'Victory Lap,' even the title. It's the accumulation of trial and error; that's what I represent; trial and error.
— Nipsey Hussle
I actually met The Game in my hood on Crenshaw and Slauson. I was outside on the block with 20 of my homies. I see the Range Rover, and we all walked up to his car. I handed him my CD.
As is the case with most people in this game, I am driven by financial motives and creative motives; the question I had to answer is which motive I will give priority to?
Compton got such a legacy in hip-hop.
My experience with power, you can maintain it, or you get it taken from you. You get you some newfound power and go crazy, and it get taken from you quick.
Material things ain't nothing. You feel me? At the end of the day, it's who you is. You wasn't born with it; you gon' die without it.
I hope my story inspires everyone out there to keep hustling and chasing their dreams.
It's not called quitting if you quit while you ahead. It's about being aware and being strategic enough to know that you got to get out the pool at some point. You got to put your clothes back on and dry off.
I really love the culture of hip-hop.
I would say that the Nipsey Hussle 'Crenshaw' release was an example of All Money In creating an artificial scarcity campaign for the physical side of 'Crenshaw.'
I seen a lot of artists be hot for a minute, and then that's it, and somebody else come in.
I was never ignorant, as far as being experienced in classrooms and learning about different subjects and actually soaking it up, so I checked into college for a little bit. I took classes at a community college in West L.A. I took psychology, English, and philosophy.
I think Ye is important to hip-hop.
I like Cardi B!
The reason children accept discipline from their parents is because they know their parents love them.
I say that in the most humble way: I always knew that I could perform with the best of 'em and I could deliver with the best of 'em.
Not one person can make or break what I'm doing, except me or God.
From the beginning of my rap career, since I was seen and heard, I always had a store.
Proud 2 Pay - that's something that distinguishes me, that's something that defines me, and we're going to keep that going.
My career as Nipsey Hussle is based on my life as Ermias Asghedom.
My music is influenced by L.A. culture.
I went through every emotion with tryna pursue what I'm doing, you know what I mean? And I think what's gon' separate whoever's gon go for something, that you ain't gon' quit.
We was able to become real successful in the mixtape space.
As an artist, as a brand, as a rapper, as a musician, you know you got a window and a lot of people, even an athlete; they don't have no exit strategy. It's just living in the false reality that it's going to be like this forever.
Doing music to pay bills is an uncomfortable situation. I never wanted to be in that situation.
I'm not in it for fame. I've been famous in the streets already.
I think that every artist - or anybody that's in business - could benefit from a direct-to-consumer strategy, so I think that that applies to us as artists and content creators, too.
We don't want to wait on someone to hire us and give us a check. We want to create our own opportunities.
My mom is American, so I was raised in her household in my formative years.
I really am a fan of Ye's music.
It's important to love in hip hop.
One of my mentors schooled me on branding before it was a cliche term in the game.
I will never say something I don't agree with or believe in... even if the reward is massive!
I think everybody's trying to get to a place in themselves where they conquer what they was afraid of; they achieve some of their life goals, kept their word about what they were trying to do.
Game's always been open arms with me.
I always wanted to operate at the highest altitude, just in terms of hip-hop and the music.
'Victory' is like, you won, so the question is, what? What did you win? I think that the songs go into that. It's just about reaching a place in myself.
L.A. hip-hop is so different; it's so diverse. Out here, it's, like, funk-inspired; it's, like, '70s-skating-rink-inspired at times. It's Zapp-and-Roger-inspired; it's house-party-era-inspired.
We represent a hustler. I think we represent inspiration. I think we represent, you know, staying down. I think we represent building yourself up from the bootstraps.
I don't ever make moves under pressure.
I got an album concept called 'Exit Strategy,' that might be one of my last ones. It's a term they use in business when you build companies. You create an exit strategy as you make a company. You don't wait till you're five years in it; you create a exit strategy as you make the company.
I'm touring the world, not doing nothing against the law, getting money to feed my family. I got employees that have felonies, and they can't get jobs. They work for me.
My life is real.
Any time a country transitioned to a fiat currency, they collapsed. That's just world history; you don't have to know about cryptocurrency to know that.
When I first stopped going to high school, I was about 15, 16. It had to be, like, 2000, 2001.
As an entrepreneur, as an investor, I'm trying to be as educated as I can to where the progression of technological capability is going and what it does to these different categories that, me as an artist and an influencer, I can get involved and bring value.
Anybody that doesn't like Cardi B a hater!
If you're going to write about rap music and hip-hop, and you don't love it, then we don't need your opinion, and we revoke your opinion.
I'm at peace with what I'm doing, I feel good with what I wake up doing and about my lifestyle.
Premature certainty is the enemy of the truth.