NIPSEY HUSSLE: THE WHOLE STORY

[Music] foreign [Music] welcome back to the channel it's KB and we locked in now let's jump into it today we're going to be talking about nipsy hustle it's Rise From The Trenches of South Central Los Angeles to its position as a leading figure in a rap industry Nipsey hustle was a Beacon of Hope and inspiration for many people worldwide his message emphasizing the importance of personal growth self-confidence Wells Building and unwavering commitment resonated with many from his Grammy nominated music to his dedicated community service Nipsey was carving a path as a Pioneer it's genuinely tragic that his life was cut so short so abruptly his life story is one of the most compelling I think I've ever covered on this channel and if y'all make it to the end I'm sure y'all have a newfound respect for Nipsey and what he was striving to accomplish so without further Ado let's go [Music] to this story it was about the potential we all had somebody crash on Slauson what it just I did in a vision of something he wanted to make happen my Early Childhood he was all together we lived in my grandma's house we used to sleep in the same bed me and my brother and my mom in the back bedroom [Music] so I was happy with our early life the 90s in L.A was epic the riots was going on the gang banging [ __ ] was at a hard time that's the air we grew up in the street videos Chris on Slauson in the Crenshaw District what is where really the nip hustle story started how I want my career to be I wrote it down [Music] what became Slauson Boy Records it became all money Inc what became the marathon who became Nipsey Hussle [Music] with me being from over here you know I'm trying to represent this area or being accessible to the area affects my career in a negative way you know what I'm saying I'm just taking that one on the chin and the things that you sacrificed it's just what life is all about deciding the firstborn man hey what's up what's up Batman fights acquired element on your Marathon not to success on your marathon of life [Applause] grand opening of any business anywhere in Southern California today granny [Music] in the neighborhood it's your footprint in the sand you know you're dead in the universe the impact on the world around it seemed like every dollar he made he put back into the community I want him to say that he wasn't afraid to live chasing a dream love being real speaking the truth [Music] voices for people that didn't have a voice and it's my life Nipsey Hustle real name Ermey is ascadine was born on August 15 1985 in Los Angeles California more specifically he was born and raised in South Central in the Slauson at Crenshaw District a notoriously dangerous part of LA hi Clark is a culturally rich neighborhood in the Heart of Los Angeles but for years residents there have had to live with the fear of gangs violence every day the same energy promoting none of that I'm not promoting gang banging in no shape form or fashion understand this all I'm doing is is shed light on what's going on I do have a major problem but the way we're working to solve the problem is just not the police there's not a police solution to this problem to this problem and this problem I've been chasing this music from day one like I'll be writing wrestling without doing anything guy buying grinding Hudson not the right rap song don't need it so where we at now consider the enemy just a flood neighborhood all these houses it's parked you know I'm saying it's the BNG Finance [Music] hey boy seven a gram come on cause you stupid you want to buy a grand Club because I'm about to just get tanked up it was in these streets where Nipsey would defy the odds and make a name for herself despite his parents separation during his early life his father played an active role in his upbringing living only a short distance away from them as a middle child she was raised alongside his younger sister and an older brother known to the streets as blacks out by the time Nipsey reached seven or eight years old his affection for hip-hop began to grow steadily his earliest infatuation was with the rap Duo crisscross which inspired him to dream of signing as a young artist to himself and becoming a sensation in a music industry consequently he embarked on a journey to compose his own lyrics however he kept his Pursuit secret during his early years hoping that others would somehow discover his hidden talent and offer him a record deal when his aspirations didn't materialize during his childhood Nipsey reconsidered his priorities setting aside his passion for rap and deciding it was time to explore New Horizons trying to put it together like how do you rap oh you gotta get a studio you got how much is studio equipment it's expensive but I used to go to my homie Jermaine house across the street and we'll build a studio in the backyard with no equipment we'll just be clearing the dirt like you know I'm saying sweeping the backyard up like we're gonna build it right here and then ours should be like eight feet this way you know what I'm saying but just like realizing damn this week we don't have the capacity to do this you know I mean we don't have to get money to do this we can't just wing it off a dream Nipsey frequently acknowledged his older brothers Black Sam influence that's a driving force behind his own Spirit of Entrepreneurship he admired his brother greatly and observed how black Sam consistently found diverse ways to make money this deeply inspired a young Nipsey who took a leaf out of his brother's book and started to explore his own small-scale entrepreneurial Ventures during his childhood you know my brother was always a hustler you know what I mean so I as a little brother you're gonna do what your big brother do and then also just being um in a situation where we needed to kind of like compensate you know what I mean make up for like you know I mean things that we felt we should have that we didn't in the sixth grade year nimsy hustled his way into his first job shining shoes at chamber shoe shot located on Slauson Avenue there were days when he would earn as much as a hundred dollars from his diligent work there this was an impressive song for a child his age demonstrating his entrepreneurial Spirit from an early stage in life Sean shows that chamber shoe shine coincidentally on Slauson so I just went through every business in the neighborhood like I need a job yeah and he's like you're too young you know you don't have a work permit you're too young and the only one that gave me a job was uh a guy by the name of Paul Chambers oh okay and another young dude named Stefan Chambers and uh it was a shoe shine part I used to get 2.50 for every sure Sean yeah and I my quota was a hundred dollars a day so you can imagine how much money for that age yeah for sure you know I bought my whole sixth and seventh grade wardrobe off of that man and just learned about saving money and stacking and flipping like early on so yeah shout out to chamber I think I was 11 12 years old so there was a spot called chamber shoe shine and uh I just went in there I'm like look I want to work man I'm young you know I come every day I show up early I need a job and dude gave me a shot and I was making like 90 a day and I worked six days a week and I was selling candy at the at the shoe shine spot also go to the 99 Cent Store you get like three four dollar candy bars and sell them for a dollar you triple up whatever you said yeah they didn't mind it no they they encouraged it they laughed at me because I was young but they was like dude got a hustler spirit and you don't support it did anybody tell you to go get a job or you wanted that you wanted that I wanted to buy school clothes my mom gave me 40 to go school shopping and I didn't want to make her feel bad and I knew that's all she had and so I'm like it's not gonna really cut it yeah you know what I mean my brother was a little bit older and um it was more important for him to get school closed and so I understood that but I'm like you know I don't want to put no pressure on you and make you feel bad about not being able to look out the next summer I'm like I want to prevent going back to school without what I need despite the triumphs that Nipsey achieved on his own Nipsey was still deeply influenced by his older brothers Diversified Pursuits and he wanted to replicate it so while he was holding that job shining shoes he commenced a small side business as well purchasing candies and selling them at a double margin but he also engaged in other activities in the neighborhood like lawn mowing flower watering and any other tasks that could earn him any additional income the primary drive behind nipsey's industrious efforts was his desire to afford new clothes for school without financially straining his parents who were already facing Financial challenges he saw candy shine shoes cut grass water lawns man everything well at least you want to go swimming at the pool it costs a dollar to go swimming and I used to be a mission to get a dollar I like to put it together you know what I mean and um we asked let him help him take her groceries and give us a quarters like that you know what I mean or whatever we could do but while it's entrepreneurial Spirit flourished nipsey's passion for music remained as a constant undercurrent at 11 years old during his sixth grade year he linked up with another kid named Jermaine Jenkins who was the unique possessor of a computer in her neighborhood which back then was a rare thing for somebody to have together they invested in a microphone marking the Inception of nipsey's musical Journey as he recorded his first song the first beat that he ever rapped on was borrowed from another rapper out of the area that I'm sure most of y'all are familiar with which is Snoop Dogg and Nipsey jumped on his album titled track the dogfather signifying a memorable and vital stepping stone and nipsey's path to musical exploration homeboy Jermaine Jenkins used to live on 60 street across the street from me his mom is Juliana Jenkins used to take us to school every morning he was young like Elementary yeah you know he had a computer in his house back then I was a big to have a computer yeah absolutely and you know uh we found out how to record over instrumentals do you remember like something like this plugged into the computer and we just rap over old Snoop Dogg instrumentals my first one was the dogfather introduction oh okay the intro off the dog found out but nah that was the first record we uh the first time I heard myself on a beat was on a dog Nipsey was indeed a personal remarkable resourcefulness his grandfather gifted him and his brother Black Sam a computer which Unfortunately they ended up damaging the financial constraints of their family prevented them from purchasing a new one but his grandfather introduced an inventive workaround instead of a new computer he provided Nipsey with the wealth of computer related books and magazines embracing this opportunity Nipsey plunged into the world of computers meticulously studying these books in the whole time gaining a thorough understanding of various computer parts and their functionalities in time he began procuring computer components independently and assembled a whole new computer at home this endeavor driven by his Newfound knowledge and sheer determination resulted in a successful construction of his own computer exemplifying nipsey's resourcefulness resilience and self-reliance and it built our first computer my grandfather's computer breaking it throwing it away and then as we got older when uh we wanted a computer nip would come home from school with a backpack full of computer parts and we share we shared a room and you know we share bunk beds you know I was a little older OCD I used to you know hey we cleaning up today he'll get pissed off like you ain't going nowhere you helping me clean the room and uh he would bring he brought these computer parts I'm like man we can't keep these in this room he's like no I'm gonna build a computer like man if you don't get out of here man he's like 12 years old like man the computer back then to me was like rocket scientists I'm like there's no way get this out of here he came back the next day with another piece of the computer came back took him about a week maybe two weeks and we just had all computer parts loose Parts on the floor and um he went to a computer auction and bought a case and bought a power supply and I came home one day he had the magazine that my grandfather had bought computer magazines and he had the computer and it was working and he turned it on and I could not believe this at the age of 12 his mother noticed nipsey's buddy musical Talent as he devoted his time to writing and recording music observing his potential she recommended him to an educational program that was in Los Angeles this program offered many studios for participants to learn about studio equipment and things like that within this setting he learned about every aspect of recording music selecting the appropriate amps understanding the right equipment and speakers choosing the best microphones and so forth my mom just knowing I had a passion she um she found this community center at the Watts Towers and was like you know they got they offered a class once a week it's like electronic music I used to catch the bus to the train and go to the watchtowers on Saturday and just learn it was like a classical composer yeah he taught us how to use the NPC which is the beat machine the 16 track recorder that was my first exposure to production the program he participated in equipped him with the skills to create beats and master his own music such courses shaped nipsey's initial Journey setting him on a path to become a music producer rather than a rapper at the beginning his talent was first utilized in producing tracks for his friend because he Capone who later became a sign needed nipsey's record label all money in that's a real um fact I used to make beats primarily like I used to make beats for cousin I don't know if anybody cousin yeah because he Capone he um another artist from LA from our area that's crazy we grew up in the same Studio together and all that and I used to be to produce and worked on his album as a producer like with the NPC and with trying to be rack and all that despite Nipsey hustles numerous early entrepreneurial Ventures he struggled to raise efficient funds to purchase essential recording equipment for himself which back then would cost considerably more than it would if he was to try to start one with today's money this led to a 13 year old Nipsey to seek alternative means which unfortunately steered him towards getting involved in games he found himself drawn to the street life and eventually joined the rolling 60s Crips which is a prominent game within the Crenshaw District involvement in the game introduced him into a variety of experiences ranging from physical altercations to selling illicit substances nevertheless Nipsey maintained a greater Vision Beyond his immediate circumstances aware that his current path was in his permanent Destiny he noticed that his illegal activities yielded more profit than his legitimate