Drake has stated that he had acquired the late Tupac Shakur’s crown ring. The rapper said he bought the ring at an auction for more than $1 million last week. According to the auction house, the winning offer exceeded Sotheby’s pre-sale estimate of $200,000 to $300,000, making it the most costly hip-hop artifact ever sold. The New York-born rapper wore the ring at his final public appearance on September 4, 1996, at the MTV Video Music Awards.
The auction was part of a dedicated hip-hop auction to commemorate the genre’s 50th anniversary, which occurs in August this year
Drake confirmed the ring purchase by releasing a snapshot of it on his Instagram account. Sotheby’s also verified to CBS News in a press release that the Grammy-winning rapper is the new owner of the crown ring. On September 13, Shakur was killed by an unnamed assailant in a drive-by shooting in Las Vegas. He was 25. Shakur, whose hits included “California Love,” crafted the ring over a few months, according to Sotheby’s. He did it through his godmother, Yaasmyn Fula, who sold the ring.
Shakur was influenced by the political manifesto “The Prince” by 16th-century Italian philosopher Niccolo Machiavelli, which he studied while imprisoned on sex abuse accusations. Sotheby’s noted that he based the design on the crowns of Europe’s medieval kings. Pac’s lover Kidada Jones is mentioned in the ring’s inscription, “Pac & Dada 1996.” A diamond-encrusted gold band rests above a gold ring set with a central cabochon ruby flanked by two pave-cut diamonds. The auction was part of a dedicated hip-hop auction to commemorate the genre’s 50th anniversary, which occurs in August this year. Shakur is widely regarded as one of the best rappers of all time, having sold 75 million records.