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In 2019 I started working on my “First and last Album” which I called “No regrets”. After spending four years hoping against hope for a miracle that would allow me to move to the next stage in my career as an artist I was ready to call it quits and transition into making music solely as a hobby instead of a full time career.
In the process of making the project and figuring out what was next for me Nipsey Hussle died and his death caught me off guard. I had been an almost passive fan of his music for years and I respected his pen game and his style of music. But I must admit that his death forced me to re examine him as a person and not just the music and the social media narrative of him as an artist.
At first glance Nipsey is a self acclaimed “60’s Crip” covered in tattoos and his music doesn't attempt to hide or downplay this fact, however beyond being an artist with gang affiliations and some really good songs, Nipsey is a pillar of his community and a true hip hop legend even if not by industry standards.
Ermias Joseph Ashgedom aka Nipsey Hussle was 33 years old when he was shot and killed in front of his store in Crenshaw where he grew up. Like most black kids he grew up without a father in his life and moved from living with his mother at an early age to living with his grandmother where he had more freedom and eventually dropped out of school and became a member of the rolling 60’s, a neighborhood section of the famous Crips gang. Ermias travelled to Africa as a teen and reconnected with his roots after which he returned to Crenshaw with some new values and began to pursue his career as an artist more seriously.
His music taught me patience, understanding that success is an actual process and his life was a testament to the words in his verses. Nipsey hussle’s career was a literal marathon, from getting signed to Epic records once to escape a warrant to coming back to set up his label with his brother and building a successful business from the ground up.
He may not have been on the top 10 charts every week but Nipsey’s music was revered in his immediate community and eventually spread through California and to the world. He was especially respected for choosing to bypass the middle man (record labels and distribution companies) and find ways to connect and directly and creatively optimize his audience. For example in a time where independent artists were scared to sell records he sold his Crenshaw mixtape for a hundred dollars each and Jay Z respected him enough to buy a hundred copies of the project!!! Nip knew his worth and wouldn’t accept nothing less.
He felt he did not have the means to properly put out an album ( a sentiment I shared until I decided to make no regrets) so he put out several mixtapes (Like I did ) in order to keep feeding his audience and growing their numbers until he was ready and released his only album Victory Lap which in my opinion is one of the best hip hop albums of all time. Nipsey was such a genuine soul that when he lost the award for best rap album to Cardi B, he congratulated her and shut down any noise from his fan base about him deserving the award more, stating that it was her time and if she got it she deserved it. Nipsey eventually won 2 Grammy awards and was beginning to turn heads and open doors in the industry before his untimely demise.
Besides being an artist Nipsey was a loving father to his children, an amazing brother to his siblings, A good partner to his love Lauren London, and a serial entrepreneur who went from selling his CD’s from the Trunk of his Car outside a corner store on Crenshaw and Slaughson to not only owning the store but the entire plaza and owning several properties around him which he developed and helped establish several businesses to revitalize and grow his community.
Nipsey first went into negotiations with Atlantic Records but both parties couldn’t agree on the terms he wanted and so he left, he inquired what he would need to do to get them agree to his terms and then he set out to accomplish all of those things before being approached by them again several years later and signing a partnership on his own terms. He applied the same approach to his deal with Puma and his clothing brand The marathon.
Besides admiring his music and his business acumen Nipsey’s personality was simply awe inspiring. He was an Avid reader who was always interested in learning and discovering new things, He was a principled man who did his best to live by the words he spoke and taught in his music.
Everybody respected him, Bloods, crips, Non gangbangers, business men and even Barrack Obama who wrote him a beautiful letter when he died.
Nipsey was constantly trying to inspire and motivate young people as he considered this the greatest metric for success, he partnered with David gross to create “Our opportunity” an economic platform for his people. He founded Vector 90 to provide educational opportunities for young people in his area. He collaborated with artists from rival gangs and was notably largely responsible for the decline in gang violence in his neighborhood.
Nipsey was an imperfect young man with a dream, who “took the stairs” to success and slowly but surely reaped the benefits of his hard work and dedication and he serves as a daily reminder to me and many others to keep going.
Nip wanted his last album to be called “A spook by the door” because of how he was able to navigate the industry, I know now what my last album will be called because my Marathon continues with no regrets.
Nipsey represents everything I want to be as an artist and a person, and whenever I start to grow weary of the struggle and compare myself with other artists, he reminds me that life is a marathon not a sprint. It is all money in and no money out.
