Nipsey Hussle rightfully made a name for himself in 2008 with his powerfulĀ Bullets Aināt Got No Name trilogy, which many expected to propel him to the forefront of West Coast rap. But in the five years since, other L.A. artists emerged to assume the mantle. This past Augustāout of our disappointment, not ill willāwe put Nipsey on ourĀ 10 Underachieving RappersĀ list, and he wasnāt too happy about it. Not knowing his displeasure, I reached out for an interview so we could talk about the hype surrounding the recent release of hisĀ CrenshawĀ mixtape and its $100 price tag.
After some back and forth, and getting calledout on Twitter by Nipsey himself (who alsoĀ demanded $10,000 for a Complex interview),Ā he finally agreed to get on the phone to talk to us (with a special $10,000 discount). And we're glad he did. In our conversation, he gave a scathing critique of our rap coverage, discussed why his music resonates with people, and explained why he refuses to budge from his anti-industry stance.
Interview by Angel Diaz (@ADiaz456)
So, I reached out to you for an interview once Crenshaw dropped and you denied us. Then you went on a Twitter rant about Complex and said we had to put up $10,000 for an interview. What was the source of your frustration?
First off, I never took anything personal. I never really took a personal offense to 25ā¦I forgot the title you used. It was kind of a degrading article.
Complex was a big supporter from day one of my sh*t. But I started to see a change in the stance it was taking. It was almost like sarcasticā¦it made me think, Do you guys even like hip-hop?
The 10 Underachieving Rappers?
Exactly. I didnāt take personal offense to that. As a hip-hop artist in 2013, with the technology, the landscape of the industry and the culture, things are changing. Weāre in a transitional period. We assume that editors of a credible magazine are intelligent people. We assume that these are people up on the state of things in the world, outside of just hip-hop.Ā Leading up to that article, I went to Complex, I played my albums for Complex. Complex was a big supporter from day one of my shit. But I started to see a change in the stance it was taking. It was almost like sarcasticā¦it made me think, Do you guys even like hip-hop? Is Complex a magazine that has love for the culture? I started to see real sarcastic and degrading articles.
I understand being critical, thatās what keeps artists on top of their game. If they do some wack shit, thereās gonna be an honest write-up about their shit. What I got was that somebody in that building had a disgust for hip-hop. It was like a bougie stance from where theyāre writing from. Thatās what I took offense to. I see a lot of that in our culture right now. This shit came from the streets. This shit came from the people. This shit came from the struggle.
I took offense to, not only Complexās stance, but the major labelsā stance on how they treat artists, how they treat the culture. And I felt like weāre at a point where our cultureās getting exploited and itās looking like theyāre trying to do us like they did rock 'n' roll. Theyāre trying to do us like they did Africa, and theyāre trying to extract all of our natural resources for their own exploited reasons. If Complex is going to take the stance to degrade the culture and point out every flaw that hip-hop artists have and every mistake they make, then Iāma take the stance to say: As hip-hop, weāre gonna boycott Complex. We donāt need that. We can write about ourselves. We could develop our own outlet and we can cover our own stories. Itās like āNo thank you. We donāt need yāall opinion no more.ā And thatās why I said what I said.
To clarify, that list was based on artists we really fuck with who may not have had the output we wished they had. It was a critical opinion. We werenāt trying to bring anybody down.
Number one, who is an editor to have an opinion on a street nigga? Bottom line. Those editors donāt live this life. They donāt go through the struggle. Iām from the Rolling 60's my nigga. They donāt understand what putting an album out is to me. It aināt the same as one of them backpack niggas, or one of them college-rapping types. That aināt the shit I do.Ā I got enemies. I went to war for real in between albums. My life is real. So when I hear about an editor asking: Whatās up with my output? Iām like: Whatās up with you even commenting on my life? Niggas donāt know my life. Thatās the bourgeoisie approach that I get offended by because this aināt no bubble. This aināt no vacuum we doing this music out of. Thatās why people connect to the pain in it. Because itās real. Thatās the part they should respect. These radio hits, these charts, they donāt validate the truth and the message. Thatās when I start to be like, āOkay, you aināt got a record on radio. You aināt put an album out officially, so youāre an underachiever.ā
Thatās where I get offended because letās restart this whole situation. The metrics and the gauge of success, and of impact on the culture. It donāt got shit to do with Billboard, it donāt got shit to do with SoundScan. It donāt got shit to do with any of these platforms that the business created. This shit is a culture. This shit is our life. You understand? So in between my projects does it take a year or two, or another artist that live a real life? Does it take them a year to put a project out? Because he wants to retain ownership. He wants to do what they refuse to let you do and thatās control his own destiny. He donāt wanna be exploited by the music industry that been traditionally exploitive to our creators. Then he end up on lists like the Top 25 Underachievers.
