A newly uncovered letter Tupac Shakur wrote Madonna while he served time in prison suggests he ended their relationship because of race.

Addressing the letter alluringly to “M,” the late icon writes “[f]or you to be seen with a black man wouldn’t in any way jeapordize your career, if anything it would make you seem that much more open & exciting.”

“But for me at least in my previous perception I felt due to my ‘image’ I would be letting down half of the people who made me what I thought I was.”

The handwritten letter revealed by TMZ, which is not published in full, dates January 1995. The rapper and Madonna had gotten together in 1994 and split by the time it was written, but Shakur's words appear heartfelt and reveal he wanted to remain friends.

Shakur writes “I offer my friendship once again this time stronger & focused.” After signing off he even pleads with Madonna to come see him face-to-face.

The relationship Madonna had with Shakur was never confirmed until the singer made a comment in a 2015 radio interview with Howard Stern.

Responding to a question about a profanity-laced appearance she made on the Late Show with David Letterman in March 1994, Madonna said "I was mad at [David Letterman] when I said the F-word a lot," she said. "I was in a weird mood that day. I was dating Tupac Shakur at the time and the thing is, he got me all riled up about life in general."

The letter will be put up for auction in July, with a starting bid of $100,000 (or about €88,000), but is expected to sell for more. Another prison letter from Shakur sold for $170,000 (or €150,000) in 2016.