Los Angeles is hot right now because of guys like Nipsey Hussle who have made the whole game pay attention to him. Since 2011, Nipsey Hussle has remained out of the forefront, for the most part. Nipsey Hussle made his return to the spotlight when he released Crenshaw.
An all-original mixtape, Nipsey Hussle teamed up with DJ Drama for the release of the mixtape. In addition to having it available for a free download, Nipsey Hussle also pressed up 1,000 copies of the mixtape to sell. Each copy of the mixtape was sold and there were even 100 copies purchased by Jay-Z.
Nipsey Hussle has made his rounds with the media since Crenshaw was released and he talked to Complex. He addressed being on their most-disappointing list and the way they treat him. After getting into it with the interviewer, Nipsey Hussle said he will release Victory Lap as an album and the “Rap Niggas” single is coming soon.
Read the excerpt from the interview below:
You were planning to drop Victory Lap first, right? So now that’s gonna be an album instead?
Yeah. I’ma tell you about that. I was in negotiations with a few major labels and we were almost close to a deal. So I started promoting Victory Lap as a mixtape before my album, because I was gonna drop Victory Lap,announce my deal, and go into the album; but I realized that the structure of these companies aren’t built to give me any type of ownership. They wanna give you a check. I told them keep the check, give me an asset and just market and distribute my shit. I don’t need a check. They wanted to give me all this money up front but I’m like, keep the money. Let me be involved as a partner. And niggas couldn’t do that. And it’s not because the people at the label didn’t want to help me. It’s because the corporate structure of their companies would not allow ownership. And I’m offended by that. I called an audible and I withstood social pressure. I believed in my heart that I would be less of a man to not stand up for what I believed in. I felt like it was racist. Like, I don’t deserve some shit I just built by myself? You want to give me some money? Oh, because you don’t think I know what the asset is? You think I don’t understand where the real value is? Well I’m offended by that and my goal changed. I didn’t do a press release or tell nobody about it. I just let my demonstration speak. And now they’ve seen the first part of it with the Crenshaw shit. That’s just a small piece of what my plan is.
When can we expect Victory Lap?
It’ll be the next project I release. The first single is ready, it’s called “Rap Niggas.” That’s coming soon. That’s really the most concrete information I have right now. I don’t wanna give out information that the fans hold onto, and get let down. So I’ma leave it at that. Completely independent and it’ll be under the Fuck the Middleman pay model.