ones at the moment sparking a sense of hope and enabling him to accumulate the funds necessary to invest in a recording studio and it's a company equipment a means to an end if you will this marked the start of nipsey's Journey to creating his own music all by itself by the time he turned 14 years old he entered high school and Nipsey chose it this time to discontinue his formal education due to poor academic performance yet his potential was evident to a Discerning teacher who challenged him to strive for better grades heating his advice Nipsey committed to one more semester achieving impressive grades predominantly A's and B's in honors of his Educators faith in him after this academic Resurgence he made the final decision to drop out though first class flight looking at the class hoping that money is up in heaven looking down hoping what I'm doing truly made my mama proud because for a very long time I was the reason for France Chrome alpena's High School senior I was never one of those I sold zones at the Greek I did go to high school for 9th and 10th grade and I I was very capable you know what I mean but I wasn't I wasn't focused on on academics I remember you know I had abs and days every semester except one year and my one of my English teachers was like bro you smart like you know I'm saying what you doing and I just did all my homework and focused for one semester and got like five days to be just because I peeped game and he was he was he was interested in my my well-being and he was sincere so I was like I'm gonna meet you halfway and I did real well and I stopped going to school after Nims he left school he decided to prioritize hustling and developing his music the decision did not sit well with his mother upon learning that he had quit school and was immersing himself into the street life she altered the locks on the door effectively shutting him out of her home she was also anxious about his possession of firearms and drugs and things like that further straining their relationship consequently Nipsey was forced to seek alternative housing ultimately settling with his grandmother and an even less privileged neighborhood than before ninth grade about 15 I stopped on school and all that you know I'm saying I was just like I was on somebody thinking I'm wrong starting to get low money around and all that sudden my little league mom's like you know seeing what she wasn't she knew what time it was so if I bring a gun in the house she understand that you know what I'm saying but she was with that smoking weed hanging out all day she not went there because that's you know I'm saying she ain't she don't respect that so when I was at my mom's a lot of stuff I could do when I left I couldn't do it with him you know what I'm saying so when I left I went to there with my granny down the street on Fifth Ave Mama house is in the hood my granny house is in the hood you feel what I'm saying so when I moved over there I was around the homies all day every day you know so I was still getting my little money I fell under the gang of older homies and all that and I started banging the hood I put on the turf and start pressing the hood and like you already know everything come with that money everybody's heart you know if you ain't everything that's in the streets once you start gangbang you're going You're gonna be involved with selling dope selling weed whatever the case may be if it's out there you're going You're gonna be involved in it so once that really like jump to Chrome and start pressing the six so it was like everything that the streets had to offer you know I'm saying I signed up folks I was around was going to do them you know I mean do they stuff I always kind of like I'm about ready to go sit down for 100 years for this with no parental oversight Nipsey ventured deeper into the street lifestyle although he frequented the streets he managed to avoid becoming too deeply entangled with the notorious rolling 60s Crips though during this phase he refrained for me to gang-related activities instead focusing on selling whatever Goods he could to maintain Financial stability for herself his older brother Black Sam was also forced to hustle on the streets at this time Nipsey recounts an incident when at the age of 15 Black Sam has stashed away nearly a quarter of a million dollars in their backyard however when they dug it up more than half of it had voted causing a loss of well over a hundred thousand dollars for him my brother when I was probably I was probably like 15 he might have been 18. he buried a quarter million in my mom backyard on 60th Street and then we dug it up a year later and it was half of it was malted and it was like lumps of money stuck together and like mildew my mom my little sister myself my brother we had the whole 250 across the living room floor the kitchen table and we was all blow drying the money trying to like dry it up so we could peel it out without it like ripping putting like an airtight fireproof safe wrapped it in plastic you thinking it's gonna survive right he left it down there for like a year probably and he dug it up you know um I guess the moisture I really got in there yeah and it molded the money oh my God like 100 bands out of that 250 was most destroyed yeah um you know that's a hard loss when you're young he was a teenager my mom was in there we had the blow dry her out all the money on the living room table trying to draw the money despite his life on the streets Nipsey never lost sight of his deep-rooted passion for music he had two close friends one named rampa and the other named J Stone who were equally committed to their musical Endeavors initially Nipsey and grandpa will record their music at the wise Towers but they eventually gathered enough resources to buy up some studio equipment and began recording at Rand Paul's house central location for the movement he's going to show you where a lot of the ideas was inspired yeah you know what I'm saying we used to have the studio set up here you know what I mean just motivation on the wall you know I mean we brainstormed Round Table a lot of times if you're in the studio we ended the shot we come on Madden you know what I'm saying we gotta you got an all money in you know stay focused quitting is not an option six hours make a million big money only they don't talk about it be about it you know I mean how hard are you really going different things that you wake up to you know what I mean when you're on this marathon in the early days Nipsey adopted the rap name concept focusing on creating conscious rap eventually Rim pop Nipsey and a then unknown artist who some of y'all might know today as Kid Ink formed a rap group called Stranded Minds Nipsey when I was like 15 Hamilton High School ninth grade and um used to sell CDs at school was me um Hermes Nipsey uh my bro Evan who's gonna buy Rin Paul I wrote Oliver who's air right at the time my bro Greg I don't remember what name Greg had at the time um and we was going to Watts catching like two buses in the train go to watts and learning how to use just all this music equipment from this old head guy who just had like this program set up where he bought all these NPCs and keyboards and turntables and just different stuff and was letting us use it like for an hour so we literally go up there for an hour using stuff to take a bunch of trains back home all that stuff we learned from there and all the equipment we ended up just buying and taking it to my boy house Evan you know what I'm saying and that's you know just where we all hung out and you know what I'm saying I didn't live over there I lived more mid city area and in between or Los Angeles whatever the West LA area but you know I was there those were all my homies so I was just always going back and forth nips original rap name was concept we to be in a group call with my boy Oliver yeah right it was air ride and it was uh Kid Ink was part of it I think and my boy Greg we was in a group and it was called Stranded Minds and we used to perform at the Malcolm X Festival in Lamar Park Nev used to be on some real conscious real conscious we used to all be on that you know what I'm saying we used to all be on that we used to all study that by the years 2001 and 2002 Nipsey was around 16 or 17 years old during this period he became more deeply engaged in the local scene an involvement which surprisingly became beneficial for him in the long run the experienced opened up doors for him to meet influential individuals who would later play key roles in his musical Journey amongst the first people he connected with was Rilo Styles a talented engineer a music producer alongside Nipsey hustle Grandpa and Jay Stone they began the exciting process of creating and recording music together [Music] from [Music] nipsey's life also led him because he Capone and they quickly became firm friends the pair shared a common aspiration to make their Mark in the music world because he Capone introduced Nipsey to a man named Dexter Brown a professional photographer who possessed musical equipment but lacked the technical know-how to operate it now remembering that Nipsey Grandpa ralo was proficient with such equipment because he decided to bring them all together at Dexter's Place Dexter Brown formerly received a music group and this is where their fever for music recording truly took off while navigating the streets Nipsey met another character named baby Gooch baby Gooch would join them in the studio and during one of their sessions Nipsey mentioned his desire for a unique rapper name they said baby Gucci's mind ticking and one day when Nipsey came back to the studio carrying a backpack brimming with items from his hustling Ventures and suddenly clicked for baby Gooch one day we was in here we knew you know it was getting kind of hectic because he was making a lot of songs so we knew we was going to started barking on some so he's like to put a stamp on my name I just can't go by a government just can't go by E so I was like all right I got you man I'm gonna just put it in the air we'll sit back and let it come and then one day it just came to me nipsy hustle I don't know how it came with just like a light bulb popped off I was like yeah that's it I knew when I first came to I was like that's the name you know because when first it was talking about it didn't happen right away like two or three days later the [ __ ] just hit it he got his grind on basically you know I mean he came back he had some money he had a car and I don't know if it was just divine intervention or what but it just hit me I'm like nips yeah shout out to my homeboy baby goat you know what I'm saying he uh that was inspired by him I can't take no credit for my nickname and I was my homeboy just throw it at me I like how it sounded you know I decided to run with it I'm more you know identified with the hustle part but then I I did my research found out who Nipsey Russell was yeah shout out to him comedian right yeah yeah for sure that's a genius you know on a lot of fronts that was the moment Nipsey earned this distinct moniker Nipsey hustle despite his growing involvement in music Nipsey found himself increasingly drawn into the local Street culture ultimately becoming a member of The Rolling 60s game like we said earlier his mentor navigating this lifestyle was because he Capone who taught in the complex ropes of gang life Nipsey Street activities which included numerous fights and occasional shootouts he said earned him a reputation on the streets paralleling the growing recognition of his music in 2003 Lil Kev Matt also known as Cowboy or big Thundercat was released from prison at the time he was making a name for himself and was using the moniker Cav mat giving their shared interest in music it was only natural that Nipsey was drawn to be friends with him me and my girl was giving a party up in the hills I was on Parole at the time only surrounded the whole building so I tell I tell all the homies like look if you're on parole a probation we about to go all the ones that was on probation parole or whatever uh we cracked the door we break up out of there by like oh little homies they break with me they get up out of there the next day all the little homies came tomorrow so they want to get they want to get some man all the homies that ran okay they got away from the police that night they they wanted to get named so you know our name Nick gave him the name and I told him how the hood go tell them you know it ain't hard what it looks look like you know what I mean uh so like I said talk to him for a couple days laced him on the hood how the hood go gave him the rules and regulations because one day I got put on squabbed up I ain't make my name up I was giving my name and I I like how it sounded so I took it there the hustle part is the part I brought to you you know Nipsey was somebody named before yeah but the hustle Parts apart I think they threw that name at me for just because I was always we was in the studio I was like 15 we used to have a studio and it was full of grown-ups everybody was grown and uh you know we were just in there for three or four weeks not leaving so everybody Pockets kind of fell short we was all like getting how we live at that time right when I last for a couple hours came back we had an ounce of weed two bottles of champagne and a bucket of chicken and you know just laughing thing that's from Nipsey Russell yeah that's what I found out later obviously I didn't know dude I didn't know there was a comedian because you came a different area right right my own boy baby you know that was just a name that had a ring I guess and so he threw it it was like a joke he said it like in a laughing way but I just like how I sounded man despite his deeper immersion into the street life Nipsey remains stepping badly committed to his musical aspirations in 2003 he released his very first mixtape intriguingly titled [ __ ] the middleman however this mixtape has seemingly vanished from the online sphere you won't find its cover art tracklist or any of the songs that were on it anywhere online according to Nipsey he took a Grassroots approach to Distributing this debut work he sold copies straight from the trunk of his 85 Cutlass driving around and personally delivering the music to the streets himself and me and me and my my homeboy jaystone we had we had some mixtapes local in our hood and uh his was called The Grind on stop mine was called the middleman you know it was like early like oh three you know what I'm saying you know you know he was doing like concerts on the Block on 10th Avenue and 63rd you know what I'm saying performing and we just had like a real local small group of people that I was feeling what he was doing you feel me the middle man okay really that's like our summing up our whole Movement we getting started right here cause like you know we going without all these traditional routes uh how to get on as far as the record industry you feel me and we just taking it into our own hands and smashing how we doing on the streets just switching up the format and really transcending and taking it to the next level you feel me so the middle man really just symbolize our struggle like