2Pac’s crown ring that he wore back in 1996 has become the most valuable Hip Hop artifact ever after selling for $1 million at a Sotheby’s auction.
According to CBS News, the sought-after piece of jewelry sold for well over Sotheby’s pre-sale estimate of between $200,000 and $300,000 on Tuesday (July 25).
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The auction was held to celebrate 50 years of Hip Hop, and included a plethora of other rare items such as RZA’s E-mu SP-1200 sampler and drum machine that he used to produce Wu-Tang Clan’s Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers), a custom-made De La Soul jacket that belonged to the late Trugoy the Dove, and Fab 5 Freddy’s original sign from the set of Yo! MTV Raps.
2Pac wore the ring — which comprises of gold, ruby and diamonds — during his last public appearance at the 1996 MTV Video Music Awards, soon after which he was fatally shot at the age of 25. It bears an inscription that reads: “Pac & Dada 1996,” referencing his fairy-tale engagement to sweetheart Kidada Jones.
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According to the auction house, the “California Love” hitmaker designed the ring soon after his release from prison. He expressed to his godmother and manager, Yaasmyn Fula Fula, that he wanted a piece to serve as “an act of self-coronation” and symbolize the next phase of his career.
“Sitting atop a diamond-encrusted gold band is the ‘crown’ itself: a gold circlet studded with the three largest jewels in the entire piece—a central cabochon ruby, flanked by two pavé-cut diamonds,” the listing reads.
“Tupac’s selection of the ruby as the principal stone in his crown is a continuation of this royal narrative, as rubies have long been symbolically tied to the imagery of monarchy and wealth in our cultural imagination.”
In addition to 2Pac making auction history nearly three decades after his untimely demise, the rap legend’s murder investigation unexpectedly kicked back into life last week as Las Vegas police executed a search warrant on a home in connection with the his death.
The Henderson, Nevada property reportedly belongs to a woman named Paula Clemons, who is the wife of Duane “Keefe D” Davis, the uncle of ‘Pac’s alleged killer Orlando Anderson.
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In addition to laptops, hard drives, photos, magazine articles and book manuscripts, police found several 40. caliber bullets that they will submit for forensic testing to determine if they are linked to ‘Pac’s murder.
Anderson, a Compton crip, got into a scuffle with 2Pac and his entourage on the night of September 7, 1996 in the lobby of the MGM Grand following the Bruce Seldon vs. Mike Tyson boxing fight over allegations he had stolen the chain of a Death Row affiliate.
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Hours later, ‘Pac was shot multiple times in a drive-by shooting near the intersection of East Flamingo Road and Koval Lane, succumbing to his injuries in hospital six days later.
Anderson was identified by police as a suspect shortly after, but denied any involvement and was never charged over the crime. He was later killed in an unrelated gang shooting in 1998.
Keefe D has discussed 2Pac’s murder in various interviews and documentaries, as well as in a book he published in 2019 called Compton Street Legend.
It was in that book that he admitted to being in the car with Anderson and two others the night of ‘Pac’s death and handing his nephew the gun.
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“Tupac made an erratic move and began to reach down beneath his seat,” he wrote, according to the Daily Mirror. “It was the first and only time in my life that I could relate to the police command ‘Keep your hands where I can see them.’
“Instead, ‘Pac pulled out a straw, and that’s when the fireworks started. One of my guys from the back seat grabbed the Glock and started bustin’ back.”
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He continued: “The first shot skinned Suge in the head. I thought the motherfucker was dead. I heard stories that Suge supposedly used Tupac as a shield when the bullets started flying. But that’s some bullshit. Suge was already wounded.
“As the rounds continued flying, I ducked down so I wouldn’t get hit. When the shooting stopped, we boned out.”