A lot of these artists that you got on these lists, theyāre living real life and come from real places. The fact that theyāre not doing 25-to-life in jail, yāall niggas better salute that. The fact that niggas aināt running up on shit, robbing shit, stealing shitāniggas are being creative, having a positive output.Ā Complex better respect that, period.
It sounds like you actually did take it a little personally.
Yeah. But then I realize I canāt and I step back. Thatās why I didnāt speak on yāall when the list first popped up. I just stepped back and said, āThatās yāall right to do that.ā But Iām starting to see Complex. Yāall cover all the shit you donāt like about hip-hop. I stepped back and watched for months. Iāve come to a conclusion: ComplexĀ donāt love this shit. Theyāre not in it. They cover it from a bourgeoisie perspective. Weāre judged by our peers. Weāre not judged by somebody putting stories up writing an article. We donāt even know your background. You gotta validate your opinion in the real world. You canāt just walk on Crenshaw and Slauson and say, āI donāt like Nipseyās project,ā ācause niggas gonna beat you up. Who are you to say that? Iām offended by the throw-a-stone-and-hide-your-hand operation of this industry. Diss a nigga one month because you think his career is over. And the nigga turn around and shift culture and you ask for an interview. Fuck your interview, nigga. Quote me on that.
Iām an unsigned artist getting $25,000 a show. Iām touring the world, not doing nothing against the law, getting money to feed my family. I got employees that have felonies and they canāt get jobs. They work for me.
To be fair, as your fanāand I told you my backgroundāI can tell that youāre really from the streets. And I really fuck with your sound, but I wasnāt really feeling The Marathon Continues. We put you on the āUnderachieversā list because you dropped that in 2011 and disappeared. We didnāt really hear from you until you started dropping the Victory Lap shit, which has been fire by the way.
Whoās making these rules up that you got to drop a project every six months? Who made these rules up? I donāt know where that came from. Thatās not indigenous to rap. Thatās what niggas start doing, but Iām not a follower. And Iām not in it for these same reasons. Niggas hold fame against you like thatās what youāre in it for. Iām not in it for fame. Iāve been famous in the streets already. My goal in this shit is different, bro. What Iām trying to do in this rap shit is different. Thatās the reason that I priced my project for the price I priced it at. Obviously, itās a business and weāre all trying to get the bread. But I really love hip-hop. I really love the culture of hip-hop. And if a nigga understands and listens to my catalog, they can tell that. If they canāt tell nothing else they can tell that.
I mean, it gave me a legitimate outlet. It gave me a freedom to be able to do what I love to do and get paid for it. But even before that, Iām a student, Iām a child of hip-hop first. Iām an unsigned artist getting $25,000 a show. Iām touring the world, not doing nothing against the law, getting money to feed my family. I got employees that have felonies and they canāt get jobs. They work for me.
Who are yāall talking to? Whoās the audience youāre speaking to? Because you canāt be speaking to the streets. The streets donāt think like that. They donāt, bro. They donāt think, like, he aināt have a project for a couple months. Nah, thatās not how the streets think. Theyāre like, āMy nigga, keep going. Keep going because youāre supposed to be dead. Youāre supposed to be in jail. Youāre supposed to be doing 25 with the rest of the niggas you grew up with.ā My presence is positive. My presence is law of attraction. Mind over matter. Thatās really the fabric of my creativity.
Ā
Do you really think we wait until artists are hyped to cover them and over-criticize them at times?
Fact. I mean I didnāt know yāall covered me. When I came into the game Complex jumped on my dick. I didnāt ask Complex to cover me. I was selling my music out my trunk on Crenshaw and Slauson, and Complex asked me can they get an interview. I didnāt ask them to write about me. I didnāt invite them into my world. I aināt never need āem. But I granted them access. So I let them have some cachet value. 'Cause the streets was fucking with me.
Like I said, we reached out to you earlier in your career. We gave A$AP Rocky his first cover. We gave Chance the Rapper his first cover.