you know we doing it without the help right we're coming straight out to Trump with it you know we're gonna go straight to the top with it just like that so we got a hell of a buzz we cracking up have you ever felt this feeling of paranoia from killing knowing your days number than your freedom ain't a given when the bodies get dropped cause the Johnny's is hot that's when he slap make their first mistake and get caught facing football numbers I have him show his true colors pry reduced to nothing got him crying for his mother I spit that I make a think twice cause I got too many homies in the county facing around late 2003 to early 2004 Nipsey cross pass was an individual named bear claw a notable figure in the rolling 60s game bear claw had a unique ability to gather local artists Under One Roof a place known as claustrophobic Studios this Hub became a breeding ground for musical collaboration in the area leading to the creation of a collective project titled the Crenshaw District claustrophobia mixtape this mixtape representing the joint efforts of these local talents featured a catchy track called smoking on that la la la this song notably included a feature from a young Nipsey hustle showcasing his rise in presence in a music scene [Music] [Music] while at claustrophobic Studios nimsy encountered another individual named Tiny draws this meeting proves significant as Tiny draws would later introduce Nipsey to a man named big you meanwhile nipsy Rand Paul and several other artists at the studio join forces to form a group called Hood unit now they took inspiration from the popular G Unit of the time which was headed by 50 Cent and they managed to release three mixtapes collectively while they were in this group however the group would eventually disband in the summer of 2004 nipsy hustle then just 18 years old journeyed to Eritrea which is located in Africa and is the native land of his father this trip proved enlightening for Nipsey he gleaned invaluable insights about his cultural heritage and the unique ways of life in Eritrea moreover witnessing the Stark economic disparities there inspired Nipsey to pursue philanthropy in a way he spent three enriching months in Eritrea alongside his brother Black Sam and even some of his other family members he even celebrated his 19th birthday in the homeland of his ancestors we visited East Africa region and that's uh the country my father was born in and where all his family and my family grew in Missouri grandmother you know what I'm saying my cousins and everything slow Friday and Wednesdays you feeling better [Music] truth in the making it's flowing nice too what's up Dad where are we at man I always identify with American culture until I went back out to you like I always consider myself African through Heritage but you know what I'm saying in my mind I was an American like you know I'm from L.A and I identify with the culture in the whole entire existence in America like you know I was a partner I was the land but like I claimed that in my mind but then when I went home I seen like at this America as far as you know how we live out here ain't really it's really supposed to be built on relationships you know what I'm saying family and [ __ ] that's what the main focus is once you go back home it's not really the you ain't really caught up in your cell phone ringing you about to hit a club you might hear the club lion will say that because it's a nightlife but you know it's just not so preoccupiable material Upon returning from Eritrea Nipsey Dove straight back into music he promptly headed to Dexter Brown Studio where he because he Capone and baby goose collectively came up with the name Slauson boys for their new rap group they were making concurrently Nipsey decided to establish a record label of his own which he also planned to call Slauson boys between late 2004 and early 2005 he began laying the groundwork for the label filing out paperwork filing your llc's and securing trademarks throughout this period he still maintaining Street Persona though however a pivotal incident occurred that reshaped its perspective and affirmed his decision to commit entirely to music leaving the streets behind this defining moment involved in shootout his companions were all involved in a scenario that was all captured on CCTV those that were identified in the footage ended up serving considerable time in jail but miraculously nipsey's identity was never discernible in the footage and the police never arrested him allowing to avoid the repercussions this brush in with the law served as a wake-up call for Nipsey he said he realized that remaining involved in gang activities could result in a grim fate boring much like his friends either locked up behind bars or losing his life altogether to start Revelation leading to make the firm decision to distance itself completely from the street lifestyle and focus solely on his music career I just had I had some situations in my life that you know you get wake up calls you know what I mean you go through close calls and things where you you get kind of close to feeling like you're gonna throw your [ __ ] your stuff away excuse me your freedom you know your life yo yo opportunity you know what I mean and um you come out some situations somehow and be like well I don't like how that felt you know when you're looking at it when you when you got your feet on in in them shows it's different than being aware of what could happen and being in a situation where it's happening you know I mean like you in jail you you ain't got no bail not that you don't got to bail money you just don't got Bail because it was your case and right if you don't beat your case you're about to go on that long road look and then you end up beating it you know what I mean or you be in tight situations where everybody was around and up uh washed up or you know dead you know what I mean seeing death up close people you was just with you know I mean places you just was on your way to and you know reality kick in after a while and you're going You're gonna lay in the bed you make so I knew that that wasn't what I wanted as far as a final destination right so I just start taking steps toward what I what I was passionate about which was the music right and then doors start opening I start seeing the results of them steps and I just followed the you know the the positive I remember you know I mean uh just putting everything to the background and just going full-fledged into hustling and banging and then years of doing that gave me a little seniority and gave me a little confidence over the the the gang or whatever and I start realizing that you know all you know I'm doing risking my freedom you know fighting and getting in shootouts though that if I redirect that stance toward defending mind what I believe in truly which was like to to pursue the music that at least didn't be a higher cause [Music] by the age of 19 Nipsey realized he had experienced the peak of his teenage years he had acquired the cars and the admiration that he desired yet he yearned for more his true passion played in music and he decided to invest into it wholeheartedly in pursuit of this he sold his cherished white Lincoln to a friend who was eager to buy it Nipsey explained his actions to his brother Black Sam sharing his plans for the money he gained from selling the car his aspiration was to use this Capital to establish his own recording studio a concrete step towards his musical dreams Black Sam understanding and supportive of his brother's Vision decided to contribute agreeing to split the cost together they invested a substantial amount of money into high quality studio equipment marking the beginning of their ambitious musical Journey David Lincoln when I was 19 I had a white Lincoln on our penis you know what I'm saying and um that was like a famous La Car you know that white Lincoln on how penis I was you know through LA and he threw that car so everybody would try to buy it I was having work and having we was trying to buy that car and uh I was the only without penis in L.A and my homeboy hump had the alpinas on his Monte Carlo everybody should try to buy that car from me and I was getting girls I was turned up so I'm like selling this card right now I'm winning in this car yeah and um you know I had just reached the level in my grind where I'm like I was sitting in that parking lot leaning on my Lincoln and I'm like yeah man you know I have reached my little adolescent dream that I had for myself you know like them I'm I'm right here you know I'm at that level that I was trying to get at as far as just being a teenager how I saw myself I was there and I'm like you know I could either go to my next level with this and I was sick like um fully fully pursue what I had my hands in at that time or I'm like or I could [ __ ] with what I've been having an itch to do which was the music and I called DMACC DMACC was Bench trying to buy the car from me he like man I'm like um you still want this car bro he like yup he put up right here in the Low Rider with a with a rouse bag with racks in and then gave me the cash I gave him the key and then I went to um I had my brother like I'm about to go buy some equipment and he like uh how much you got and I told him when I got here like all right I'm a match I'm gonna meet you up there so you know the amount I had he put that with me and we just bought all the equipment I was rapping since then the smartest hustles you've done in your life one of the best flips buying studio equipment selling leaving my spot I had a spot I was 18 and I was hustling out of the spot I had a car I had these alpenas on my car everybody in L.A was trying to get these rims from me all I was hustling was like could you that was BMW room you ever see the Alpena BMW earned into a connect a little bit and I'm like 18 and I was like I'm about to go head first into the game or I'm about to talk with this music because I got a couple dollars I can invest and I talk about it on the record on the album called um um loaded bases I was sitting on my link and I start thinking [ __ ] ain't gonna make a hundred Mill off in these tracing more than likely I'm gonna end up in somebody bracing even worse worse than cares from church laid off into her so I dealt with it I ain't just out here for my help with it I wake the risk you know before this ain't the scale tip you know I was like I was sitting on my link and I started thinking I'm talking about that car and basically I saw I hit one of my boys DMACC who've been asking me about the car and I'm like man you we stealing the body like yup I'm like you ready right now he pulled up on me with a bag of money sold him the car went to the Guitar Center bought my equipment and I was a rapper after that during this period black Sam was making a substantial income from selling bootleg movies and DVDs illegally on the streets the money from this business combined with the funds from selling the Lincoln gave Nipsey the necessary resources to establish his own studio and his personal recording space Dempsey was able to create a Slauson boys volume 1 mixtape throughout the year this body of work was officially released on December 13th 2005 and Nipsey handed out copies of the mixtape to his friends asking them to distribute it out on the streets for him his sales pitch was disarmingly straightforward if people didn't like the music they could simply toss it out the window he was confident in the quality of his work and eager to share his music with the broader audience that was my sales pitch I'll be on Crenshaw and Slauson in front of the master a burger I just thought it was so many people that was oh check my CD out by my music yeah I wanted to distinguish myself so I'm like if it's whack throw it out the window I'm gonna sit right here a lot of times they'll be like just because I said they're like man let me check that out huh yeah and so yeah that was my sales pitch you know ipsy's popularity gradually began to pick up once more around this time big U was released from prison expressing his intention to venture into the music industry and Scout for talented artists thanks to Tiny draws big you was introduced to nipsey's music liking what he heard big you decided to manage nipsey's career big you was well acquainted with Steve Lobel another influential figure in the music industry who was on the lookout for the next big artist too after big you shared the Slauson boys mixtape with him Steve was impressed by the project he immediately wanted to connect with Nipsey to discuss a potential record deal Steve Lobel thus joined forces with big U co-managing Nipsey The Joint efforts of big you and Steve LaBelle yielded nipsey's first mainstream breakthrough in 2006. he was featured on the posthumous album with Tupac Shakur Pike's life and nipsey's talent shown on the track number seven that was titled International marking a significant milestone in his burgeoning career him his um big draws put that together in LT Hutton um yeah and I was basically I think LT was like the main producer on the album and um he put who did the pop movie too right yeah exactly exactly he got a good relationship with the with their family and so basically um he he just was like I know nip grinding I didn't really had a resume at that time to justify it but he gave me a shot and a lot of that was based on the relationship he had withdrawals and and Steve but then a lot of that also he was just you know seen us grinding and was just being a real giving me a shot in 2006 everything seemed to be progressing smoothly for Nipsey however on November 17th of the same year his trajectory drastically shifted on that particular day his world was turned upside down when the home of black sail where all of nipsey's recording equipment was housed was raided by the police the authorities confiscated all the items in the house and this included nipsey's valuable studio equipment this raid took place because Black Sam like I said have been Distributing illegal DVDs all over the streets over time the police managed to identify Black Sam as the culprit and proceeded to take action they not only seized everything that black Sam own though including his BMW but they also arrested him following this incident Nipsey hustle began to face his own legal repercussions stemming from The Raid you know the police raided the studio and took all the equipment and put a gun on me that was in the house a shotgun it was it was a registered shotgun but I was on probation for a gun so you know the probation says you can't be around no guns at all for the gun took all my equipment and I was really just in the house working you know what I mean just like they don't know that nobody know how pure you are but you and I was really pure at that time I wasn't doing nothing but music and I'm like damn you know like I was confused like where's the Good Karma pay off at yeah you know what I mean where does it where do you get the where does it come back around at because I was real committed my money got short that ain't stopped me you know like I said my how I was being viewed changed people kind of like act like I fell off a little bit and I still stay committed and