Tupac Shakur’s earliest known demo tape, along with handwritten lyrics from his teenage rap crew Born Busy, is officially up for sale in New York. It's part of a rare collection curated by his longtime friend and collaborator, Ge-ology. The never-before-heard cassette was recorded around 1988 in a Baltimore basement. It captures a 16-year-old Tupac freestyling under the name MC New York alongside fellow crew members Gerard “Ge-ology” Young, Darrin K Bastfield, and Dana “Mouse” Smith.
What makes the recording even more special is how it was created. Instead of laying vocals over finished beats, the crew flipped the process. Tupac recorded raw acapellas so Ge-ology could later build production around his delivery and rhyme patterns. According to Ge-ology, the tape was never meant for public release. It was simply part of their creative experimentation and growth as young artists finding their voice.
“This wasn’t meant to be a performance or a release,” Ge-ology explained in an interview tied to the auction launch. “That tape is one of the earliest moments of Tupac being documented, before the world knew who he was.”
Tupac Tapes Headed For Auction
After protecting the tape for decades, Ge-ology says the time finally feels right to let it be shared properly as a piece of cultural history. The auction, hosted by Wax Poetics, officially went live on January 15. This follows the platform’s recent headline-making sale of a rare 1988 Mariah Carey demo.
For collectors and hip-hop fans alike, this is a rare opportunity to glimpse Tupac’s raw beginnings. It's special because it's long before he became one of the most influential artists the genre has ever seen.
Other pieces of 2Pac memorabilia have also been commanding serious price tags in recent days. One of the most recent examples is the BMW Pac was riding in the night he was shot, which recently hit the market for a staggering $1.75 million. As HNHH previously reported, the 1996 BMW 7 Series sedan has been nearly fully restored to its pre-shooting condition and given a fresh paint job, according to the vehicle’s official listing. The auction turns a tragic piece of hip-hop history into a high-end collector’s item.
