“Dear Mama” is one of Tupac Shakur’s most moving rap elegies, a stark and beautiful ode to his mother, Afeni Shakur that touches on their oft-troubled relationship. Afeni Shakur, a famous member of the Black Panthers, was an activist and civil rights advocate who was often absent from Tupac’s life, later falling victim to the crack epidemic of the 1980’s. “Dear Mama” was the lead single from Tupac’s third album, Me Against The World, a 15-song tour de force regarded by many as both Tupac’s crowning achievement and one of the greatest rap albums of all-time. It was released in 1995, when Tupac was serving a short prison sentence in upstate New York, making Tupac the first artist to have an album hit number one on the Billboard charts while the artist was incarcerated.

     This Ampex 499 Grandmaster Gold reel measures roughly 10 ½ inches in diameter, and contains both the original version of “Dear Mama” and the “No Lady Mix” of the song. This is the original master reel, which was very expensive back when it was produced and likely the only version that the songs would have been recorded on to. It was engineered by Tony Pizarro, a longtime collaborator, with Carlos Warlick serving as the assistant engineer. “Dear Mama” was recorded at Encore Studios, with the date written on the reel’s case as July 14th, 1994. In 2010, it was selected for inducting into the National Recording Registry in the Library of Congress. This is a fantastic artifact from Tupac’s legendary rap career.

Auction Notepad