Drake appears to be the proud owner of 2Pac’s famous crown ring, which sold for more than $1 million at auction earlier this week. The rare piece of jewelry fetched $1.016 million at a Sotheby’s auction celebrating Hip Hop’s 50th anniversary in New York City on Tuesday (July 25), making it the most valuable Hip Hop artifact ever.
The ring is made of gold, ruby, and diamonds, and features an inscription that reads: “Pac & Dada 1996,” referencing the late rapper’s engagement to his sweetheart Kidada Jones.
‘Pac famously wore the ring during his final public appearance at the 1996 MTV Video Music Awards, just days before he was tragically killed at the age of 25 in a drive-by shooting in Las Vegas.
While the identity of the winning bidder was initially kept a secret, it looks like Drake was the one who forked out seven figures to claim the crown ring for himself.
In the early hours of Friday (July 28), the Her Loss hitmaker posted a close-up photo on his Instagram Stories of him wearing the regal artifact.
“UTOPIA OUT NOW MELTDOWN @travisscott,” he wrote in the caption, plugging his collaboration on Travis Scott’snew album which dropped at midnight. Drizzy even brags about his spending power on the song, rapping: “I pull out a million and stare at the shit.”
Drake has made no secret of his love for 2Pac in the past. Back in 2020, the Toronto native spent a similar eye-watering amount on a pair of matching custom chains dedicated to the All Eyez On Me rapper.
Designed by celebrity jeweler, Jason of Beverly Hills, the chains each featured a pendant of ‘Pac — one of him wearing a blue bandana and diamond crown of thorns, and the other with a red bandana and gold crown of thorns. They cost $600,000 in total.
More recently, Drake revealed that 2Pac was his most listened-to artist on Spotify last year. He spun the late rap legend’s music for a total of 246 minutes on the streaming platform, which placed him among the top seven percent of ‘Pac’s listeners in 2022.
2Pac’s crown ring is just the latest in Drake’s growing collection of expensive Hip Hop artifacts. Last year, he snapped up three of Pharrell’s chains via the producer’s digital auction, which saw him offload a plethora of personal items.
The 6 God copped a 14K three-tone N.E.R.D pendant chain, a white gold brain pendant chain, and a skateboard pendant chain, which is worth a combined $3.3 million. He later wore them in the music video for “Jumbotron Shit Poppin.”
There may have been a more sinister ulterior motive to the purchase, however, as Drake used the chains as ammo against Pusha T and Pharrell, who he dissed on Travis Scott’s aforementioned “Meltdown.”
“I melt down the chains that I bought from yo’ boss/ Give a fuck about all of that heritage shit/ Since V not around, the members done hung up the Louis/ They not even wearing that shit,” he snarled on the song.
Source – HipHopDx
In Other News – J. Cole Admits He’s Still Scared Of Being Broke Again
J. Cole has been one of Hip Hop’s most successful stars for over a decade, but that doesn’t mean he’s forgotten about what it’s like to not have money. During a recent interview with Kevin Hart on his Peacock show Hart to Heart, the North Carolina rapper talked about being careful with his spending due to a “fear” of being broke again.
“I can’t really sit here like some mogul and give business advice ’cause I don’t think I run the best business,” he said. “I’m grateful to have great people around me where it’s like, my money good. I’m smart with my money, and that just comes from fear. I don’t never, ever wanna be broke again so I’m slow to spend.” Read more
