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1997-04379 words · 2 min

$120,000 in the Bank: Afeni Shakur vs. Death Row

$120,000 in Tupac's account, over $100 million for Death Row: How Afeni Shakur sued the label in April 1997 and what became of the estate.

Original: “Tupac’s Mother Sues Death Row” · MTV News · no byline · April 1997

Three sentences in an MTV newscast in April 1997 make for the shortest report on the subject in the archive: Afeni Shakur had sued Death Row for $17 million. According to her lawsuit, Tupac had $120,000 in his account at the time of his death, while the label had grossed over $100 million from All Eyez on Me. Two weeks earlier, Death Row had sued the estate, demanding $7 million in advances back.

$120,000 Here, $100 Million There

That contrast was the family’s strongest argument, and it came straight from the complaint: $120,000 here, 100 million there. How much money actually changed hands was never settled in court, because both sides reached an agreement before 1997 was out. For a sense of scale, another figure helps: in the spring of 1997, the Los Angeles Times estimated the annual revenue of all of Death Row at over $100 million.

A Contract from a Cell

How Tupac ended up in this situation is well documented. In October 1995, he was held at Clinton Correctional Facility in New York State and could not afford bail pending his appeal. Suge Knight and Interscope head Jimmy Iovine put up the $1.4 million. In return, Tupac signed a three-album contract with Death Row, negotiated in prison. With her lawsuit, Afeni Shakur sought to have it declared invalid.

The House and Rolls-Royce Didn’t Belong to Him at All

Death Row calculated things the other way around: houses, cars, jewelry, as well as studio and video costs were allegedly advances that the estate had to repay. What actually belonged to him had already become an issue in February 1997. Back then, Afeni explained on television that her son’s house and Rolls-Royce had not belonged to him at all.

100 Unreleased Recordings for the Family

Under the settlement, the family received the rights to roughly 100 unreleased Death Row recordings, while Death Row retained the master tapes of the two completed albums. The posthumous albums released by Amaru starting in November 1997 sold in the millions. That money now flowed to the family.

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Afeni Shakur: Panther, Mother, Keeper of the EstateSuge KnightDeath Row Records