Nipsey Hussle August 15 1985-March 31 2019
- Thread starter Cladyclad
- Start date
UserNameless
Veteran
yeah man it was really amateurish ... I thought the bbc network was better than that honestly . Shouldn’t have even released that doc , imo.
RIP NIP
Hussla Hoodsta still my all time favorite track
Hussla Hoodsta still my all time favorite track
Elle Driver
Veteran
Damn the year flew by
Rip
Something bout this song get me in my feelings now, like this was the point where he transitioned to become a truly special artist
Smh, I’m fukked up all over again....
areohbee824
Superstar
Conscious Pilot
Do Better.
Zion and Duke just lost in the Elite 8.. few mins later I get a call Nip got shot 10 times
How all those nikkas aloud that to happen is still wtf Status for me
How all those nikkas aloud that to happen is still wtf Status for me
_genocidecutter_
All Star
I wonder what ICP thought of Nipsey? Imma ask them whenever I get to met him.
NPR Choice page
Nipsey Hussle Tells The Epic Stories Behind 'Victory Lap,' Track By Track
February 16, 20183:09 PM ET
RODNEY CARMICHAEL
Nipsey Hussle's Victory Lap is out now.
Nicholas Watkin @NickWYNC/Courtesy of the artist
A decade in the waiting, Nipsey Hussle's Victory Lap is more than an anticipated major-label debut — it's a testament to the independent grind he employed to cultivate a dedicated fanbase. This is same artist, after all, who had the audacity to price physical copies of his 2013 mixtape Crenshaw at $100 a pop, when a still woefully devalued music industry had rappers en masse giving away their music for free.
Nipsey didn't buy it. And it paid in dividends: $100,000 in the first 24 hours, to be exact — even Jay-Z respected his hustle enough to order 100 copies. But it takes more than an innate business ethic to make great music. And on Victory Lap, the first release from his multi-album deal with Atlantic Records, he opens the vault to reveal of fresh stockpile of thug motivation. A long-time member of L.A.'s notorious Rollin' 60s Crips, Nipsey's gangland snarl remains as visceral as ever, but the former street entrepreneur hustles legally now, a reformed hard-head turned inspiration to the hood.
When I talked to him for the exclusive breakdown of his album with NPR Music, Nipsey was still feeling the heat from social media after an Instagram post of him praising a positive image of young black boys was widely condemned for simultaneously expressing homophobic sentiments. He declined to speak on it directly, saying he preferred to let the music speak for itself. In a sense, it does. Nipsey's hustle speaks to those who often develop a paranoid sense of hypermasculinity in order to survive environments where their own identity is a primary target. That's certainly no defense, but perhaps some missing context.
Nipsey Hussle Tells The Epic Stories Behind 'Victory Lap,' Track By Track
February 16, 20183:09 PM ET
RODNEY CARMICHAEL
Nipsey Hussle's Victory Lap is out now.
Nicholas Watkin @NickWYNC/Courtesy of the artist
A decade in the waiting, Nipsey Hussle's Victory Lap is more than an anticipated major-label debut — it's a testament to the independent grind he employed to cultivate a dedicated fanbase. This is same artist, after all, who had the audacity to price physical copies of his 2013 mixtape Crenshaw at $100 a pop, when a still woefully devalued music industry had rappers en masse giving away their music for free.
Nipsey didn't buy it. And it paid in dividends: $100,000 in the first 24 hours, to be exact — even Jay-Z respected his hustle enough to order 100 copies. But it takes more than an innate business ethic to make great music. And on Victory Lap, the first release from his multi-album deal with Atlantic Records, he opens the vault to reveal of fresh stockpile of thug motivation. A long-time member of L.A.'s notorious Rollin' 60s Crips, Nipsey's gangland snarl remains as visceral as ever, but the former street entrepreneur hustles legally now, a reformed hard-head turned inspiration to the hood.
