Did DRAKE buy Tupac’s $1 million ring? Rapper shows off late star’s custom gold, diamond and ruby ring that he wore days before he was shot dead – after it was sold to a mystery buyer in record auction sale
- The ring sold well above Sotheby’s pre-sale estimate of £200,000 – $300,000
- The buyer’s identity remained a mystery – that is until Drake posted on Instagram
Rapper Drake appears to have purchased the gold, diamond and ruby ring designed and worn by hip-hop legend Tupac Shakur just days before he was shot dead.
The ring in question sold for a record $1million at auction in New York, well above Sotheby’s pre-sale estimate of between £200,000 and $300,000, making it the most valuable hip-hop artefact ever sold, the auction house said.
Shakur wore the ring during his final public appearance at the MTV Video Music Awards on September 4, 1996 – nine days before the 25-year-old was shot dead by an unidentified assailant in a drive-by shooting in Las Vegas.
The buyer’s identity however remained a mystery – that is until Drake published an image on Instagram today in which he is seen holding what appears to be the famous item.
The ring was seen shining in an Instagram Story shared by the rapper amid the promotion of his Drake took to his Instagram Story to promote his new song with Travis Scott, ‘Meltdown,’ from the newly released Utopia album.
The buyer’s identity remained a mystery – that is until Drake published an image on Instagram today in which he is seen holding what appears to be the famous item
A gold, diamond and ruby ring (pictured) designed and worn by rap legend Tupac Shakur just days before he was shot dead sold for a record $1million at auction in New York
The auction of the ring came as cops investigating Shakur’s murder said they will now conduct forensic tests on several .40 caliber bullets found at former Crips gang member Keefe D’s home during a raid last week.
The Nevada home is owned by Duane Davis’s – also known as Keefe D – wife Paula Clemons and was raided on Monday last week as part of an investigation into Shakur’s murder.
In 2018, while filming the 10-part Netflix docuseries ‘Unsolved, the Tupac and Biggie Murders’, Keefe D claimed it was his own nephew Orlando ‘Baby Lane’ Anderson who pulled the trigger and said he was in the car with him at the time.
It comes as Shakur’s 14-Karat gold crown ring, which is encrusted with diamonds and rubies, was sold in New York yesterday.
Shakur, whose hits included ‘California Love,’ designed the ring over the course of a few months following his time behind bars before it was assembled by jewelers in New York City, Sotheby’s said.
His godmother Yaasmyn Fula offered the ring for the auction. When designing the ring, Shakur had been influenced by 16th century Italian philosopher Niccolo Machiavelli’s political manifesto ‘The Prince’ which he read while in prison on sex abuse charges.
He modeled the design on the crowns of the medieval kings of Europe, Sotheby’s added.
The ring is engraved ‘Pac & Dada 1996,’ a reference to his girlfriend Kidada Jones.
The sale was part of a dedicated hip-hop auction to mark 50 years of the genre which falls in August this year.
Shakur is considered one of the greatest rappers of all time, selling 75 million records. He was a central figure in the Los Angeles-based West Coast hip-hop scene, which feuded with rival East Coast rappers in New York.
His killers have never been caught and theories about who was responsible have long abounded.
Shakur’s 14-Karat gold crown ring, which is encrusted with diamonds and rubies, was sold in New York yesterday
An art handler holds Tupac Shakur’s Self-Designed Gold, Ruby and Diamond Sovereign Crown Ring in New York
Duane Davis, 60, also known as ‘Keefe D,’ is reportedly linked to the house that was raided on Monday. He has claimed it was his nephew Orlando ‘Baby Lane’ Anderson who shot Tupac
Shakur’s murder was followed six months later by the gunning down of East Coast rapper Christopher ‘The Notorious BIG’ Wallace.
Many believe they were slain as part of a rivalry between their music labels, LA-based Death Row and New York’s Bad Boy Entertainment.
But some music historians say the coastal rift was exaggerated for commercial reasons.
Last week, Las Vegas police searched a home as part of their investigation into the murder of Shakur.
Video footage shows the moment a convoy of armored police vehicles rolled down a residential street on the outskirts of Las Vegas to the home where they sought computers, laptops and articles about Tupac and his death.
‘Come out with your hands up and your hands empty,’ police yelled into bullhorns in audio obtained by ABC News.
A neighbor who lives on the same street as where the warrant was served Monday night told the Las Vegas Review-Journal they witnessed police arrive at the property with their guns drawn as they demanded occupants come out with their hands up.
Police sources told 8newsnow that the warrant reportedly involved Keefe D, a former Crips gang member, whose wife Paula Clemons is listed as an owner of the house.
TMZ reported that Clemons also owned a home in Compton, noting that back in 1998, the L.A. County Sheriff’s Department reportedly recovered a gun in the backyard of a Compton home that belonged to the girlfriend of known Crip gang member who was in Las Vegas the night of Shakur’s murder.
The case remains unsolved nearly 30 years later, but evidence is now being presented to the Las Vegas grand jury.
During the search, cops found several .40 caliber bullets which are now being forensically tested to see if they are linked to Shakur’s murder, reports the Daily Mirror.
Last week, Las Vegas police searched a home (pictured) as part of their investigation into the murder of Shakur
A home searched by Las Vegas police is seen on Thursday in Henderson, Nevada
The house where the search warrant was executed appeared to be in the area of Maple Shade Street near Interstate 11, about 18 miles from where Shakur was killed
A Vegas police source said the bullets will be tested with a ‘definite consideration on whether they have any link to the bullets found in Tupac’s body’.
