It’s estimated that his total investments in the community, tech, and lifestyle ventures garnered over $210 million in value. He was also an investor in a STEM program that created a pipeline to Silicon Valley for minority kids and renovated the playground at a nearby elementary school. He employed ex-felons at his The Marathon Clothing store, which was part of a larger “Buy the Block” plan where Hussle was going to start to demonstrate a long-held interest in real estate and redevelop his neighborhood. Hussle lived out that ethos in its best sense.
That’s why I’ve always found black Americans’ demand for authenticity - to “be real” - so refreshing. My fellow whites are instructed to “play the game” in order to advance up the corporate ladder, but I will say, when you act phony to support your lifestyle, you can easily become phony as a person. Latinos pick up a blue-collar work ethic that serves them well in the trades.
Nipsey hussle double up meaning skin#
I get that we’re supposed to be enlightened and say, “race is a social construct,” but everyone knows there are cultural characteristics associated with your skin color.įor East and Southeast Asians, it’s an intense pursuit of educational achievement. And it’s a quirk that can only be fixed from the inside. Unfortunately, the rapper became a victim of realness’s double-meaning that is pervasive in black America, a linguistic defect that has deadly consequences. To put it bluntly, Hussle was “real.” It was a word repeatedly used in tributes to him following his death in March 2019, especially from fellow rappers like Drake and 21 Savage.
But it was his activism in his native Crenshaw neighborhood that made him an icon. I was saddened to find it was fenced off - the product of years of “ activity ,” as vendors in a makeshift market outside the fence put it, a theme dating back to when Hussle was alive.īorn Ermias Asghedom, Hussle’s Eritrean roots made him a star among the relatively new American immigrant group. I just know everybody is hurting.Traveling to Los Angeles the other week, I went to see The Marathon Clothing store at Slauson Plaza, the crown jewel of slain rapper Nipsey Hussle’s budding business empire. He had just reached out to me for a record a month before, I was like, “Let me know, I’ll knock it out instantly!” I don’t really look up to people but his message, who he was as a human being, really captivates me. I was in the Bay, but I could feel everybody, I could feel all my friends, I could feel the family. Were you in Los Angeles when Nipsey Hussle passed? A lot of people, I’ll give you a playlist! Which artists are you currently listening to right now? I wanna get back into doing that, it feels good to be making music again. One day I’ll show her, “Look you were in my tummy, you’re the real star of the show.”Įverything! Albums, projects, singles, songs. She’s really a superstar because she was in all those videos we shot for the project.
We had to get it done!ĭoes your daughter, Adeya, know that you’re famous? I think I had announced, but the hard part was I was just breathing heavy, walking through some snow. Then seeing this cute little tiny baby bump peeking through and taking a little woman note in my head like, “Congratulations girl!” That was cute.ĭidn’t you have a similar experience on the set of your “Nunya” video with Dom Kennedy? Kind of having the idea that she was pregnant - but not knowing. What was the best memory from the “Ring” video shoot? Shoutout to Nija, who wrote the hook on the record, she’s super important to the song. How does it feel to be honored alongside Cardi? are not just going to be cool with being behind-the-scenes, a lot of them are ready. What’s the hardest thing from transitioning from songwriter to artist?īeing taken seriously.