Plano Pawn Shop to Return Platinum Rap Albums

A celebrity encounter has Plano's Top Cash Pawn in the middle of hip hop history.[[302570011,C]]

A few weeks ago, owner Taylor Packwood received a call from an agent and later, a video message from Tracy "The D.O.C." Curry, a rapper and writer for the group N.W.A.

Curry had learned the pawn shop was housing some priceless memorabilia โ€” five platinum albums inscribed with his stage name. In the video message, Curry told Packwood he'd left the albums in the care of a friend during a move.

He later lost touch with the man, also losing the platinum albums, along with five gold albums that are still missing.

According to Packwood, a man claiming to have worked in the music industry pawned the albums four or five years ago. Packwood never checked to see if they were authentic and kept the albums in storage.

After a recent remodel, he put them on display and a customer and N.W.A. fan made the connection, reaching out to Curry by Twitter.

Because Curry is originally from West Dallas, Packwood said the albums aren't just hip hop history, but Dallas history too.

"The agent asked me what the price was on them and I said, 'There's not a price,'" he said. "If they're really his, we have no issue giving them back. They mean more to his family than to us.โ€

Packwood said he plans to return the albums free of charge to Curry later this month.

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