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. 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. 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. But it takes more than an innate business ethic to make great music. ![]() 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. ![]() 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. 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.
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