When I talked to him for the exclusive breakdown of his album with NPR Music, Nipsey was still feeling the heat from social media after an Instagram post of him praising a positive image of young black boys was widely condemned for simultaneously expressing homophobic sentiments. He declined to speak on it directly, saying he preferred to let the music speak for itself. In a sense, it does. Nipsey's hustle speaks to those who often develop a paranoid sense of hypermasculinity in order to survive environments where their own identity is a primary target. That's certainly no defense, but perhaps some missing context.
When they [read] this interview, they'll be able to go through and listen to the album and really break down my point of view," he told me, after deep-diving into Victory Lap, track by track, in his own words. "That'll give them an insight on who I am and what I believe in more than any tweet or statement or Instagram post. When they hear the music, they'll hear what I believe in and what I choose to promote. And I think that's the most important thing."
1. "Victory Lap"
"I'm a urban legend / South Central in a certain section / Can't explain how I curbed detectives, guess it's / Evidence of a divine presence."
If you check the stats — the murder rates and incarceration rates in the years I was a teenager in L.A. — in my section of the Crenshaw District, in the Rollin 60s, none of my peers survived. None of my peers avoided prison. None of 'em. Everybody got bullet wounds and felonies and strikes. So to make it out mentally stable and not in prison and not on drugs, that's a win. That's a victory in itself. Then to be in the position I find myself in as an artist and entrepreneur who has respect around the world — that's legendary. And I say it in the most humble way.
That's what I was talking about in that line. When I reflect on it, it's unbelievable. It's gotta be evidence of a divine presence, because it wasn't that I'm just the smartest dude or just wiggled my way through. It had to be a calling on my life and I started to see that.
2. "Rap N*****"
Me and Diddy had already been in contact with each other by being in the music industry and all of that, but my son's mom [actor Lauren London] did an early Sean John ad and she had a good relationship with him since then. Her and Cassie were real close; any time Cassie would have a birthday party or they'd be hanging out, Lauren would invite me. I'd be like, I ain't trying to wiggle into no relationships. But one time Puff was like, "Tell Nip to come through, man; Nip don't f*** with me or what?" So I made sure that I went. Me and Puff had a real good convo. I was just like, "You know bro, I ain't one of them dudes that be trying to get up under Diddy's hand and play nikkas close and all of that. I know you've got a million people that try to get energy from you and your resources up out you."
He's like, "Nah bro, I'm in L.A. and I respect the movement. Let's build." We had a convo about Life After Death. Puff was blessed to have an artist as great as Biggie and Biggie was blessed to have a producer as great as Puff. To me, Bad Boy was the Motown for rap — which is being able to engineer the songwriters, the producers, the stars — so I have the ultimate respect for Puff as a producer. I told him, "I would love to get in the studio with you and build on that level."
He was like, "Nah Nip! I ain't never done a West Coast album, that'd be crazy. I'll produce the whole album." I'm like, "Alright I'm a hold you to that!" When it was album time, I told him, "Look, I got my album done, I'm coming to play these records for you."
I originally asked him to get on "Rap N*****." He heard the record and he was like, "Yeah, 'Rap N*****' is strong Hussle, but listen to this." And he pulled up [1994's] "Natural Born Killaz" with Ice Cube and Dre. And he said, "It don't sound like that though, bro." And this was the version [of "Rap N*****"] before the one we put out. It had less production. So I had my producer and we went to Puff's mansion he had just bought in L.A. — he had built a studio in the back.
He pressed play [again] on "Natural Born Killaz," like, "I hear what you're trying to do. It didn't sound like this sonically; it's not ready, bro." And I'm like, "Damn. You right!" We had it mixed and mastered, but the Dre and Ice Cube record was noticeably louder. So we went back to the studioand I hit [sound engineer] Mixed by Ali, like, "Bro we gotta mix it again, it's not loud enough." He's like, "No, it's gonna get louder in mastering." "No, bro." And I played "Natural Born Killaz" for everybody — the producers, the keyboard players. I said, "Listen to the energy of this record. We gotta make it this loud."