then on top of all that I got raided and they took all my equipment and they put a new case on me I was just confused about it and I remember like questioning everything like that I don't I don't really have no part of the game that breaks me for that I don't have no mantras that I remember hearing I had no answer for that one but you know it kind of discouraged me for a long time and but I had accumulated so much music but I from from when I got raided I stopped really recording every day and got back into hustling full time because I got to fight a case now and I need a lawyer and I can't even really afford to sit in the studio like that fortunately for Nipsey prior to the police raid he had spent a considerable amount of time in the studio and recorded a significant body of work this body of work would ultimately secure him a record deal shining a ray of Hope in an otherwise Bleak situation despite the setback Nipsey remain dedicated to his craft continuing to promote his music even though he had grown weary of the recording process one day while relaxing in his neighborhood a chance to counter with a well-known rapper The Game gave him an unexpected opportunity the game had stopped at a red light on nipsey's block and seizing the moment Nipsey approached him and handed him his demo tape the game was impressed with his work and he immediately reached out to nimsy for a collaborative project the four Choice meeting further validated nipsey's talent and underscored his potential in the music industry I had a white Range Rover I'm 28 at this time like I'm doctor's advocate them two albums in I'm not going nowhere I want to get off the freeway see some smoke some weed maybe find a problem I got a glock on my lap maybe if just tripping I wanna I want my whole La hip-hop rapper experience so I would get off on Chris y'all take Crenshaw all the way down to Wilshire making left on Wilshire make a right on La Cienega make a right on Melrose just to go get my car washed at the car wash back where I sold my CDs to get at even more and show off this Range Rover so this this day it was my point to not get stopped at any red lights in crib hoods while I was rolling at all so it was like a Honda Civic and a [ __ ] gray like uh uh a Harley truck in front of me and he did not go through this yellow bro they stopped like just keep on going so I'm like stop I couldn't go around because there was a car coming up from the back so I'm stuck at this like who on the corner 1560 Scripts I don't work with these scenarios this is what I do not want to happen and this you you want to ride through LA and you want to just Coast through smooth with no [ __ ] problems 15 young scripts on the corner and he's crossing the street for what reason God I don't even can know but they're coming straight at my car from crossing the crosswalk this is my car from crossing the crosswalk that goes this way I'm right here behind two other cars and turned and then when they turn they start getting close and right when nip got right where you are but without a CD I was like he was like hey my name nip and um D we the Slauson boys almost like if I met Run DMC you could really see in these three and it was rimpaw J Stone and Nipsey and you can see in his eyes that they really thought they was you can see the confidence in that I took the CD and then uh he was like a real one huh I put the CD in my car and then I I caught him I was like yo nip you got a number on here he was like it's on the back huh confidence though not like you know right no he just turned it right he didn't even come back to the car and then he turned around he's like it's on the back huh I was like it ends on the back huh so I took the CD I put it in and I'm like man this sound like like a breath like a [ __ ] lyrical like Snoop took the CD and um later on that night I called the number I'm like you know come to the studio um whack brought him to the studio with big you and Steve Lobel his music also piqued the interest of a movie director named Ving Rhames who discovered Nipsey songs on his daughter's iPod subsequently Rams invited Nipsey to star in the Bone Thugs and Harmony movie I tried this Mark nipsey's debut in a film which after watching Snoop Dogg come from basically the same place he's from and make it in the film industry was a medium that Nipsey was considering seriously that plus he was starting to grow disillusioned with the music industry and his lack of success at the time however while on the movie Set another Fortress encounter LED Nipsey right back to music a man named Johnny shipes the owner of cinematic music group and recent signee of a record deal with Sony at Epic Records Was Scouting For promising talent in the West Coast Area he contacted DJ felly fell who recommended Nipsey hustle shipes and tree listen to Nipsey song bullets ain't got no name on MySpace and decided that he was going to fly out to Los Angeles where Nipsey was shooting the movie so that he could talk with you and he was like well there's just kidnapsy Hustle but he's a real Street dude I don't know if you're gonna wanna he's you know he's in the mix out there so I flew home and then that night I just went on MySpace yep I just dated myself and I looked him up and he had like one song on there this song called bullets ain't got no names and I was like yo this is incredible despite and if she's known gang affiliations we should deterred other labels in the past shipes saw potential and wanted to sign Nipsey almost immediately if anything you know I'm saying for another no questions but if anything that helped that hurted me with the industry more than help me if you know what I'm saying because a lot of a lot of companies in L.A had a sour tasting their mouth [ __ ] with their mother sure in the 90s and all that right the West Coast labels got a sour taste in their mouth and I seen that firsthand because out the same music I brought to Evan I brought to Def Jam I brought to Interscope I brought to Capital you know what I'm saying and not to say it wasn't excited they was always excited and ready to push buttons when we left the meeting but they kind of found out they make a few phone calls right right right from 60 though right right instead of really like chopping it with me and seeing what my vision was and kind of like filling it out first Nipsey along with big you and Steve LaBelle agreed to partner with ships and cinematic music group however ever they still needed to solidify a deal with Sony and Epic Records as negotiations were all going Nipsey faced another complication this time stemming from a street incident at a party Nipsey and his friends were mingling with a girl who was unbeknownst to them at the time underage when her parents discovered her absconding from them she concited a story to avoid admitting that she had skipped school in order to spend time with the group of men unfortunately her cover-up involved accusing Nipsey and his friends of some very serious crimes charges homie you know what I'm saying the spot got raided it was pictures of us on on you know what I'm saying on on a photo camera with a burner choking the hood up with a female that couldn't find I was an underage female you know what I'm saying I had a thong going I was making suggested that was in positions that looked like she was doing something you know what I'm saying and um just came with some trumped up charges because she didn't want to admit to her mama she was a flip I didn't do nothing with the girl not she was just out of function full of homies that she wasn't supposed to be at and the pictures got out and she ain't want to just fess up to her mama that she did school and this work to come hang out with some homies and I turned into a real case Fuller so how long ago myself I mean I beat my case two months I was in Austin County jail for like damn near 50 days so I beat my cake by my second quarter you feel me while on the Run Nipsey urged big you to expedite the deal with Sony abandoning the back and forth negotiation process the artists would normally go through once big you managed to seal the agreement Nipsey suddenly had the financial resources to counter the accusations leveled against you although he didn't face any significant jail time for this the org deal served as a minor setback in his career trajectory at the time to be sick that they let you go yeah man you know what I'm saying I stay lost though in the Apostle in the Epic building about to go sign his deal now I mean Robin Hood and the hosts are only right that he's with us as the deal goes down you dig blow the horns nip hustles in the building [Music] [Applause] nevertheless in November of 2007 Nipsey put the incident behind him showed up at Epic Records and officially signed his contract the pivotal song that earned neighborhood nipple recording contract with Sonia Epic Records Was Bullis ain't got no name this catchy tomb not only became a signature track but also inspired the title for his inaugural mixtape which was crafted masterfully by none other than Kid Ink prior to a Studio's unfortunate Ray Nipsey had accumulated the wealth of Music which he wisely Consolidated into this mixtape after signing with the record label he was able to bring his mixtape to a broader audience with his debut on April 14 2008 under the title bullets Ain't Got No Name volume 1. the eponymous track was released as the leading single and promoted extensively through a music video radio AirPlay and DJ events Nipsey didn't stop there though he created additional music videos for songs like RSC for Life gradually gaining Traction in the music industry with each release his work eventually led to the recognition and shot outs for big names in the west coast scene that he had always wanted like Snoop Dogg with whom he collaborated with musically later in his career November 2008 marked a significant Turning Point nipsey's life this is where he welcomed his first child a daughter named Imani the same month he released the second volume of bullets ain't got no name called bullets Ain't Got No Name volume 2. this release Amplified his buzz in the music scene leading to the selection of a track from the mixtape called hustle in the house as the first single from his debut album and this song is actually where I discovered Nipsey at when he dropped his hustle in the house track if you guys haven't heard it y'all gotta go check it out anyways in the hustle in the house music video viewers were captivated by the Crenshaw t-shirts that were worn by many creating a demand for the t-shirts nipsey's brother Black Sam who was recently released from prison saw an entrepreneurial opportunity alongside nipsey's childhood friend Fat they began settling these Crenshaw t-shirts albeit not quite legally spotting a rental sign across the street they sees the chance to legitimize their business thus was born nipsey's clothing line sloths and teas named after the location where they started their Venture in February of 2009 Nancy hustle had the opportunity to be an opening act at the game's LAX tour along with Kendrick Lamar and J-Rock rather than remain Idol Nipsey decided to continue creating culminating in the release of the third installment of his bullets Ain't Got No Name series on August 4th 2009 his collaborations with other artists such as a feature from Snoop Dogg and a track with Drake titled killer further increased his standing as a musical artist in 2010 Nipsey faced some complications as Epic Records the label he was assigned to experienced financial difficulties many of the staff members who initially supported nipsey's music were either laid off had been fired or just left the company in general despite this the remaining management struck a deal with Nipsey giving him his own record label under Epic Records this marked the birth of Nipsey hustle's all money in records further seeming your status in the industry Nipsey Grace the cover of the double XL Magazine's freshman Edition in April of 2010 alongside the other notable artists like J Cole Big Sean and Wiz Khalifa empowered by his own record label and recognition from double XL he announced an intended release date for his debut album on October 19 2010 the first single from this album feeling myself featuring Lloyd was released on April 19 2010 and was played regularly on radio stations and on BET however the track did not meet expectations only peaking at number 93 on the U.S hot r b and hip hop song chart while working on his music Nipsey also ventured into acting Landing a role in the film where Act of Kane in late 2010 the underwhelming performance of the lead single coupled with the disagreements on the future direction of the label led nimsy to make the Bold decision of becoming an independent artist after months of negotiation and with his debut album not being released as planned Nipsey officially parted ways Epic Records choosing to navigate his career on his own terms when it got on the radar of like the higher upset epic they call me into this meeting I'll never forget this and it was like this woman from London who was the president at the time and she's like right well we love Nipsey we want to put him in with all these awesome dance producers from the UK and I was like what I was like he's a street artist from L.A like what do you don't even know what you're talking about right now and I was like I'm not into it and then nip wasn't into it and we just went back and forth with the label for like months meanwhile I'm like yo let's put out an album he's like he this was before Kendrick and everything you know people were really excited about what we had going on and the label just didn't understand he had a shift of Executives the executive team changed so you know Charlie Walker was on the floor right now the TV show with puff and Cali that was the exact assignment to Epic you know I mean and um the general manager um Adam granted he was just a dope intelligent you know I mean like high integrity person and then even the head of a r Brandon Creed wind up you know managing Bruno Mars early yeah and being involved with the early Bruno Mars [ __ ] so it was a dope team up there and then um when they left a new team came in I wasn't familiar with none of the people they didn't really know who I was and like when when Executives revolved what happens is that they don't get credit for stuff that's already signed because they didn't bring it into the building so it's not really in their interest to focus on the stuff that's there right they coming in with new energy they want to bring new acts to the table so I got some caught in that situation we ended up you know I just had a convo with the general manager like you know let me know I'll hold my career up let me just start from trash again you know I'm an independent minded artist anyway in the midst of these career shifts Nipsey and his group The Slauson boys released their first mixtape there goes the neighborhood volume one on September 9th 2010. he turned his Focus back to the independent mixtape scene marking the Genesis of a new mixtape series on December 21st 2010 Nipsey released the marathon which received extraordinary reception now this was the second time that Nipsey popped up on