Tupac’s Prison Essay Auctioned For $173K

Tupac’s 1995 four-page handwritten essay that he penned while incarcerated in Clinton Correctional Facility has been auctioned off for more than $173,000 earlier this month.

Minimum bid for the letter, called “Is Thug Life Dead?,” was $10,000. After 31 bids, it was sold for a staggering $172,725. The letter was addressed to “young black Americans” and sent to Death Row Records employee Nina Bhadreshwar. However, the label blocked the letter from being published.

In the letter, Pac describes the three stages of life: “Ours begins with a young DustKicker, a ThugNigga then finally a BossPlaya … Each stage has many obstacles and pleasure, but they are all lethal if not played properly … A regular Playa plays women. A Boss Playa plays life. A Boss Playa is a thinker, a leader, a builder, a moneymaker, a souljah, a teacher and most of all, a Man!”

Read “Is Thug Life Dead?” in its entirety here.

Tupac served nine months in Clinton Correctional Facility before being released on October 12, 1995 after Suge Knight, the CEO of Death Row Records, posted $1.4 million bail pending appeal of the conviction. In exchange, Shakur agreed to releasing three albums with Death Row. He was gunned down less than a year later on the night of September 7, 1996.