We went back in and reproduced it and added the synths to go throughout the whole song instead of [dropping] the instruments out on certain parts. This is West Coast street anthem. Let the synth go through the whole song. So we remixed it and brought it back and Puff was like, "Now it's ready, bro."
1. "Victory Lap"
"I'm a urban legend / South Central in a certain section / Can't explain how I curbed detectives, guess it's / Evidence of a divine presence."
If you check the stats — the murder rates and incarceration rates in the years I was a teenager in L.A. — in my section of the Crenshaw District, in the Rollin 60s, none of my peers survived. None of my peers avoided prison. None of 'em. Everybody got bullet wounds and felonies and strikes. So to make it out mentally stable and not in prison and not on drugs, that's a win. That's a victory in itself. Then to be in the position I find myself in as an artist and entrepreneur who has respect around the world — that's legendary. And I say it in the most humble way.
That's what I was talking about in that line. When I reflect on it, it's unbelievable. It's gotta be evidence of a divine presence, because it wasn't that I'm just the smartest dude or just wiggled my way through. It had to be a calling on my life and I started to see that.
2. "Rap N*****"
Me and Diddy had already been in contact with each other by being in the music industry and all of that, but my son's mom [actor Lauren London] did an early Sean John ad and she had a good relationship with him since then. Her and Cassie were real close; any time Cassie would have a birthday party or they'd be hanging out, Lauren would invite me. I'd be like, I ain't trying to wiggle into no relationships. But one time Puff was like, "Tell Nip to come through, man; Nip don't f*** with me or what?" So I made sure that I went. Me and Puff had a real good convo. I was just like, "You know bro, I ain't one of them dudes that be trying to get up under Diddy's hand and play nikkas close and all of that. I know you've got a million people that try to get energy from you and your resources up out you."
He's like, "Nah bro, I'm in L.A. and I respect the movement. Let's build." We had a convo about Life After Death. Puff was blessed to have an artist as great as Biggie and Biggie was blessed to have a producer as great as Puff. To me, Bad Boy was the Motown for rap — which is being able to engineer the songwriters, the producers, the stars — so I have the ultimate respect for Puff as a producer. I told him, "I would love to get in the studio with you and build on that level."
He was like, "Nah Nip! I ain't never done a West Coast album, that'd be crazy. I'll produce the whole album." I'm like, "Alright I'm a hold you to that!" When it was album time, I told him, "Look, I got my album done, I'm coming to play these records for you."
I originally asked him to get on "Rap N*****." He heard the record and he was like, "Yeah, 'Rap N*****' is strong Hussle, but listen to this." And he pulled up [1994's] "Natural Born Killaz" with Ice Cube and Dre. And he said, "It don't sound like that though, bro." And this was the version [of "Rap N*****"] before the one we put out. It had less production. So I had my producer and we went to Puff's mansion he had just bought in L.A. — he had built a studio in the back.
He pressed play [again] on "Natural Born Killaz," like, "I hear what you're trying to do. It didn't sound like this sonically; it's not ready, bro." And I'm like, "Damn. You right!" We had it mixed and mastered, but the Dre and Ice Cube record was noticeably louder. So we went back to the studioand I hit [sound engineer] Mixed by Ali, like, "Bro we gotta mix it again, it's not loud enough." He's like, "No, it's gonna get louder in mastering." "No, bro." And I played "Natural Born Killaz" for everybody — the producers, the keyboard players. I said, "Listen to the energy of this record. We gotta make it this loud."
We went back in and reproduced it and added the synths to go throughout the whole song instead of [dropping] the instruments out on certain parts. This is West Coast street anthem. Let the synth go through the whole song. So we remixed it and brought it back and Puff was like, "Now it's ready, bro."
3. "Last Time That I Checc'd" (feat. YG)
I wanted to create something for the West Coast that they felt like was specifically for them. And I'm sure that it won't stop there, but I do feel like it's going to belong to the Coast. I just wanted to. I reference the Jeezy line — "Last time I checked I was the man on these streets" — so I started with that idea and I remembered how important that moment was for Jeezy. I wanted to create an anthem for the streets and my generation.