my radar and the marathon series is one of my favorite ever but especially that first marathon mixtape I was jamming that thing day and night and I ain't gonna lie I think I even printed some of them up on like some blank CDs and was selling them for like ten dollars because that's how fire it was I mean I could put it on a blank CD and make money from selling it my bad Nipsey ain't that I was still in high school when that went down but it happened and if y'all haven't heard the marathon or the marathon series bro y'all gotta stop the video right now and go listen to the marathon and come back because the marathon is hands down one of my favorite CDs that ever came out anyways this mixtape boosted his visibility and notably debuted at number 179 on the billboard 200 chart marking nipsey's first entry onto the list and he did it independently this positive trajectory seemed to signal that Nipsey was on a promising path however in March of 2011 an unfortunate incident occurred that disrupted Nipsey and his brother's plans once again on March 18 2011 Nipsey was linked to an officer-involved shooting in South La following a dispute with his former manager big U although big U denied any serious confrontation happened police reports suggested otherwise according to news reports the altercation took place near an alley at the rear of a Shell gas station located at Crenshaw and Slauson and Hyde Park this location was in close proximity to this lost and T's t-shirt store essentially right in front of nfc's business eyewitness accounts reported that in the midst of the conflict nipsey's brother Black Sam draw a good to protect his brother firing into the air to try to Defuse The Situation however an LAPD police officer seen this happening and responded by firing at Black Sam fortunately missing him in the process how many fights fast I had my brother had hey we can't count how many you know incidents with the police right here let me show you something so you know if you look where Aunt Dana right there that's where my brother was standing you know and if you look where let me show you stand about right here [Music] this is where the police was busting from and police is trying to shoot us police don't miss and you know he busting like this in a full clip and he didn't hit my brother at all according to LAPD Sergeant Ryan Lopez nobody was hit in the incident and five individuals were taken into custody at that time no one had been formally booked so the names of those apprehended weren't released but it was known that Nipsey and his brother were amongst those that were detained on that Friday night in the aftermath of the situation Nipsey was released wise brother Black Sam who stayed incarcerated this arrest had significant implications for their business as Black Sam was the one who was managing the slots and T's clothing company with black sale Behind Bars they lost the company since Nipsey was preoccupied with his music in acting and wasn't heavily invested in the clothing line or at least the management of the clothing line at that time originally we had this location right here um it was called Sloss and teas we didn't have these these two corners of this third space we was operating out of this space right here you know my brother had you know caught a case went down for a few years so we ended up losing this space when he came home you know he did like uh three years with 80 percent when he came home you know he had a little money stacked saved up I had a couple dollars when he touched down we put our bread together and the first thing he said is I want to get this spot again you know I want to get back where he was at and at first I'm like man you know we got so much going on with the music do you do you want to be right here and he like you know it's important that we you know what we had going [Music] execute what we started finish what we started with the renewed focus on his music if she threw himself into creating his next mixtape meanwhile seizing every opportunity to tour even extending his reach overseas in time Black Sam was released from incarceration and reunited with Nipsey pulling the resources together they opted to reinvest in their clothing business the store was relaunched at a new location under the name Slauson nav clothing store deviating from the previous Slauson afts with his brother back in action the clothing business revived and his next mixtape ready for lunch Nipsey released the marathon continues on November 1st 2011. this mixtape 2 was exceptionally real received at this juncture the West Coast Music Scene was enjoying a Resurgence of sorts with artists like Kendrick Lamar Schoolboy Q J Rock YG currency Kid Ink and of course Nipsey himself creating a buzz for theirself this vibrant atmosphere was beneficial for Nipsey as it helped extend his reach and his influence even further around this period rumors began to score world that Nipsey might be on the brink Asana with Rick Ross's Maybach Music Group or MMG given that Maybach Music was added Zenith at this time with Rick Ross enjoying incredible popularity it seemed logical for a West Coast artist to join the ranks this rumor gained traction when Rick Ross hinted at a MMG West coming soon on Twitter on January 24th 2012 a message which Nipsey took the time to retweet inevitably interviewers started to probe into this potential partnership while Nipsey was touring in Europe initially he indicated the discussions were underway but eventually he decided to get signing with Maybach Music Group he felt that such a move would betray his team and he really wanted to chart his own independent course focusing on nurturing his all money and Brands so he decided he just didn't want to do it the main reason was just that you know we had committed to doing it a certain way in my team internally and I think that it had been selfish for me I'd have been in a great position as Nick he I'm saying but I had to I'd have to build my team value in round two just because you know MMG in the in the in the the deal would have got credit for taking nip to whatever level that the next music took me to rightfully so you know what I'm saying and I felt like I had committed that to my team that whether it happened or not we was going to try to try to do that together despite the decision not to sign with MMG Nipsey still decided to contribute to their self-made Volume 2 project released on June 26 2012. his verse on track six Fountain of Youth featuring Staley and Rick Ross is a must listen now in 2012 then she started broadening his business Horizons in addition to his clothing company he launched a new Venture called wireless connection on the exact same block as his other business was located this store location sold cell phones iPhone cases and related accessories and services although Nipsey didn't release an official new mixtape in 2012. he did release the marathon continues extra lapse on February 13th 2012 which contained leftover tracks from the marathon continues project and a lot of people really enjoyed getting these extra tracks but there were still left questioning why he didn't put out a mixtape now why fans were left questioning the absence of a new mixtape Nipsey was busy touring the world gauging what made people resonate with these music the information that Nipsey gleaned during this time would inform a pivotal move in 2013 that would forever imprint his name in hip-hop history in December of 2012 Nipsey announced that he had plans for the marathon 3 Victory lap mixtape the third inning series however he decided to rename Victory lap as his debut album replacing the previous planned South Central State of Mind so what was next for Nipsey he announced the new mixtape titled Crenshaw hosted by DJ Drama a first in nipsey's catalog but it was his revolutionary approach to selling this mixtape that caught people's attention Nipsey revealed plans to release only a thousand physical copies of this mixtape and he was gonna sell each physical copy for a hundred dollars each the announcement sparked a barrage of criticism and my career on the internet places like Twitter with many doubting whether anyone would take the time or spend the money to buy the project when it was being sold at that price however Nipsey was poised to prove his doubters wrong on October 8 2013 Nipsey released his mixtape Crenshaw and set up a pop-up shop in Fairfax that's located in Los Angeles where fans could purchase the Thousand limited edition copies for a hundred dollars each to everyone's surprise he sold out of all of his copies that night grossing over a hundred thousand dollars Jay-Z himself even bought a hundred copies of this album wiring ten thousand dollars to Nipsey this move not only silenced his critics but it was also groundbreaking no artist whether on a major label or independent and no matter what genre you look at had ever sold a project for a hundred dollars a piece what's more the mixtape was freely available online to 2 Nipsey had created a new campaign and a new business model that he called proud to pay this model offered an exclusive limited edition copy of his mixtape that would also come with a ticket to a concert exclusively for those who had bought the copy this proud to pay model was an Innovative way to drum up excitement for his releases and Nipsey would use it for future projects the mixtape success was undeniable for the first time Nipsey made it onto the Billboard top 100 charts peaking at number 63 and reaching number 34 on the U.S top r b hip-hop albums charts another significant outcome from the Crenshaw project was that it led to Nipsey meeting a woman named Lauren London she messaged him asking him how she could get the Crenshaw mixtape and some items from his clothing store this correspondent eventually led to the meeting in person at his clothing store which blossomed into a relationship she actually reached out through a mutual friend okay when I dropped the Crenshaw project yeah because she was rap open up a um a TV show okay and she I guess a lot of the people I was working on the TV shows from LA and they do rap gifts okay rap parties okay she got everybody Crenshaw CDs and shirts for the rap party okay and then from there we was locked in and just killing Concept in early 2014 he began to diversify his entrepreneurial Endeavors even more by launching a partnership with the fast food chain Fat Burger a new location was opened in the Crenshaw District integrating a collaborative business model with nipsy hustle's Marathon clothing store we standing on Crenshaw and Slauson in the Crenshaw District area I grew up in Fatburger being an iconic brand in La you know our core values kind of aligned we had an idea to co-brand and Crenshaw collection from the marathon clothing with the Fatburger logo the brands represent Los Angeles it was just some organic and natural that felt right the fat burger logo you know it's like the Hollywood sign or it's like something that you come to La you think of Los Angeles so um we didn't want to get in the way of that you know we just wanted to you know uh represent the area area and also our Crenshaw collection the Crenshaw logo is becoming iconic in Los Angeles and starting to mean you know more than just the area it's rich in history it's rich in culture and so you know I think that a lot of the city and a lot of the country look at us as ambassadors to this area you know in in the business world in the music world nobody really put a flag in a Crenshaw and Slauson area before us you know what I mean so I think that it made sense to Fatburger to reach out I think that we did a great design everybody inside they whole staff was wearing it and it just looked dope Nipsey revealed in 2014 that he was preparing to launch his first official album titled Victory lap irrespective of support from a major record label however as the year progressed new music wasn't really forthcoming and people just kind of thought that Nifty wasn't gonna drop but to everyone's surprise oh New Year's Eve Nipsey dropped a new mixtape titled mailbox money like its previous release it Incorporated the proud to pay campaign however this this time it had a Twist only a hundred copies were made available each priced at a thousand dollars while it didn't immediately sell out or Garner the same level of hype as the earlier release it did eventually sell all 100 copies within two years making another hundred thousand dollars for Nipsey this mixtape fared well on the charge too reaching impressive Peaks on the U.S charts for r b and Hip-Hop albums rap albums and independent albums despite this Nipsey opted not to release anything in 2015 maintaining a relatively low profile while embarking on a global tour to boost his brand he did make an appearance in the TV series Crazy Ex-Girlfriend highlighting a new facet of his career which was acting in 2016 Nipsey resumed his musical career and life presented a new change for him he collaborated extensively with fellow rapper YG fueling rumors of a joint album he featured on YG's track I won a Benz alongside 50 Cent and on YG's politically charged song FDT which I I'm sure most of us have heard at least once in our life now nipsey's birthday on August 15 2016 saw the release of his new mixtape slots and boy 2 a sequel to his 2005 debut mixtape Slauson voice volume one unlike previous releases this mixtape was free gaining widespread Acclaim and reaching number 28 on the U.S independent albums charts a few weeks later Nipsey and actress Laura London welcomed their first child together a son named Cross Nipsey continued his entrepreneurial Pursuits by opening a new Enterprise called Elite human hair on Slauson Avenue the same street where his clothing line and wireless connection store was located when he called Elite Hair and it says you know um bundles exactly odds in the county jail my boy from Compton told me man it's better than dope man you know what I'm saying you're gonna triple up off the hair you go to India and you can get the the kilos of it and you know put it spool it up and package that the Hustler I got I got laced you know he told me about it and my brother came home as well and had the same um curiosity about the about that game and just you know put together a bag and went out there and you know invested 2017 brought both Triumph and tragedy for nipsy hustle on the business front he expanded his investment significantly he first obtained an ownership stake and follow coin which was an amsterdam-based cryptocurrency platform I understand cryptocurrency I understand unregulated form of currency I understand peer-to-peer transactions online but what is follow coin so basically what it is is there's a there's a there's a huge amount of value in this cryptocurrency space with trading and exchanging different forms of currency different times of acquisition different times of selling is very similar to the stock market so there's people over the last five six years that became very successful trading currencies via different platforms and so what it is is there'll be a big trade that takes place and you'll hear about it next week and then try to mirror it but the opportunity came in past very similar to stocks so what happened