Tupac Shakur's Prison Letter Detailing "Thug Life" Up For Sale

A recently unearthed letter from prison penned by Tupac Shakur shows the legendary gangster rapper was ready to change his tune before his violent death.

In the five-page message to a Death Row Records employee and is now up for sale, the “Me Against the World” rapper lays out a plan for African-American men to navigate out of the same cycle of violence and drugs that he lived through even after he achieved stardom.

The artifact from the golden age of West Coast rap is up for sale for $225,000 through the online memorabilia house, Moments in Time.

“U must play the game, not let the game play u. A regular Playa plays women, a Boss Playa plays life. A Boss Playa is a thinker, a leader, a builder, a moneymaker, a souljah, a teacher and most of all, a Man!," he wrote in an essay titled, “Is the thug life dead?”

Under Shakur’s manifesto, there were three stages of gangsta – a “lowly dustkicker,” a “thug,” and the ultimate pinnacle, a “bossplaya.”

“I want all my homies 2 realize there is another level it takes heart and courage to stand alone face the demons and make change!,” preached Shakur, who by then had survived an attack in which he was shot five times.

In the letter, Shakur also opened up his own internal struggles: “I got distracted by my depression and I stayed drunk & weeded to kill the pain,” he wrote.

The hand-written message to Death Row’s Nina Bhadreshwar, dates back to Shakur’s stint at New York’s Clinton Correctional Facility over a 1995 conviction for rape.

He didn’t have much time, however, to practice what he preached. Shortly after his release from prison, Shakur succumbed to gunshot wounds on Sept. 13, 1996, six days after being attacked in a drive-by shooting in Las Vegas.

“I Did not begin thug life I just personified it,” he wrote in the 1995 letter.

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