New York, New York - Kelvin "Posdnuos" Mercer of De La Soul teamed up with Sotheby's for their 50th Anniversary of Hip Hop Auction in honor of some of the most iconic stars in rap music.

Sotheby's recently unveiled the collection, located in New York City, which includes posters, flyers, artwork, clothing, zines, and other artifacts that best capture the early days of hip hop, along with its heavy graffiti and dancing influence.

Posdnuos helped by hand-picking some personal items from rappers that helped define hip-hop culture.

The legend added a few De La Soul relics, including a leather pendant that served as one of the group's earliest pieces of merch and a prototype tour jacket that is one of only ten that were ever created.

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He also picked the E-mu SP-1200 Sampler that rapper Ice-T used to record his first three records on, Bill Sienkiewicz's original artwork for the cover of EPMD's Business as Usual album, liner notes handwritten by RZA of the Wu-Tang Clan for their debut album, Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers), and the E-mu SP-1200 that RZA used to produce the record.

The most expensive item being auctioned off is a gold, ruby, and diamond crowned ring that was designed by Tupac Shakur, which is estimated to sell for close to $300,000.

Posdnuos, who was one of the three founding members of De La Soul, has seen the ups and downs of hip-hop throughout the ages and aims to help preserve its history.

"Thinking back to when we first fell into hip-hop culture, it feels like an eye-blink; it doesn't feel that long ago," Posdnuos explained. "But seeing these show flyers or this piece of equipment or this person's stage costume, you realize that, yes, this is all so important to the culture."

"It's of importance to history," he added.

Sotheby's will be hosting exhibitions at their New York location beginning Thursday, and the auction will officially close on July 25.