Tupac Shakur continues to cash in the big bucks.
At least, that is what is expected with the Sotheby auctioning off a collection of the artist’s poetry from his childhood and other highly sought-after hip-hop artifacts.
The auction house believes Pac’s poetry might pull in at least $300K when it puts up a book of haikus written by the rapper when he was a kid at its “The Art and Influence of Hip Hop” sale, which kicked off on Thursday (March 24th).
Other names in Sotheby’s “Art and Influence of Hip Hop” include but are not limited to Chuck D, Jazzy Jay, Ice T, Danny Hastings, and Rock Steady Crew founder Crazy Legs.
“It’s time for some of these gems to be appreciated by someone else. I hope they end up in the hands of someone who is willing to take care of them and share with others,” Crazy Legs told AllHipHop.com.
Tupac’s lot will feature an unpublished booklet of haikus written and illustrated by him when he was only 11 years old.
He gifted the book to his godfather Jamal Joseph, a filmmaker and youth advocate responsible for creating the performance group “Impact” featured in the movie August Rush when the Black Panther activist was incarcerated at Leavenworth Prison.
The pre-teen also had the vision and respect to dedicate the piece to three other revolutionaries from the Black Panther members: Chui Ferguson-El, Sekou Odinga, and Bilal Sunni Ali.
On the opening page, he explains to his baba that “Haiku is a Japanese form to write poems. The form is 5 syllables, 7 syllables, and again 5 syllables. [And] mostly about life and nature.”
The dream poem is brilliantly presented as the young poet draws himself dreaming in his bed of his Black power heroes being liberated.
He ends the collection of poems, writing, “I hoped you enjoyed my haiku.”
And he is reminding his godfather to “Be Strong” and that he loves him. He signed it “Tupac Shakur. Future Freedom Fighter.”
A few of the haikus in Tupac’s book read as follows:
Faith
Faith is what we need
It keeps us alive day by day
Faith is important
Black
Black is our color
We were born Black in Africa
I am Black and proud
A dream is lovely
You drift to another land
I dream at night
The bidding ends on March 30th. Take a look at some of the items below:
