The 1994 Thug Life Contract Goes to Auction

Fifty-eight pages paved the way for the album Thug Life: Volume 1 on Interscope. In March 2018, the document marking the formation of the group Thug Life came to light: on April 15, Heritage Auctions was scheduled to auction the contract.

Signed on July 24, 1994

Tupac and other members of the group signed the contract on July 24, 1994-according to The Source, Big Syke, Mopreme Shakur, Macadoshis, and The Rated R. The document governs the recording, marketing, and finances of the album.

Gold for the Only Studio Album

Thug Life: Volume 1 sold 500,000 copies and went gold, according to The Source; it remained the group’s only studio album. The opening bid was $6,000, as Complex also reported citing TMZ.

Complex also recalled that the acronym “Thug Life” stands for Tupac’s guiding life principle. He had already drafted a code for it back in 1992.