In 1995, Tupac Shakur served time at Clinton Correctional Facility in upstate New York. His sentence stemmed from an incident in 1993, and it forced the superstar rapper to serve nine months behind bars. This was a formative experience for Tupac, where he was free from the constraints of his celebrity and allowed to pursue his myriad academic interests. It was during his time at Clinton that Tupac fomented his “Makaveli” persona and where he wrote his seminal essay “Is Thug Life Dead?”. While in Clinton, Shakur’s multi-platinum album “ME Against the World” was released, making Shakur the first recording artist to have an album at number one on the Billboard 200 while serving a prison sentence.

Offered here is Shakur’s prison identification card from his time at Clinton. The card shows a picture of Shakur and reads off his vital statistics, including a height of 5’11”, black hair, and an identification number of 95-A-1140. The original date of issue of “3/8/95” is crossed out and “8-2-95” is written in its place. Stamped on the reverse side of this card is “Inmate I.D. To Be Kept On Person At All Times”. It is laminated and measures 3.25 x 2.25 inches. This identification card is a thrilling piece of hip-hop history.

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