact, it fetched nearly three times its pre-auction estimate.
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The ring was co-designed by Tupac himself as a way to celebrate his then newly-inked deal with Death Row Records.
The rap star wore the ring at the 1996 MTV Video Music Awards on September 4, just nine days before his death.
The music video for California Love, starring Tupac, Dr. Dre and Roger Troutman, was nominated for Best Rap Video.
When MTV asked Tupac how he felt about ‘losing’ the award, the rapper responded in style.
“No, I didn’t lose, see, ’cause I sold 6.5 million copies so I won,” Tupac said.
The rapper was wearing six rings in total during the interview but if you squint, you can spot the ring in question on his right-hand ring finger.
The jewel-studded ring bears the inscription ‘Pac & Dada 1996’, a reference to the rapper’s engagement to his fiancée Kidada Jones.
Sotheby’s originally predicted the ring would sell for $300,000 but it ended up fetching $1,016,000 million.
The identity of the buyer remains unknown BUT just hours after the sale was finalized, Drake shared a picture of the ring in an instagram story.
He also tagged fellow rapper Travis Scott in the story.
What happened after Tupac’s last public appearance?
On September 7, 1996 – just three days after the MTV awards – Tupac was in Las Vegas to attend the Bruce Seldon v Mike Tyson boxing match at the MGM Grand.
After the match, Tupac was in a BMW 750iL with Death Row Records chairman Suge Knight.
At 11 PM, Tupac was shot four times in a drive-by shooting. He died a few days later.
The murder is still unsolved.
The BMW in question was put on sale for $1.7 million in 2021.
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