Itās different, bro. Iām not them niggas at all. And itās no disrespect to Chance or A$AP, but Iām different. You canāt compare me to A$AP Rocky or Chance the Rapper. No disrespect, Iām different. Go ahead though.
Letās get into the Crenshaw tape. You have a lot of dope beats on there. Tell us the process you went through in putting that together.
Iām not really into talking about it. Itās on www.iamproud2pay.com. Itās $100. Whatever you need to know is out there already. If niggas aināt aware of it, itās not for them. If the magazine aināt up on it, it aināt for them. They could put their ear to the street and they can get it from the people. Itās the first hundred-dollar album in the history of recorded music. Thatās it. I aināt really tripping off Complexās opinion.
My truth is gonna be what they connect to. I touch people when I go to my shows. I see my lyrics tattooed on them. But Iām not a fame junkie. Iām not into trading ownership of the only asset I have, which is my intellectual property.
Well, I listened to the tape a couple times. I just want to talk about it a little bit. You donāt want to talk about the tape?
Go through every album, every song and then point out one lie. And then go through these other artists, whether you like them or notāwho you consider my competition and whatnotāand go through their albums and compare record to record, line for line, from what the culture is, what hip-hop is, and my shit better than these niggasā shit. You can quote me on that. Period. My shit realer. My shit aināt got no lies in it. My storyās real. I aināt supposed to be here. You can quote that. Iām supposed to be on the level with my homeboy Little Shady Blue. Thatās where Iām supposed to be. By me standing here, and having an international audience for what I got to sayāsalute that. And you can quote me on that. Again, that aināt no disrespect to you. I understand through your emails youāre probably a nigga like me so you probably understand where Iām coming from.
Thatās why I wanna talk, just getting into the tape a little bit. Where did you come up with that idea? Were you worried that it wasnāt going to work?
No, I knew it was gonna work because I saw the stats on my website. I know that people in New Zealand spend $600 with me a month. I see that Iām shipping out a package that costs $400: a hat and T-shirt, mixtapes, a beanie, I see that. I got people in Toronto that spend $500. I see that. My fans are engaged to that level.
Iāve been fucking with you for a while and I realized early on that you resonated with people. You kind of have a cult following. Why do you think you resonate with people so much?
Because Iām real my nigga. My story is real. There aināt no rap niggas in the game like me at all. Especially from my generation. There aināt no nigga that stood up to what I stood up to. Went through what I went through. Thought how I thought. Didnāt give up. Stayed down, stayed in the shit. Built for his community. Stayed local and inspired his area. Came from a treacherous area like the Rolling 60's. Went toe to toe and head up with killers. There aināt no nigga in the game like me. So thatās what theyāre connecting to and the fact that I express my truth via my music. I donāt need a Dr. Dre beat. My truth is gonna be what they connect to. I touch people when I go to my shows. I see my lyrics tattooed on them. But Iām not a fame junkie. Iām not into trading ownership of the only asset I have, which is my intellectual property. Iām not into trading that so people will understand why Iām the realest thing in this shit.
You do a lot of records with Dom Kennedy. Did he have any influence on you in terms of how to make moves in this business?
You could say that.
Curren$y too. Those are guys that stayed independent and are making money and being successful.
I got respect for Curren$y, thatās my nigga. I got love and respect for Dom. Iām influenced by real niggas thatās doing real things. My strategy and my campaign is understood by the generation and the era we live in. Why would a nigga sign to a major label and give up the only thing you have? They be famous, but they donāt own shit. Once the marketing money wears off and you aināt getting no check, and your single aināt being marketed to radio no more? You donāt got nobody who really cares for you, or really loves you, or really connects to what youāre saying. So itās over. I was on a major label with a lot of these niggas. Iāve seen niggas with No. 1 hits come and go. You feel what Iām saying? Iām still here my nigga.
It was a big co-sign when Jay Z bought a bunch of your CDs. How did that make you feel?
I respect a real nigga making a real nigga move. I wasnāt even gonna say nothing about it. The stories started getting out and people started acting like niggas was lying about it; so I confirmed it. Iām in it for doing what God put me here to do. Thatās my job. I aināt tripping on no co-sign. I respect Jay to the utmost, heās a real nigga. I respect all real niggas. Fuck rappers. Fuck magazines. I respect the move. That aināt why I did it and I donāt think it was successful because an artist of that caliber bought into it. I think that Jay understands the truth and he understands life like I probably understand life. In 2013, niggas is fools for signing with other rappers. Niggas is fucking clowns for signing these 360 deals. You can quote me on that. As a fan of hip-hop I want you to point to an artist that represents what I represent in the game right now. It aināt got nothing to do with the move that just happened. Iām saying in general. I represent a real nigga that came from a real place that runs his own situation.