with follow coin follow coin gives you the opportunity it Blends the social networking element with the purely Financial element of being involved and being aware of great opportunities with socializing people that know about the great opportunities so what it is is a mix and it's a it's a platform where you can follow successful Traders you you already know the top 10 traders in cryptocurrency and if you don't they'll be listed or the top 50 or the top 100 however Dynamic you want to be you'll say I got a hundred thousand total I got ten thousand total I got five thousand total and you'll say I want to allocate a thousand toward this influencer so the next moves he makes a thousand dollars of your investment fund will go will mirror his moves in real time you can be sleep you could be on the plane you could be wherever he make a move yo portfolio that you've allocated towards him will move when he moves there's less than one percent penetration and that's a fact because I can't spend Bitcoin here I gotta still spend US dollars or MasterCard credit or you know established credit any one of these stores there's no penetration in the real world but there's a 27 to 800 000 increase in investment in this space but there's a one percent penetration in the real world so what happens when it gets five percent real world when more people can spend their their cryptocurrency at the store at the restaurant on the airplane which is why we came to Amsterdam because there's a city out here where the whole city is cryptocurrency friendly and this is a example of what's going to happen to the rest of the world and we think that if you get in now when the value spreads and the accessibility spreads you'll be sitting on the right chair so you might have 10 influences you follow you might have a hundred thousand investors and put 10 toward each one the two successful moves might cover the eight unsuccessful moves you might have more information where you go really heavy into these two investors because you know what they're doing and you know you might invest the whole hundred into these to 50 50. but the type of returns that we send in cryptocurrency is not 10 it's not seven percent it's 700 all the opportunities that exist in in cryptocurrency are time sensitive and so you know outside of strengthen the company the capacity of the owner just the model that they built was unique so he wanted to come see it and we did when we saw it it was something that we wanted to write a check for immediately you know so we cashed out yesterday we locked in our acquisition of a percentage um and you know cool what's up Grace it's all good so let's have uh this is copy that's the exact same thing yeah [Music] this one too please [Music] official we locked in get money then he collaborated with the Cannabis firm to cure company and Nipsey developed his own cannabis strain named the marathon OG he also added to his existing real estate portfolio in the Crenshaw District where his clothing line Wireless store hair salon were located he opened a seafood restaurant titled the fish act and reinstated the world on Wheels a community roller rink initially damaged in the 1992 LA riots one of his most notable accomplishments that year was the opening of the first official Marathon clothing flagship store on June 17 2017 though he had always maintained a presence in this neighborhood this marked a complete renovation of his image and the launch of the world's first smart store a concept that was later adopted by Tech Giant Apple it's all money here no money out here right now and Marathon stores ran opening you know I'm saying we're doing it man shoot his own kick all right my name is Peppers [Applause] anywhere in Southern California thank you this is the world's first Spark store this is the world's Unity store I was just telling Sam in the family a lot of CEOs a lot of companies like J.Crew and a whole bunch of other companies that get paid millions of dollars they can't take it out how to open the store on Slauson and quench uh anywhere in the United States like this family I've got here today we're gonna make a lot of money and have a lot of fun ladies and gentlemen the morning thank you [Applause] thank everybody [Applause] outside of the truck that's crazy when all of this was offended for the gas station was expanding when it was all type of sick things going down in this corner that I was around the corner no more because some people probably need to change the thank you [Applause] thank you every product every logo on the wall there's a section where there's art on the wall every tag on each product is programmed with content so there's content on the tags right now and so once you make a purchase you know you take the product home there's an app you download the marathon Store app and you can put the actual phone to the tag of the clothes and the content will stream what that'll do is let's say I got a song with a big artist and instead of giving it to Apple music or giving it to an extreme insight to you can stream it exclusively in the store yeah I can I can attach it to a product and so you can get the the song available three days before it come out officially if you come by this t-shirt he's streaming off the tag and so after that campaign is over a year later I could say hey anybody about the red Crenshaw baseball v-neck check your tag it could be in your dirty clothes from you you bought it a year ago like I said I just I just uploaded a new piece of content to this shirt and because you bought it you get it first it'll come out three days later on all the traditional platforms but as a reciprocation for the support you get the contents first however amidst these successes Nipsey also faced a devastating loss on September 29 2017 Stephen fats Donaldson nipsey's longtime friend and collaborator was shot and killed outside of marijuana dispensary located in Hyde Park it was a tremendous blow to Nipsey and his team as fats had played a crucial role in nipsey's Journey including helping to establish the marathon clothing store we got one bit of speed element I know you lost your pardon the fats like yeah how you dealing with that situation uh uh man you know that that caught me off guard completely I didn't expect that at all and the timing was crazy you know what I'm saying we've been sitting on everything we've been just holding our our punches just to do it all at once and you know what I'm saying we've been all anticipating the moment that we get to enjoy and it's it's a little [ __ ] up so it's really [ __ ] up that my partner and my homeboy you know what I'm saying hey on this side of the other Dimension to experience it with us and and you know benefit from it and you know from like I don't want to go too deep into it you know I'm saying I should get emotional my favorite respect if it gets back no you know what I'm saying but like his kids like his kids will be proud of him yeah real sure this deeply affected Nipsey but he carried on living by his motto the marathon continues on November 27 2017 he announced a significant career Milestone he had signed a multi-album deal and partnership with Atlantic Records he further revealed that his debut album log in the making would officially be released in 2018 under the title Victory lap two days prior to making his partnership with Atlantic Records public Nipsey teamed up with Los angeles-based artist bino on a collaborative project titled no pressure this work came to fruition just after the completion of nissi's debut album Victory lap no pressure was released on November 25th 2017. merely two days after that Nipsey publicly announced on billboard.com his signing of a multi album multi-million million dollar deal with Atlantic Records this game is a shock to many fans of Nipsey as he had been vocal and advocated for Independence for major labels since leaving Epic Records all the way back in 2010 however he explained that the partnership was necessary to elevate his career to the next phase alongside this Revelation Nipsey shared that his debut album will be released in 2018. this caused excitement amongst his followers since they have been eagerly waiting for his debut album for quite some time to make a powerful impression Nipsey decided to release the first single from his debut album thus on December 1st 2017 the first single was launched I think as a brand you know I mean to come out on my first record and say this was different about me these are the things that's different about me I do own all the rights to all my raps you know what I'm saying literally you know what I'm saying and that's distinguishing that's what separating up you know I mean um and so I thought that would be the statement to make coming out first despite not charting the first single will obtain gold status denoting it had sold over a half a million copies accompanying this release he revealed that his debut album will be called Victory lap along with the album's cover art and the release date for it furthermore Nancy organized a unique campaign for this album which involved the release of a 500 book called the marathon only a thousand copies of this book were ever produced a few weeks later Nipsey released a track titled the band Down featuring Swiss beats to commemorate the seven year anniversary of his Marathon mixtape the track however was not included on the album but it did serve as a complimentary piece for his fans on January 19 2018 he released the second single from that album titled last time that I checked and this track featured YG this single I'll perform the first single by far reaching number 29 on the US hip hop and R B charts and number 76 on the Billboard Hot 100 charts this song also went gold selling over a half a million copies and this song is also a banger then on January 20th 2018 Nipsey unveiled the visuals for what was intended to be the third single grinding all my life though it was never really pushed officially as a single which is a shame because this song was really good and it totally could have been at least single on this album anyways in February 2018 nipsey's highly anticipated debut album Victory lap was finally launched it debuted at number four on the billboard 200 chart selling over 53 000 copies in the first week with 30 000 of those being physical album sales this marked nipsey's first time he had a top 10 chart appearance for any project ever in his career here this album received outstanding reviews mostly rating 4.5 or 4 out of 5. despite the album's release Nipsey continued promoting it and released several more music videos from tracks off the album among these were hustle and motivate which was a cinematic piece hitting at nipsey's Future interest in film and documentaries but even though Nipsey wanted to eventually make a shift into acting in the film industry he still wanted to stay true to his roots and maintain his branding he was serious about it too to the point it when asked by Dr Dre and Ice Cube to play Snoop Dogg in the Straight Outta Compton movie Nipsey declined saying directly to Snoop Dogg's face that he couldn't do it because essentially it would mess with his branding this is she ever did they was doing Straight Out of Compton movie right so Dr Dre Ice Cube All of Me man we trying to get nip to play you and Straight Out of Compton he ain't getting back to us all right let me holler at the normal oh I hit him up nip let me I'll let you pull up on me he come over to the spot God they want you to play me and uh and Straight Outta Compton move I'm happy as a muffler to tell him he like no disrespect Big Homie but I can't play you in the movie because then people gonna just know me for being you I gotta be me and that's what all due respect I was like damn now okay so come on I called him I said good y'all gotta go find somebody else in the same month Nipsey and his business partner David Gross I build a community co-writing space named Victor 90 in the Crenshaw District Vector 90 offers access to resources such as computers for those in the community who might not otherwise have a place to pursue their dreams this initiative marked their first step towards opening stem schools and various underprivileged neighborhoods across the country including Los Angeles Atlanta and Washington DC Nipsey and David Gross intended to bridge the gap between Silicon Valley and these communities through their Ventures so the program is called too big to fail and I didn't start it I was brought into it it was started by um investor and a real estate developer Named Dave gross yeah and we just were sitting next to each other at the Laker game and he like nip you know I'm a fan of the music and that's what I got going on let me come out of office let me show it to you and when I saw the vision it was like um to sum it up it's it's basically a bridge to connect Inner City LA youth to the opportunities in Silicon Valley because to ever be able to get a job at Google or Facebook or any one of these companies like apple you got to get trained early on science technology engineering and math because it's like a 10-15 year learning curve for them things you can't start I mean you can start whenever but you really behind if you start late you know so these these these people that end up working there you know they got trained from elementary school right you know so we just want to be able to create um a center where these young kids can come tap in and it's more to high level this one part of it is a um it's like a co-working space kind of like we work yeah so you know entrepreneurs local entrepreneurs in the area can rent office space and then the other level is the stem um Center where they could just get training and just you know get educated on science technology engineering and math Nifty further Diversified his business interest by opening a new seafood restaurant in the same plaza where his clothing store and other Ventures were located the restaurant named Baba Leos emphasized the healthier take on Seafood now continuing with this business expansions Nipsey opened a barber shop named Steve's Barber Shop in honor of a close friend that had been slain additionally in that same year he invested in an application called this which is a blockchain based music app designed to facilitate easier and more transparent payments from consumers to artists I know I've had my foot in this Tech space I just got some inside information about a new opportunity I want to hit was a company called vest as in invest um it's basically a Marketplace that artists and content creators can go directly to their fan base and their consumers via the blockchain and they can um basically allocate value from either individual songs or whole projects and fans can buy into the record traditionally you have to go to a publishing company to Get Money advance to you for the future value of your records this platform creates the opportunity for your fans to buy into the record ahead of time so this is just a new idea it's a new platform it's linked to the blockchain so the whole transaction is transparent um it's something I'm really excited about I think all new artists all artists from catalogs that's haven't been monetized on the new