First I would like to pray for Ermias Asghedom aka Nipsey Hussel’s family and friends who have lost a great father, son, brother, boyfriend, friend, entrepreneur, and mentor.
Nipsey grew up in Crenshaw, a section of Los Angles which is riddled with gang activity. He personally was apart of the infamous Rolling 60
Crips. But he was not your typical gang member he did not want to die without having a positive impact on his community.
He not only talked about black entrepreneurship in his
music but he lived it by opening a clothing shop called The Marathon Clothing which sold Crenshaw
hoodies along with his music. This store is located on the corner of the
L-shaped plaza which had huge impact on his life. This place goes back before
he owned stores in the plaza, this is where he received his name this where he became “Nipsey
Hussel”. In an interview Nip he stated “Before we was renting here, I was hustling
in the parking lot…It’s just always been a hub for local entrepreneurs”
Nip always wanted the message in his music to impact
gang culture. In an interview with 105.1 The Breakfast Club he stated “I didn’t
want to preach to the choir but I wanted to be able to say you know I’m one of
you and where I’m a going, where ever I end up you going know you can end up
there too whether at the top of game(hip-hop) or a successful situation as a business
owner”
Nip also was an independent artist who preached owning
your own masters. What that means is owning the rights to your music and not the label, not an agency, but the artist. Owning ones masters, the owner has the capability to use the recorded track for a TV show, a film, a commercial, or another visual creation or project that requires sound or music. A master's license is gained from the person who owns the recordings of the record, and they are the people that financed or payed for the recording. For somebody like Nip that is a huge
accomplishment. We have seen independent artist all the time such as such as
Chance The Rapper and the late Mac Miller. But Nip is in a different type of
category, unlike Chance and Mac he comes from the street culture where he was
completely counted out from society and he was able to get it on his own. People that we
saw do this that came from the same situation was Jay-z, Biggs, Dame Dash, Birdman
and Slim as well as Master P. What they all did was get it from the dirt and when they did sign it
was not a though they were under the label but as a partnership.
For most West Coast artists they needed the Dr. Dre stamp of approval to make in the industry. Nip was not one of those guys he was able to make it on his own without a co-sign. He was able to put himself on because of the authenticity of his music.
For most West Coast artists they needed the Dr. Dre stamp of approval to make in the industry. Nip was not one of those guys he was able to make it on his own without a co-sign. He was able to put himself on because of the authenticity of his music.
Before Nipsey was horrendously murdered he was going to meet with LAPD Chief Moore and L.A. Police Commissioner Steve Soboroff to discuss gang violence and ways to prevent it in L.A. especially in his Crenshaw District neighborhood. Nipsey Hussel lived his life with a purpose of changing his community for the better. No one is perfect and everybody makes mistake and he was a flawed man but he made it a point that his mistakes is not what he would be remembered for but for his music and his message of black empowerment and black entrepreneurship. From owning The Marathon to different businesses and real estate ventures he will surely be missed but his blueprint will never be forgotten. We lost a real one but if you were honorable to real actually never die their legacy will continue to strive. "The highest human act is to inspire"-
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