A lot of us were raised off these principles that we got from the Jay-Z catalog or the Tupac catalog and, later on, the Jeezy catalog or the E-40 catalog. There were jewels in there that, if you really live by them, your life will benefit and your financial status will benefit. My perspective was ingrained in that music. And this ain't a shot at no other artists, but if we live by the principles in the music that my era is being exposed to, we're gonna end up strung out, we're gonna end up in a bad position. You get artists that say "I ain't no role model," and I respect that. I understand art reflecting life, but we grew up on art instructing life, with love and from a position of: I been there young bro and I know it's hard on you but I did it like this; here's the bread crumbs. After a while, I felt like it was almost a responsibility for me to give the game up [on record]. I look at it like a blueprint.
4. "Young N*****" (feat. Puff Daddy)
The session [with Puff] was so legendary. I'm like, "Puff, you not finna trump my energy on my album. Just know that in your first session with Nip, I'm 'bout to be turnt up more than you." We clapped it up after every take. We doing push-ups. I brought a pound of Marathon O.G. He tapped out like, "I can't smoke no more of this weed with you Hussle, I'm 'bout to smoke my weed in these joints." We really had a legendary session; he got to feel my energy, I got to feel his energy as a producer. And he was in the booth screaming. It was a room full of people and I told everbody, "Hey man, when he comes out that booth, everybody clap just to keep the energy going. Not to stroke no ego, but just to keep the energy up, you know what I mean, to say, I appreciate you giving your all to this record." It was just a fire session.
We got way more than what we needed. Then I just sat there, edited it later and just kept the lines where he was really responding to what I was saying. But yeah, I think Puff added a lot of dynamics to that record.
I also talk about a real-life story that took place. My brother had buried a quarter of a million dollars in my momma's back yard on 60th Street that he had just got off the street. He left it there for a year and when he went to go dig it up a little bit more than half of it had molded. He had the fire-proof, earth-proof safe, wrapped it in plastic, dropped it in the safe and then buried it. But when he dug it up, half of that money was molded. I remember him just losing his s***, and I'm like, "Oh man, this is devastating." I remember us all being in the living room in my momma's house — my mom included, my little sister, she was probably like 10 or 11 at the time — we had all this money laid out. It was like a conveyor belt. Somebody was in the kitchen rinsing and trying their hardest to scrape all the mold off. The money was ripping in half. It was hundreds and thousands like lumped together. Now you couldn't even unfold the money. It mildewed. And I just remember us in the living room with a blow dryer, blow-drying all the money and trying to salvage as much as we could.
I wanted to represent that story on record. It's blended into the overall verse but if you really tap in you'll hear the moment where I speak about it.
5. "Dedication (feat. Kendrick Lamar)"
"This ain't entertainment, it's for nikkas in the slave ship / These songs is the spirituals I swam against them waves with...."
I meant that in my spirit, and I never was able to articulate it. I got major support for this album — we spent millions on marketing — and that line is on it. As somebody that looked at our position in America and had an opinion about it, I feel like I did my job by being able to get that line off. And that means everything to me. I was really proud that it came out like that 'cause I ain't write none of these lyrics; I just went in the booth. So it was in my gut and it was in my spirit to say that. That's a really important line to me.
Marathon was the last project I wrote [lyrics down] for every song. And I didn't even write all of those. I get a more passionate delivery when I just go in the booth and let the music talk. It's less rigid and it's less structured, so sometimes you lose content value. But I found a good balance lately. I ain't never spoke on it cause that's Jay-Z's narrative and that's Biggie's narrative. So I never wanted to seem like I was copying them. But I've been writing raps since I was probably 13, 14 years old. So it has evolved. I can go in the booth once I hear the beat and instead of writing it I say into the mic.
