Drake spends over $1 million to purchase Tupac's iconic crown ring
Jess Battison
Featured Image Credit: Harmony Gerber/Getty Images/Instagram/@champagnepapi
Five-time Grammy winner Drake has decided to treat himself to a crown ring previously owned and designed by the late Tupac Shakur - spending over $1 million on the historic bling.
The Canadian rapper - who recently hit headlines after a 36G bra was chucked at him on stage - has a thing for rapper-owned jewelry and will add this pricey piece to his existing collection.
At the beginning of this year, he also revealed he’d purchased items from Pharrell’s jewelry collection, including his 14-karat, three-tone pendant chain with diamond-encrusted icons of the star and his two fellow N.E.R.D members.
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Drake purchased this for a whopping $2.2 million in November 2022 via Pharrell’s auction site Joopiter, as reported by Vanity Fair.
The 'All Eyes on Me' rapper's ring had been put up for auction at Sotheby’s in New York City.
Initially expected to be fetched for $300,000, the ring was designed by Tupac in 1996.
The crown-shaped 14 karat yellow gold ring features five carats of diamonds and rubies and was created to celebrate his infamous deal with Death Row Records and his release on bond from a correctional facility.
On the bottom of the ring, the words ‘Pac & Dada, 1996’ are inscribed – celebrating Tupac’s recent engagement to Kidada Jones. A designer for The Walt Disney Company, she is the daughter of Quincey Jones and Peggy Lipton.
Tupac wore the ring at the 1996 MTV Video Music Awards, which ended up being his last public appearance. Days later he was shot and killed, in a case that remains unsolved to this day.
Now recognized as one of the most valuable hip-hop artefacts to ever be sold at auction, the ring comes from the collection of Tupac’s godmother, lifelong supporter and trusteed advisor Yaasmyn Fula.
The auction at Sotheby’s, of which the crown ring was the centrepiece, was dedicated to the 50th anniversary of when hip-hop was developed in the Bronx.
It was announced by Sotheby’s on Monday (24 July) that the ring had sold for a mega $1.02 million.
Drake has now posted the ring to his Instagram story, revealing he was the buyer.
Referencing his song ‘Meltdown’ on Travis Scott’s new album Utopia, he shared a snap of the glistening ruby, gold and diamond wring while writing: “UTOPIA OUT NOW MELTDOWN,” with sick and masked face emojis.
The ring follows Wu Tang Clan’s ‘Once Upon A Time in Shaolin’ as one of the most valuable hip-hop artefacts to be sold at auction.
A very literal one-of-a-kind album, it was sold in 2015 for a reported $2 million to former chief executive of Turing Pharmaceuticals Martin Shkreli.
However, when he faced charges of securities fraud in 2017, the pharma bro attempted to auction off the album on eBay. And he only gave it a starting price of just $1.
It was eventually seized by authorities and sold to a buyer – later reported to be for $4 million to collective PleasrDAO.