--- description: Lyrics written by the late rapper Tupac Shakur while he was in jail are estimated to fetch between $46,000 and $77,000 at auction title: Lyrics That Tupac Wrote in Prison to Go Up for Auction image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt8b3c473a98492929/698862fe3c163941e2459a81/tupac-shakur-rapper.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Entertainment](/section/entertainment/) ## Entertainment Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [Pop Culture](/tag/pop-culture/) ## Pop Culture Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Lyrics That Tupac Wrote in Prison Are Expected to Fetch Over $50,000 at Auction ## Video: The All-TIME 100 Songs in 180 Seconds [Watch (HLS stream): The All-TIME 100 Songs in 180 Seconds](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/TzdOT0wX.m3u8) (3:07)  _Published 2011-10-26. See if you recognize all 100 of our picks for the All-TIME best songs in this 180-second mashup_ by [Helen Regan](/author/helen-regan/) ## Helen Regan Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Sep 10, 2015 5:50 AM CUT  Tupac Shakur in a scene from the 1997 film Gridlock'd Tupac Shakur in a scene from the 1997 film Gridlock'dGramercy Pictures/Getty Images by [Helen Regan](/author/helen-regan/) ## Helen Regan Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Sep 10, 2015 5:50 AM CUT Lyrics written by the late rapper Tupac Shakur while he was in prison are [expected](http://www.itv.com/news/2015-09-10/murdered-rapper-2pacs-jail-lyrics-to-go-under-the-hammer-in-london/ "undefined") to fetch between $50,000 and $80,000 when they go up for auction in London later this month. Two handwritten manuscripts signed by Tupac will be part of Sotheby’s [Rock & Pop](http://www.sothebys.com/en/auctions/2015/rock-pop-l15414.html#&page=all&filter=artists/Shakur%2C%20Tupac&sort=lotNum-asc&range=0|100&viewMode=list&lot=103&scroll=1132 "undefined") sale on Sept. 29, the U.K.’s ITV News reports. The lot includes lyrics penned for “Ambitionz Az a Ridah,” the first track Tupac laid down upon his release in 1995 and the opener for his best-selling fourth album _All Eyez on Me_. The album saw Tupac team up with Dr. Dre and Death Row Records. Released four months after he left prison, where Tupac was serving a sentence for sexual assault, the critically acclaimed _All Eyez on Me_ sold more than half a million copies in its first week alone. It was also the rapper’s last album before he was shot and killed in September 1996 in Las Vegas. “We are delighted to have this item in our sale, it’s a really unusual item,” said Gabriel Heaton, Sotheby’s expert on books and manuscripts. “He \[Tupac\] is a fixture of enormous popularity and great cultural significance, so we are confident there’ll be a lot of interest.” \[[_ITV_](http://www.itv.com/news/2015-09-10/murdered-rapper-2pacs-jail-lyrics-to-go-under-the-hammer-in-london/ "undefined")\] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4028880/tupac-lyrics-auction-sothebys/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4028880/tupac-lyrics-auction-sothebys/"},"headline":"Lyrics That Tupac Wrote in Prison Are Expected to Fetch Over $50,000 at Auction","datePublished":"2015-09-10T05:50:28.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T10:49:03.883Z","description":"The two manuscripts form part of Sotheby's Rock & Pop collection","url":"https://time.com/4028880/tupac-lyrics-auction-sothebys/","keywords":["Pop Culture","Auction","Rapper","sotheby's"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt8b3c473a98492929/698862fe3c163941e2459a81/tupac-shakur-rapper.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Helen Regan","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/helen-regan/"}],"articleSection":"Entertainment","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt8b3c473a98492929/698862fe3c163941e2459a81/tupac-shakur-rapper.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Tupac Shakur in a scene from the film 'Gridlock'd', 1997.","caption":"Tupac Shakur in a scene from the film 'Gridlock'd', 1997.","creditText":"Gramercy Pictures/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/entertainment/","name":"Entertainment"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/pop-culture/","name":"Pop Culture"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4028880/tupac-lyrics-auction-sothebys/","name":"Lyrics That Tupac Wrote in Prison Are Expected to Fetch Over $50,000 at Auction"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"The All-TIME 100 Songs in 180 Seconds","description":"See if you recognize all 100 of our picks for the All-TIME best songs in this 180-second mashup","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/TzdOT0wX/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2011-10-26T23:07:54.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/TzdOT0wX.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/4028880/tupac-lyrics-auction-sothebys/","duration":"PT3M7S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/4028880/tupac-lyrics-auction-sothebys/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```