Have any other rappers hit you up saying, āDamn, I wish I thought about this?ā
Yeah, a couple of my niggas that I fuck with and respect are like, āIām with you. I wanna sit down with you and I wanna campaign how you campaign. I wanna get in on this 'Fuck the Middleman,' 'I Am Proud to Pay Shit' too.ā And Iām like, āLetās do it my nigga.ā I salute it because this industry aināt built for us to win. This industry built for niggas to be broke at the end of their careers. The Internet changed it. Before they put a nigga on an āUnderachievingā list, letās look at the metrics. Letās look at the real mechanisms of gauging an artistās impact on culture. Because if youāre telling me that all yāall gauging is Soundscan and Billboard, we donāt need yāall. Yāall getting an eviction notice. Complex outta here. We cooled on yāall because everythingās gotta go. Yāall the middleman, fuck yāall. What Iām really offended about is that Complex acted like I donāt remember. They emailed me like, āIām a big fan, I fuck with yāall, letās get an interview.ā
But that was me though.
It was on behalf of Complex. Theyāre using you like these labels use these rappers. Listen to me real quick. Labels put rappers in front of their company to attract other rappers. Look at every label my nigga. Warner Bros. got their artists that they signed urban shit through. Atlantic got their artists they sign urban shit through. Def Jam got their artists they sign urban shit through. And one artist that say, āThis is my nigga. Iām gonna let my nigga eat.ā Then all the other niggas gotta sign through him. Thatās the business model of these major labels. Niggas too stupid. Niggas is too reliant, getting caught up in the ambition of the artist to understand that this shit is disrespectful. If youāre a black man, if youāre a nigga from the struggle, you should be offended by that.
I know Kendrick deserves everything heās got because he works for it. And thatās how I feel about it. I know that he raps what I rap. And the bigger he gets, the bigger this category that Iām in gets.
Niggas should ride with me. Niggas should have no other opinion about it. And itās offensive. Or theyāre not paying attention. If theyāre not paying attention Iām here to wake them up. Iām here to tell them. Iāve been to every major label my nigga. Who does Interscope have? Dr. Dre. You wanna come to Interscope? Sign with Dre. What you think Warner Bros. and Atlantic got? They got niggas that they like and say to them, āWeāll let you get your money but every dealās gotta come through you.ā What you think Def Jamās doing? Look at every artist they got on the platform recently. The labels are upset about it like, āDamn, we gotta deal with another nigga with some power now. Damn, another one slipped through.ā
People were saying, āWhy am I gonna pay $100 when I could just download it for free? Yāall stupid for paying $100 for it.ā How do you feel about that?
We can criticize a street nigga, but we canāt be aware of the mindfuck thatās going on with these corporations and these motherfuckinā giants. Itās a problem that Nip still values his product at $100āI get backlash from our culture. From the niggas that look like me. Most of these niggas rap for their damn selves. But when niggas go into the mall and buy $600 iPhonesāand everybodyās got an iPhoneāand stand in line for $1,000 shoes, and pay $5 a gallon for gas. Thatās why Iām mad. Thatās my objective and niggas gotta wake up. Itās a misinformed critique.
You were planning to drop Victory Lap first, right? So now thatās gonna be an album instead?
Yeah. Iāma tell you about that. I was in negotiations with a few major labels and we were almost close to a deal. So I started promoting Victory Lap as a mixtape before my album, because I was gonna drop Victory Lap, announce my deal, and go into the album; but I realized that the structure of these companies arenāt built to give me any type of ownership. They wanna give you a check. I told them keep the check, give me an asset and just market and distribute my shit. I donāt need a check. They wanted to give me all this money up front but Iām like, keep the money. Let me be involved as a partner. And niggas couldnāt do that. And itās not because the people at the label didnāt want to help me. Itās because the corporate structure of their companies would not allow ownership. And Iām offended by that. I called an audible and I withstood social pressure. I believed in my heart that I would be less of a man to not stand up for what I believed in. I felt like it was racist. Like, I donāt deserve some shit I just built by myself? You want to give me some money? Oh, because you donāt think I know what the asset is? You think I donāt understand where the real value is? Well Iām offended by that and my goal changed. I didnāt do a press release or tell nobody about it. I just let my demonstration speak. And now theyāve seen the first part of it with the Crenshaw shit. Thatās just a small piece of what my plan is.