platforms can really Embrace this thing um it's even a new term they came up with called the iso which is an initial song offer in addition to just all adult features of the technology that the artists can benefit from um just as an investor and as a businessman it's something I'm going to invest in and become not only an influencer and hopefully on the board up but also an equity holder next Nipsey announced an expansion of his clothing line Marathon clothing in collaboration with Puma the deal included exclusive clothing designed by nipsy hustle for the Puma company well it's two size two on one side I'm I'm a brand ambassador for Puma so basically I'm it's an endorsement deal the other side of it is a collaborative project with the marathon and Puma okay we're going to do um a collection multiple collections but the first one dropped uh fall 2019 like around September so it's going to be shows uh apparel a few accessories show a sneaker but then it's gonna be a marathon not nip it's gonna be a marathon Puma I'm gonna I'mma also just you know uh endorse the Puma products so I'm gonna be him as wearing the stuff but then the other part of it is a collab between marathon and Puma okay so it won't be no nipsy hustle Puma shoe it'll be America I mean Marathon yeah and uh sweat suit capsule and t-shirts and stuff like that late in 2018 Nipsey launched his own brand of water called Marathon water nevertheless he never lost sight of his music during the summer of 2018 he toured his Victory lap album and released additional music videos one of these videos works for the song Double up which reached number 65 on the Billboard Hot 100 becoming His Highest charting song at the time he also released visuals for the album title track Victory lap which peaked at number 100 on the Billboard Hot 100. when the Grammy nominations for Best rap album were announced in December of 2018 nipsey's debut album Victory lap was amongst the nominees this marked a significant achievement for him and he released a new track titled perfect timing a week after this at the 61st annual Grammy Awards on February 10 2019. Nipsey was nominated for best rap album but he lost to cardi B you know you can't be upset you can't be oh I got cheated I got let nah this you know that was clearly her time because of the way the outcome happened and even before the Grammy was announced cardi had a great year she had a big year and so you know that was just like I seen certain people having even on my timeline like man you got cheated no he ain't doing that yeah yeah yeah yeah you feel me man that was her time she got what she desired despite not clinching the Grammy and taking it home Nipsey remain committed to the music on February 15 2019 he released the lead single racks in the middle featuring Roddy rich and hit boy from his new album this song will become His Highest charting single peeking at number 26 takes on the Billboard Hot 100 and basically jump starting riding Rich's career from nothing simultaneously behind the scenes Nipsey achieved a long-standing goal of buying the entire plaza where his business was located not just the section where his store was at this accomplishment was a surreal moment for Nipsey as he had started his journey hustling in that very Plaza and now he owned it all something Beyond his wildest dreams with that one property talking about um 3420 West Slauson that's the bill not the marathon um clothing was in from day one even before it was a marathon it was just lost some teas we were just renting a space and you know selling little odd items t-shirts and stuff it was in that shopping plaza and then before we had the space rented that was our Corner we used to grind off from so that build meant a lot to us um for sentimental reasons and just for the Strategic location and what's going on right around it in L.A you know Crenshaw with the train and everything so um from a real estate standpoint it was a great um opportunity but then just from a Sentimental level also yeah that whole that whole strip mall the whole Plaza yeah congratulations thank you that's amazing myself my brother Dave gross we Partners on so we all went in and purchased a whole lot together man it ain't really sunk in for real you know what I mean I don't think it really really sunk in and we got other real estate yeah is pulling in that parking lot and being like [Music] be comfortable a real environment where it's a crab and fluffy metallic where you know I mean everybody can have a hit so one part starts to move forward and and you know become a little bit successful but you still Within Reach of these people it's it's very hard because you're dealing with depressions and trying to be successful as well as pressure people intentionally waking up to try to bring hornbill with you know I mean try to stop you from doing it and kill someone if I grew up on the same block we had the same trials and tribulations but you became successful and I became Fair you'd make me feel a certain way by myself because we had the same that we've dealt the same deck of course you know what I mean so I feel like my success affect people because the person that don't know me quite wrote for me you know what I mean to be happy for them person that know me it comes in the same environment had the same core of Delta then that keep going to chill don't have no money never made their parents proud or they Mama Proud never did anything to take a look in the mirror even proud of you know I mean it makes them feel a certain way it is is intense jealousy hail but on March 31st 2019 Nipsey went to his Marathon clothing store as he often did to take care of business and spend time with family friends and vans he sent out a tweet at 2 52 PM that said having strong enemies is a blessing unfortunately this will be his last social media message just a few minutes later an individual with whom Nipsey hustle had a conversation returned with the firearm and fire multiple shots at Nipsey and two other individuals after shooting him multiple times the shooter then kick Nipsey in the head before fleeing in a getaway car nipsey's brother Black Sam was one of the first people to arrive at the scene after the shooting in an interview with the Los Angeles Times he recounted how Nipsey was still alive and fighting for his life when he arrived on the scene despite the injuries Nipsey was still breathing and with guidance of a 9-1-1 operator Black Sam performed chest compressions until the arrival of paramedics however despite all their efforts Nipsey succumbed to his injuries the news of his death led to an outpouring of grief and shock worldwide with many high-profile individuals from LeBron James to Snoop Dogg expressing their sorrow the suspect in the shooting was quickly identified and apprehended by the LAPD on April 2nd on the same day Nipsey significant other Lauren London shared our group on Instagram expressing her profound sense of loss following nipsey's death support for his vision and Legacy led to a surge in sales for his clothing line with the store making 10 million dollars in sales within just a few weeks of it happening due to the sheer volume of orders the online store had to issue a statement apologizing for the delays for some people's orders due to the increased activity on their website and location on April 10th it was announced that nipsey's funeral would be held at the Staples Center a distinction previously only afforded to Michael Jackson bespoke volumes about the love and respect Nipsey commanded in the Los Angeles community and Beyond the funeral service took place on on April 11th and was live streamed on various platforms many influential figures including Stevie Wonder Snoop Dogg YG and even former president Barack Obama shared their respects for Nipsey ways to invest in that community his choice to invest in that Community rather than to ignore it to build a skills Training Center a co-working space in Crenshaw to lift up the Eritrean American community he set an example for young people to follow and there's a legacy worth of Celebration I hope his memory inspires more good work in Crenshaw and communities like it Michelle and I send our sympathies to Lauren Imani cross and his whole family and to all those who love Nifty sincerely Barack Obama [Applause] I'm very proud of my son my son Hermes Joseph ascadome was a great man following nipsey's Funeral Service a 25-mile last Victory lap was taken around La before he was officially laid to rest the route passed through all the locations that were significant to Nipsey in his life including the marathon clothing store houses he grew up in and the White's Towers where he originally learned to use music equipment thousands of people lie in the streets to show their support during this last Victory lap on the day of his funeral South Los Angeles city councilman Marquis Harris Dawson announced that the intersection of Crenshaw Boulevard and West Lawson Avenue the heartbeat of the South L.A Community will be renamed in honor of Nipsey Hustle the intersection was officially renamed Hermes nipsy hustle ashkadon Square following an online petition that gathered over 500 000 signatures however amidst all these tributes the question of why Nipsey was murdered still lingered his brother Black Sam described the incident as an execution as if it was a hit job or motivated by jealousy as the months passed Warren information became available on May 21 2019 a grand jury indicted the man suspected of killing Nipsey on several charges including murder and assault with a firearm on June 28 2019 a judge ordered the release of transcripts in a Nipsey hustle murder case these transcripts revealed that nipsey's last words to his assailant were who got me the document also unveiled that they had a four-minute conversation where Nipsey mentioned to the suspect about rumors of him snitching the prosecutors believed that this could have triggered the suspect to murder Nipsey now another rapper Lil Boosie provided an alternative perspective during an interview that he did was Vlad TV he attributed nipsey's murder to jealousy pointing out that the suspect's girlfriend had taken a selfie with Nipsey minutes before the incident took place he believed that the suspect feeling jealous and angry might have been provoked by this interaction Boosie suggested the brutality of the attack indicated pent up anger and jealousy towards bro if it was just a snitch if he was just killed him because it was a snitch he wouldn't even die he would have shot him you called me assistant that's what it would have been when you come back three times you kick a man you've been wanting to fight him and kick him [Music] you've been wanting to fight him and kick him they were hypnotized you shouldn't kick him you've been had this I know when you when you fighting now I know I didn't feel when you go to the streets and want to kick this you've been wanting to [ __ ] this up man and hypnotized man now the man who murdered Nipsey was named Eric Holder and he argued in court that the reason that he did it was because he got caught a snitch and tonight prosecutors are sharing new details about the final moments of rapper nipsy hustle's life they say hustle told Eric Holder the word on the street was that he was a snitch then hold her open fire kconline's Randy page has newly released grand jury testimony Eric Holder seen here in court was indicted by a criminal grand jury for the murder of popular rap artist nipsy hustle we now know what led the grand jury to indict him through this 512-page transcript of grand jury testimony it it begins with prosecutor John McKinney's opening statement to the jury as he details the testimony they will hear from the prosecution star witness identified only as witness number one Eric holder's girlfriend who was behind the wheel of his car as the two of them pulled into a South La strip mall where nipsy hustle was standing talking to friends on the afternoon of March 31st Mr holder got out of the car immediately walked up to the group where Mr hustle was and then had a conversation the prosecutor told the grand jury that conversation is important because that conversation has something to do with nipsy hustle accusing Mr holder of snitching which in the gang world is a very serious offense the prosecutor went on to say holder's girlfriend will testify she took a photograph with nipsy hustle and she drove holder away from the strip mall after they drove off Mr holder pulled out a gun told witness number one to drive around the block witness number one drove Mr holder around the block also told him to put the gun away the prosecutor said she was concerned that he might shoot her accidentally or shoot somebody from her car he then told her to pull over at a certain location near the strip mall and he told her to wait there he'd be right back he walked off back toward the parking lot where he then walked up to within a couple of feet of nipsy hustle and fired multiple rounds into him from two different guns while locked up Eric ended up getting badly beaten to the point that the trial had to be delayed a bit because of it see Hustle dead murdered now the man accused of the murder on trial in Los Angeles Court TV legal correspondent Chanley painter has more for us tonight [Music] March 31st 2019 at about 3 20 in the afternoon it was an explosion of violence at the intersection of Slauson and Crenshaw on this day the acclaimed rapper nipsy hustle was shot and killed now the trial is underway for the man charged in the crime Eric Holder and two different arguments in this case have unfolded in the courtroom the state says holder's actions were premeditated [Music] [Music] here's the evidence that he had plenty of opportunity to think about what he was going to do before he did it I made that point because we charge not just murdered but premeditated and deliberately the defense says this was a crime of passion in this case relates to snitching and accusation by Tennessee hospital that just said Erica Jr was a smidge that so inflamed and enraged [Applause] in determining what the evidence shows the jurors in this case will have to consider the testimony of brianita Nicholson the woman who drove holder to the marathon clothing store just before Nipsey was killed her testimony is flush with details that could help steer the jurors to a verdict that indicates whether this was premeditated or in fact a crime of passion according to her on March 31 2019 holder wanted to get something to eat and go to La at some point they ended up at the marathon clothing store with Nipsey she says that at this store she heard holder and Nipsey have a conversation about snitching though it's not clear if the word snitch was used a previous witness named Cowboy said the conversation was about holder being involved in some paperwork and that no one used the word snitch though Nicholson says she did hear that word and in her view holder approached nipsy butt Nipsey tried to brush him off she says holder's reaction was to respond loud but not in an aggressive way Nicholson says holder returned to the car and asked her to drive around the block when she did that's when she saw him put bullets into an automatic gun and told