Tupac Shakur’s legacy is as intact as ever over 25 years after his senseless murder. On January 21, an immersive museum experience dubbed Tupac Shakur. Wake Me When I’m Free will open to the public in Los Angeles, giving fans a chance to intimately explore the life and untimely death of the Death Row Records legend.
But ahead of the exhibit, one diehard collector could become the owner of a handwritten poem by 2Pac said to be the inspiration behind “All Eyez On Me,” the title track from the last album he recorded while he was alive. On Wednesday (December 29), Moments In Time auction house listed the memorabilia on its website for $95,000. Originally titled “All [Eye] Was Lookin’ 4,” the poem was written in August 1995 to a former flame named Simi.
“Will see see my true colors,” he writes in part. “will she know my heart is pure. will it be here love that heals my heart. can she be the cure. will she be too scared 2 take a chance. will my affection be ignored. Or does she want me, like I want her? That’s all I was looking 4!” It’s signed, “4 Simi, from the heart of 2Pac.”
All Eyez On Me arrived in February 1996, just seven months before 2Pac’s death. The Outlawz, Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg, George Clinton, E-40, Redman, Method Man, Nate Dogg, Tha Dogg Pound, K-Ci & JoJo and Roger Troutman were among the many who contributed to the album. All Eyez On Me was 2Pac’s second album to land at No. 1 on both the Billboard 200 and the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums charts, selling over 566,000 copies in the first week.
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In 2014, the album was certified diamond by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) and is considered one of the best Hip Hop albums of all time. It included the two chart-topping singles, “How Do U Want It” and “California Love,” the latter featuring Dr. Dre and Roger Troutman of Zapp and Roger fame.
Revisit it below.