The source added: ‘The bullets taken from the house will absolutely be tested by forensics experts. Of course the most obvious probe will be to determine if they have any link to the bullets found in Tupac’s body or on the scene of the homicide.
‘Microfibers or residues from the weapon or the bullet could prove to be a link. There is no information yet on the history of the bullets, how old they are or their significance. And it will take some time to assess how the bullets play a role in this case.’
While investigations believe the gunman is likely dead, the current investigation could lead to answers about who else was in the car with him when shots were fired.
Shakur was gunned down in his black BMW as it idled at a red light on Flamingo Road and Koval Lane on September 7, 1996.
The shooting occurred shortly after 11pm, as the 25-year-old rapper was leaving a Mike Tyson boxing match at the MGM Grand Hotel and Casino.
He was in the BMW with Suge Knight, the boss of his label Death Row Records, when the pair were fired at by an unknown assailant.
Tupac was hit four times, including once in the chest. He was taken to the University Medical Center of Southern Nevada, where he died six days later.
In a two-hour documentary in 2017, those who were by the rapper’s bedside as he lay dying say the rapper indicated he knew who his killer is.
Tupac’s murder remains unsolved but there are several theories about who may have been responsible.
This is the black car in which Tupac was fatally shot by an unknown assassin as he drove with Suge Knight on Las Vegas Boulevard
Tupac is pictured in an undated photo with Snoop Dog, apparently in the same BMW
One theory is that the shooting was retaliation for a shooting that occurred six days earlier, in which Tupac’s associate Orlando ‘Baby Lane’ Anderson was killed.
Another theory is that the shooting was the result of a feud between rival rappers on the East and West Coasts – namely Biggie Smalls who was killed in a drive-by the following year.
Another theory is that the shooting was carried out by members of the Crips gang, who were rivals of Tupac’s cohort, the Bloods.
The murder of Tupac was an international story and remains a source of fascination and speculation today. Some even claim that the rapper is still alive.
There have been countless books and documentaries about the case, and there is even a museum dedicated to Tupac in his hometown of New York City.
Chief among the suspects is Notorious BIG, a former friend of Tupac’s who became involved in a high-profile feud after they fell out.
In 1995, Tupac claimed that Biggie knew of a planned robbery that had resulted in Tupac being shot and losing valuable jewelry.
Tupac then signed to the West Coast’s Death Row records, which was run by feared Compton boss Suge Knight and was in direct competition with Bigge’s own Bad Boy records, based in Manhattan.
Three months before his death, Tupac released the track ‘Hit ‘Em Up,’ in which he claimed to have slept with Biggie’s then-estranged wife.
But Biggie, who was himself gunned down in a drive-by shooting just six months later, denied shooting Tupac, and claimed he was recording tracks when the hit took place – though those claims have been questioned since.
Another possible suspect, identified in a 2002 LA Times investigation, was Orlando Anderson, a member of the Southside Crips gang.
That theory claimed that Shakur, Knight and several of their entourage had beaten up Anderson the same day as the shooting.
That attack was revenge for Anderson and other members of the Southside Crips for robbing a Death Row Records employee earlier in the year.
Las Vegas cops discounted the beating from their investigation, failed to follow up on claims by one of Tupac’s friends that he witnessed the shooting, and didn’t chase up a witness who may have seen the culprit’s car, the LA Times reported.
Anderson, who denied the claims, was killed in a gang shooting in 1998.
Meanwhile, others have suggested the hit may have been intended for him in a Death Row Records coup.
The main suspects in Tupac’s death
Notorious BIG
One of the prime suspects in Tupac’s death is fellow rapper Notorious BIG
In 1995, Tupac claimed that Biggie knew of a planned robbery that had resulted in Tupac being shot and losing valuable jewelry.
Tupac then signed to the West Coast’s Death Row records, which was run by feared Compton boss Suge Knight and was in direct competition with Bigge’s own Bad Boy records, based in Manhattan.
Three months before his death, Tupac released the track ‘Hit ‘Em Up,’ in which he claimed to have slept with Biggie’s then-estranged wife.
But Biggie, who was himself gunned down six months later, denied shooting Tupac, and claimed he was recording tracks when the hit took place – though those claims have been questioned since.
Another suspect is Orlando Anderson, a member of the Southside Crips gang
Orlando ‘Baby Lane’ Anderson
Another possible suspect, identified in a 2002 LA Times investigation, was Orlando Anderson, a member of the Southside Crips gang.
That theory claimed Shakur, Knight and several of their entourage had beaten up Anderson the same day as the shooting.
The attack was said to be revenge for Anderson and other members of the Southside Crips for robbing a Death Row Records employee earlier in the year.
Las Vegas cops discounted the beating from their investigation, failed to follow up on claims by one of Tupac’s friends that he witnessed the shooting, and didn’t chase up a witness who may have seen the culprit’s car, the LA Times reported.
Anderson, who denied the claims, was killed in a gang shooting in 1998.
Marion ‘Suge’ Knight
Some have also speculated that Tupac’s former record producer, Marion ‘Suge’ Knight, may have been responsible. HHE is pictured during sentencing in 2018
Some have also speculated that Tupac’s former record producer, Marion ‘Suge’ Knight, may have been responsible.
At the time of his death, Tupac was about to leave Death Row Records. He had planned to start his own record company with Tha Outlaw Immortalz.
After his death, the record company was said to have been uncooperative with police.
And in an ABC interview following Tupac’s death, Knight was asked, ‘If you knew who killed Tupac, would you tell the police?’ to which Suge replied ‘absolutely not.’
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