him quote you ain't gonna shoot Nothing by my car in response Nicholson says holder put away the gun but not long after she ended up in the alleyway next to the complex that's when she says holder got out and told her to wait as he headed back in the direction of the plaza Nicholson said she then heard two gunshots when he returned to the car Nicholson says holder told her to drive she says when she asked what happened he said you talk too much I'm gonna slap you after all the evidence is in and closing arguments complete it will be up to a jury to decide if this was premeditated murder or crime of passion premeditated deliberate murder in fact it should be voluntary now before [Music] yeah but if you went back to the car to load the gun and then went back again that gives you enough time to premeditate the murder right there it's not really heat of passion anyhow a lot of talk about snitching and you know the old cliche right snitches gets stitches well let me tell you what happened today let's put it up on the screen statement from Aaron Jansen Eric Holder was apparently attacked before he was brought to court yesterday morning he was at a holding cell at MC jail and he was punched in the head in his cell and that had 13 other people he was punched in the head cut with what he thought was a razor and taken to the hospital holder did get an MRI and got three staples and I guess he didn't get stitches he got three Staples in the back of his head his left eye and left side of his face is swollen and the interior of his eye is really red two people attacked him hold her had his head down was getting rest and was waiting to be transported when he was sucker punched one of the biggest points of controversy in this trial came from nipsey's longtime friend and rolling the 60s OG Cowboy aka Big Thundercat who I introduced y'all to in the beginning of the video cowboy was there and witnessed what happened and decided to go against everything the game had taught him it took the stand against Eric Holder I worked for Memphis Tennessee with my friends he was like a dad our community right now we lost everything everything we work for one person took that person to our community that was the job we don't have no more home you don't have nothing to do they backslide they robbing people now he has stuff to do and they don't have nothing to do all our stores were closed down all we were rely on our job and the whole Community relied on them and the team that we had down there now the team is not down there and then it's not the whole Community is affected all of our stores are closed we have nowhere to go we can't go to routes to get no food the only thing that we have is that shopping center that shopping center close down now towards the gunfighters can't even take pictures no more everything we built got torn down one man's mistake one man's action messed up a whole community our whole Community is suffering to this day these kids don't have nowhere to go they have nothing to do they have nothing to look up to no more and and the world still wants to know why that we want to know why would somebody do that to a person that was leading the whole Community why we want to know why that's all we want to know why we will possess a person to take a person out of our community that was so powerful so many people depended on that person nobody depended on the other person everybody depends on this one person in our communities and they want Mercy from this guy where was the merciful he was kicking that [ __ ] on the ground what was that verse he had what was that Mercy at you want some mercy you want somebody to show you some love all right but there's been no remorse the individual that's on trial okay so I'm asking you judge it really you know the time I don't care what you get is God it ain't about the time I need to know why I wish I could get that In the End Eric Holder was convicted of the crime and sentenced to 60 years for it the jury has returned the verdict in the nipsy hustle murder case and they have found that Eric Holder guilty first degree murder not manslaughter first degree murder he intended to kill nipsy hustle targeted him and the jury has spoken we'll have more on this case later but I wanted to bring you that breaking news hold their faces up to life in prison as you can see here for this diabolic follicle killing in broad daylight of the fame rapper nipsy Hustle Union ba 4 parties are present of our Jersey president good morning ladies and gentlemen all right Corey understands uh there's a verdict uh who is that poor person during C12 has the jury reach the verdict on all counts yes sir all right please hand the verdict form signed and unsigned delivered novel thank you [Music] can't please read the words thank you in the Superior Court of California County of Los Angeles Department 104 the people of the State of California versus Eric Ronald holder Jr case number ba 475-908 we the jury in the above entitled action find the defendant Eric Ronald holder Jr guilty of the crime of first-degree murder of ermius ashkadon in violation of penal code section 187 subsection a a felony as charged in count one of the indictment now lives he follow live was becoming sort of a social activist and after his death people have tried to keep that portion of him alive and so the first thing I want to talk about here in regards to the legacy of nimsy hustle is something called our opportunity our opportunity is a social investment initiative and it's the most recent Endeavor aiming to perpetuate the vision of the late nipsy hustle co-founded by hustle and David Gross this initiative works at a Grassroots level with its key purpose being to Foster significant economic advancement in impoverished neighborhoods throughout the United States although initially focused on nipsey's home turf in Los Angeles our opportunity aspires to collaborate with leaders for major inner cities such as Atlanta Chicago Washington DC New Orleans and so on aiming to bring about meaningful transformative projects Nipsey hustle's contribution to his community was significant though its magnitude was never fully realized until after his passing a detailed report from go get data.news revealed that hustle's business and Community Ventures from 2013 to 2019 had a projected value of over 210 million dollars more importantly it was estimated that he had assisted and impacted up to 41 000 individuals highlighting the breadth of his influence within his community many stories of nipsey's profound impact on his community emerged after his death prompting his family to launch the neighborhood nip foundation in August of 2019. this Foundation spearheaded by nipsey's Brother blacks him intended to continue nipsey's mission of providing opportunities and resources to Young individuals looking to break into the music industry echoing the significance of the White's Towers program for nipsey's early career the foundation plans to provide access to music equipment and relevant training for budding musicians the foundation has already received substantial support including a six-figure donation from Atlantic Records adding to this in September of 2019 the highly anticipated collaboration between the marathon clothing was launched it quickly sold out in a thought for gesture Puma pledge that all proceeds from the cell will go directly to the neighborhood nip foundation and this wasn't Puma's First Act of Charity connected to Nipsey in October of 2018 they restored and repainted the basketball courts at the 59th elementary school as well as making a ten thousand dollar donation demonstrating nipsey's continued Legacy of giving back to his community right now we're on 59th and Third Ave I grew up a couple blocks from here my grandma been in this area in this community since you know decades you know it's one of our home courts only on this day he's at 59th Street Elementary School and rooted in this community since day one touring the basketball courts he helped renovate in a partnership with Puma this is what the courts looked like before the backboards was a little ate up you know it was no color on the floor it was a little ran down and this is what they looked like after Nipsey and Puma pumped 10 grand into them obviously the artist was crazy Drew visuals and um it just brings some color you know to a place where all the kids gonna be every day you know surrounded by Art I think it's good for the brain I think it's good for the spirit in February 2019 the late Nipsey hustle and his business partner David Gross purchased the plaza that house the rapper's Marathon clothing store the duo envisioned investing Millions into the plaza to reconstruct it into a six-story residential building with a commercial Plaza at the bottom to revitalized Marathon store was planned to be the main tenant it's likely that David Gross and nipsey's brother Black Sam would love to carry on with that dream but like I said when I touched down in LA and went to South Central and looked at it it was gated up and didn't look like much was happening in there either way Nipsey was not just a successful businessman he also had Ambitions to expand his Marathon films production he revealed his plans to delve into documentary filmmaking starting with the piece on Dr sebi after nipsey's death Nick Cannon pledged to continue with the documentary and even released a trailer for it but but nothing ever came of it and as of right now looks like Nick Cannon might have gave that up but it was a dream of nipsey's to delve into documentary filmmaking and you can see that on his YouTube channel by the numerous documentaries that have been posted there the impact of nipsey's untimely death Ripple Thor's music career causing a surge in the cells and stream his album Victory lap initially debuted at number four on the billboard 200 but after his passing it climbed all the way back up to number two all singles from Victory lap have since went gold and the album itself eventually achieved Platinum Status signifying a million copies sold his single racks in the middle also went platinum this dramatic increase in his music's popularity after his death illustrates the profound influence he had on his listeners now since his demise there have been people that have came out to try to tarnish nipsey's Legacy people like whack 100 and they've had a whole bunch to say about him none of which I'm gonna cover in this video because it just doesn't feel respectful to moving on posthumously Nipsey hustle's music featured in various releases including DJ khaled's higher track featuring John Legend the music video for this song was the last one that Nipsey ever filmed the track beat the number 21 on the Billboard Hot 100 marking the highest position for any song in nipsey's career and eventually earned gold certification recognition for nipsey's talent and humanitarian work came from various award shows following his death the 2019 BET Awards honored him with the humanitarian award and best male hip-hop artist award his mother gave a heart his failed speech while accepting the humanitarian award on his behalf nipsey's music also received acknowledgment at the 62nd annual Grammy Awards in January of 2020. he posthumously won best rap song performance first feature on DJ khaled's higher and best rap performance for his own track racks in the middle but I'm sure Nipsey knew this before he passed a Grammy don't mean [ __ ] I'm sure he was just happy to be giving back to the people that supported him [Music] foreign [Music] hip-hop scene the threads woven By Ernie is Joseph ashkadon better known as nipsy hustle are imbued with the Vivid colors of resilience empowerment and undying optimism though his life was tragically cut short his legacy persists inspiring countless individuals within and outside of the music industry he embodied the quintessential Phoenix Rising From the Ashes rising from the concrete jungles of Crenshaw and Slauson in South Los Angeles through the tumultuous Trials of gang life and eventually transcending into an influential figure whose name echoed not just in the corridors of the hip-hop world but also in the broader landscape of community activism Nipsey hustle's music was both a mirror reflecting the Stark realities of his environment and a lighthouse guiding those lost in the Tempest of adversity his lyrical genius bore the soul of a poet and the Heart of a revolutionary defining the shackles of poverty violence and systematic Injustice his discography and encapsulated in his grammy-nominated album Victory lap was more than just Rhythm and Rhymes it was a testament to his infantigable Spirit providing an unvarnished Narrative of his journey while Illuminating a pathway for others to follow however nipsey's impact was not confined to the studio or stage his entrepreneurial prowess was evident in his Ventures most notably the marathon clothing store which transcended the traditional retail space integrating technology and fashion in a unique way his adoption of the cryptocurrency model for his music and his vision for the smart store encapsulated his forward-thinking approach demonstrating his King business Acumen and passion for Innovation Nipsey was more than just a rapper or a businessman but a Beacon of Hope for his community as well he invested in real estate projects created job opportunities and advocated for stem education for marginalized youth his deeds painted the picture of a modern day Robin Hood condom striving to uplift this community and rectify the social media economic imbalance prevalent in society today in a world where the alarm light often obscures the struggle of the disenfranchised Nipsey illuminated their plight pushing forward an agenda of empowerment and Equity even in death nipsey's voice resonates echoing his ideals or perseverance self-reliance and Community upliftment his demise was an incalculable loss leaving a void in her heart to many yet in the face of this loss his message endures reaching even the most distant corners of the world through his music his life may have been a candle that was extinguished too soon but the light he kindled continues to shine Nipsey hustle was a man in many faces a formidable rapper and ingenious entrepreneur a Relentless activist and above all a dedicated Champion to his community and a father to his kids his story serves as a blueprint for overcoming adversity and leveraging success for communal benefit the robust pillars of his legacy his music entrepreneurship and activism stand as a Testament to his indomitable Spirit his life encapsulates the essence of his own lyrics the highest human Act is to inspire nipsy Hustle Nipsey hustle may be gone but the lessons he imparted and the impact he made are Immortal forever ingrained in the animals of history in the heart of those that He Touched anyways that's it for the video guys if you enjoyed the content be sure to hit the like button subscribe tap the notification Bell so you get notified every time I upload a video as always it's been fun rocking with y'all man I'm out

Channel: KB Goes Live

Views: 396,289

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Id: ZPIckmmj-pk

Length: 127min 50sec (7670 seconds)

Published: Thu Jun 08 2023