I wanted to create something for the West Coast that they felt like was specifically for them. And I'm sure that it won't stop there, but I do feel like it's going to belong to the Coast. I just wanted to. I reference the Jeezy line — "Last time I checked I was the man on these streets" — so I started with that idea and I remembered how important that moment was for Jeezy. I wanted to create an anthem for the streets and my generation.
A lot of us were raised off these principles that we got from the Jay-Z catalog or the Tupac catalog and, later on, the Jeezy catalog or the E-40 catalog. There were jewels in there that, if you really live by them, your life will benefit and your financial status will benefit. My perspective was ingrained in that music. And this ain't a shot at no other artists, but if we live by the principles in the music that my era is being exposed to, we're gonna end up strung out, we're gonna end up in a bad position. You get artists that say "I ain't no role model," and I respect that. I understand art reflecting life, but we grew up on art instructing life, with love and from a position of: I been there young bro and I know it's hard on you but I did it like this; here's the bread crumbs. After a while, I felt like it was almost a responsibility for me to give the game up [on record]. I look at it like a blueprint.
4. "Young N*****" (feat. Puff Daddy)
The session [with Puff] was so legendary. I'm like, "Puff, you not finna trump my energy on my album. Just know that in your first session with Nip, I'm 'bout to be turnt up more than you." We clapped it up after every take. We doing push-ups. I brought a pound of Marathon O.G. He tapped out like, "I can't smoke no more of this weed with you Hussle, I'm 'bout to smoke my weed in these joints." We really had a legendary session; he got to feel my energy, I got to feel his energy as a producer. And he was in the booth screaming. It was a room full of people and I told everbody, "Hey man, when he comes out that booth, everybody clap just to keep the energy going. Not to stroke no ego, but just to keep the energy up, you know what I mean, to say, I appreciate you giving your all to this record." It was just a fire session.
We got way more than what we needed. Then I just sat there, edited it later and just kept the lines where he was really responding to what I was saying. But yeah, I think Puff added a lot of dynamics to that record.
I also talk about a real-life story that took place. My brother had buried a quarter of a million dollars in my momma's back yard on 60th Street that he had just got off the street. He left it there for a year and when he went to go dig it up a little bit more than half of it had molded. He had the fire-proof, earth-proof safe, wrapped it in plastic, dropped it in the safe and then buried it. But when he dug it up, half of that money was molded. I remember him just losing his s***, and I'm like, "Oh man, this is devastating." I remember us all being in the living room in my momma's house — my mom included, my little sister, she was probably like 10 or 11 at the time — we had all this money laid out. It was like a conveyor belt. Somebody was in the kitchen rinsing and trying their hardest to scrape all the mold off. The money was ripping in half. It was hundreds and thousands like lumped together. Now you couldn't even unfold the money. It mildewed. And I just remember us in the living room with a blow dryer, blow-drying all the money and trying to salvage as much as we could.
I wanted to represent that story on record. It's blended into the overall verse but if you really tap in you'll hear the moment where I speak about it.
5. "Dedication (feat. Kendrick Lamar)"
"This ain't entertainment, it's for nikkas in the slave ship / These songs is the spirituals I swam against them waves with...."
I meant that in my spirit, and I never was able to articulate it. I got major support for this album — we spent millions on marketing — and that line is on it. As somebody that looked at our position in America and had an opinion about it, I feel like I did my job by being able to get that line off. And that means everything to me. I was really proud that it came out like that 'cause I ain't write none of these lyrics; I just went in the booth. So it was in my gut and it was in my spirit to say that. That's a really important line to me.
Marathon was the last project I wrote [lyrics down] for every song. And I didn't even write all of those. I get a more passionate delivery when I just go in the booth and let the music talk. It's less rigid and it's less structured, so sometimes you lose content value. But I found a good balance lately. I ain't never spoke on it cause that's Jay-Z's narrative and that's Biggie's narrative. So I never wanted to seem like I was copying them. But I've been writing raps since I was probably 13, 14 years old. So it has evolved. I can go in the booth once I hear the beat and instead of writing it I say into the mic.