Tupac Shakur had one of his first starring movie roles in the picture “Poetic Justice”. Appearing alongside Janet Jackson, Tupac played “Lucky”, a postal worker with ambitions of a career in music. Jackson, who plays the titular “Justice”, is a hair stylist whose boyfriend, played by the rapper Q-Tip, was recently gunned down in an act of violence. Directed by John Singleton, “Poetic Justice” is, at its core, a journey of love, anger, and reconciliation between Lucky and Justice.

     Each starring artist in this movie was given one song to contribute to the soundtrack. Jackson performed “Again”, while Tupac penned the West Coast G Funk inspired song “Definition of a Thug N***a”. “Definition” was co-written by Tupac and Warren G, an ancillary member of Death Row Records, who appeared on the song “Indo Smoke” on the “Poetic Justice” soundtrack.

     The item presented here is a Certificate of Authorship signed by Tupac and Warren G verifying that they wrote the song “Definition of a Thug N***a”. They signed this certificate for the princely sum of $1.00. Both men signed their full names on the bottom of the contract, with Tupac writing “Tupac A. Shakur” and Warren G writing “Warren Griffin III” in black pen. This certificate comes with a Letter of Provenance from Atron Gregory, the former manager of Tupac and the president of TNT Recordings and Management, as well as a LOA from JSA (Y20332).

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