When can we expect Victory Lap?
Itāll be the next project I release. The first single is ready, itās called āRap Niggas.ā Thatās coming soon. Thatās really the most concrete information I have right now. I donāt wanna give out information that the fans hold onto, and get let down. So Iāma leave it at that. Completely independent and itāll be under the Fuck the Middleman pay model.
I just want to get your opinion. Kendrickās at the forefront right now, repping the West. What were your thoughts when you first heard the āControlā verse?
Iām a fan of Kendrick as a person and as an artist, and I respect the Top Dawg movement. I know them niggas, I know they come from the projects. I know we were on tour together and we were beating shit up in the club together. I know that they are genuine niggas. I know Kendrick deserves everything heās got because he works for it. And thatās how I feel about it. I know that he raps what I rap. And the bigger he gets, the bigger this category that Iām in gets. And I salute and I respect it as a real nigga.
Ā
When the Crenshaw tape was coming out and people were criticizing the model, Dom went on Twitter to publicly back you. How does that feel to have a peer fuck with you unconditionally?
Itās like in the streets. If I fight you fight. I aināt gonna watch you fight and not jump in it. What type of nigga does that make me? And I call myself āyour nigga?ā If you fighting, Iām fighting. Thatās how weĀ were raised. Aināt nothing special. Thatās how we was brought up.
I needed a marketing machine and I needed international distribution for my product. [Rick] Ross fought tooth and nail to make that happen for me. I respect him and salute him for that; but then we ran into the corporate structure of these companies.
This is sort of old news, but were you really close to joining Maybach Music?
Me and Rick Ross sat down and talked and he made it clear that he can make the deal that I need. And I told him that I donāt need money, I need a partnership. I needed a marketing machine and I needed international distribution for my product. Ross fought tooth and nail to make that happen for me. I respect him and salute him for that; but then we ran into the corporate structure of these companies. And again, it offended me, because here you have one of the most powerful, respected niggas in the game about to make a power move thatās going to incite the culture and they want us to be the ones that compromise. They should be the ones to compromise for the culture so this thing can happen. Weāre not supposed to compromise and thatās what they said. They said, āJust be happy with the hood and happy with the fame of it and how itās gonna make it look. Itās gonna be big. Youāre gonna be the biggest nigga out of the West,ā and all this other shit. Sell that to a ho, my nigga. Iām a man.
Thatās why youāre doing it like guys like Dom, Curren$y, and Action Bronson and taking the indie route?
Now let me ask you this. Since the game has changed, when are the magazines gonna change? And stop rating niggas as āunderachievers?ā When they gonna react to whatās going on? Because theyāre late. You look at major labels, even physical publications, theyāre on their way out my nigga. Niggas aināt buying magazines in the next 10 years. Theyāre gonna be on the iPad downloading magazines.
But we were one of the first print magazines to embrace digital.
Yeah, but my thing is, yāall still misrepresenting the culture. I know itās not Marc Ecko, because I understand heās the owner, his involvement is probably not all the way down to the core of the daily operation. But somewhere in between thereās a disconnect and I know Marc Ecko stand for ownership. I bought his book before he told me he was gonna send me one. I bought it because I respect dude. I bought his clothes when they was out. I understand his impact on culture. I know he did 50 Centās clothing line. I respect it.
So this is your new model? Youāre staying independent?
You listen to my first shitāI said, āFuck the middleman.ā 2003. Iāve been campaigning this but the game wasnāt ready, and it wasnāt time. Niggas convinced me to take a major deal. I feel like now, since this new thing dropped, and real niggas like Jay Z stood up with the power of his influence, he influenced other businessmen to say, āYou know what Nip? Iāma support you. Give me 200. Iām buying 200.ā We gonna pay the IRS and we gonna power what we believe in. And niggas gonna be able to gauge my sincerity over the next year or two. Youāll have other artists popping up doing the same thing. And then what these labels gonna do? They gonna have to give niggas their fair share. I stood up to shit way tougher than the labels before. Iām not scared. I aināt got no fear in my heart, trust me. I stood up to way more shit than a major label, than some pencil-pushing white boy, no disrespect. Iāma keep it 100. And thatās it, thatās how I feel.
RELATED: Our 2010 interview with Nipsey