The history of Tupac Shakur’s iconic ring

Tupac Shakur’s ring has been the most expensive hip-hop-related object ever sold, at a price of 1 million dollars. Drake has been the buyer of the jewel auctioned by Sotheby’s and few days ago we saw him showing it off on his Instagram. What’s behind the most expensive hip-hop object in history?

Shakur wore this jewelry at the MTV Video Music Awards in 1996, days before his death in a shooting in Las Vegas. The ring was designed by himself in gold, diamonds and rubies, inspired by the crowns of medieval European kings. The inscription “Pac & Dada 1996” on the ring refers to his engagement to Kidada Jones, daughter of legendary music producer Quincy Jones.

More than a ring

The crown-shaped ring symbolizes 2pac’s self-proclamation as the king of hip hop.

In 1996, Tupac Shakur, after being released from prison and signing a contract with Death Row Records, embarked on a new stage in his career. He founded his media conglomerate, Euphanasia Incorporated, with the help of Yaasmyn Fula, his godmother and lifelong advisor. Euphanasia was intended to be a music label, media group and community organization, dedicated to black liberation and youth outreach. Fula played an important role in Tupac’s life, guiding and supporting him in a variety of ways. Together they designed two iconic pieces of jewelry, including this gold crown ring with rubies and diamonds. This symbolizes Tupac’s self-coronation and newfound prosperity.

The crown also reflected Tupac’s obsession with Niccolo Machiavelli’s political manifesto “The Prince”, which he’d been reading while in prison. Taking the philosopher and diplomat’s text as a reference, the ring reproduces the crowns of the medieval kings of Europe in ‘an act of self-coronation’. In fact, Fula, who reflects on Pac’s childhood on the occasion of the auction, recalls that Afeni Shakur, the rapper’s mother, taught her son the following mantra: “You are our black prince. You are my miracle, and will make black people feel proud”. It’s hard to imagine that, when it came to choosing the symbol of a crown to crown himself in this new era of prosperity, the words of Tupac’s mother were not on his mind.

The sale of the ring “represents the overcoming of a turbulent time in Shakur’s life”, tells Sotheby´s. It comes just in the year of the 50th anniversary of hip hop, which had its epicenter in the New York Bronx. Now Drake will write a new chapter in the history of the most expensive ring in the history of black music.