One Year Later and A Lifetime To Go: The Marathon Will Always Continue.

By Jae Havana | March 31, 2020

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Los Angeles, CA – On March 31st 2019 the hip-hop community lost one of our own. Grammy Nominated recording artist Nipsey Hussle was shot and killed in front of his clothing store “The Marathon Clothing”.

Initially, this article was intended to be released days after the death of Nipsey Hussle. However due to personal reasons, I held back from releasing it. To be honest… at that time, this didn’t feel right. It hit too close to home. Fast forward a year later, I re-evaluated the article I originally wrote and felt it still wasn’t good enough. So, I went back to the drawing board focused to tell the story of his legacy and some of the seeds he planted throughout his career. Through his music, interviews, businesses and through the people he inspired… his flowers have blossomed.

June 20, 2015. On this day I attended my first boxing match. It was Andre Ward vs Paul Smith @ the Oracle Arena in Oakland, CA, it was Andre’s first fight in almost 2 years. This was a special night as Roc Nation put on an incredible event. Sway held down hosting duties and Nipsey rocked the ring prior to the main event. I remember feeling the energy increase as Nipsey continued to bless the mic. His energy set the stage for what ended up being a night I’ll never forget. After his performance, the crowd embraced Nipsey with a standing ovation and cheered him as he stepped between the ropes and out of the ring. Andre Ward might of secured the victory in front of his home town that night, but Nipsey Hussle also brought home a W.

I’ll always remember Nipsey in that moment. Although I never had a chance to personally meet him, I’m honored to have caught a performance of his, one that I’ll never forget.

April 2nd 2019 – It’s been two days since Nipsey passed. The amount of love from his friends and supporters has been tremendous. While most of us are still in shock, reality is starting to set in. It’s hard to express how sad and sickening the day we lost Nipsey was. We’re hurt to lose one of our own in Nipsey, and angry at this other person who committed such a horrible act of violence. At the end of the day the people who suffer the most are his children and the family who morn his loss.

So where do we go from here? How can we grow as a community? How can we grow as individuals? How can we prevent something like this from happening again?

So many questions… But are we willing to put in the work to turn these questions into answers?

Nipsey planted seeds in the community and not just by talking about it. He invested back into his community and supported the people in it by providing them with opportunities. Opportunities to grow.

Days after Nipsey’s death Chuck Dizzle of Home Grown Radio & Real 92.3 took some time and shared some words about Nipsey.

“The Marathon symbolizes perseverance and the mindset of being in it for the long haul. It’s no different than someone who trains for a cross county run vs a 100 yard dash. Nipsey’s ability to command respect is what stood out most for me. He had the ability to make a personal connection with an individual even in the most public setting. We can continue the marathon by applying the knowledge he dropped; whether music or interviews dude was extremely intelligent. Set goals, paying attention to detail, do the necessary research and execute. Better yet…Hustle!” – Chuck Dizzle | Home Grown Radio | Real 92.3

Back in 2017, Chuck Dizzle along with DJ HED of Home Grown Radio had the opportunity to sit down with Nipsey a few months before the release of his highly anticipated debut album VICTORY LAP. A very dope interview that touches on different topics such as Father Hood, Business, specifically building a brand.

“One of the best pieces of advice I got was from Big Bob. Who told me don’t ever look at yourself as a rap star. You will confuse yourself, [because] there’s no definitive rules. If you look at yourself as a brand, there’s rules. There’s rules to creating a power brand. If you follow the rules your brand becomes powerful, and if you don’t you brand loses power.” – Nipsey Hussle (Home Grown Radio Interview)

Identifying and marketing himself as a brand was something Nipsey learned about very early in his career. In an interview with Reggie Osse aka Combat Jack back on December 2nd 2013, Nipsey along with Karen Civil were guests on The Combat Jack Show. In this episode Nipsey spoke about how a book titled “Contagious: Why Things Catch On Fire” by Author Jonah Berger played an inspirational role in the marketing/release of his album Crenshaw.

The story goes; a restaurant in Philadelphia, PA called “Barclay Prime” wanted to get the buzz about their new Cheesesteak out to the public. So as part of their marketing campaign they charged $100 for the Cheesesteak. Although there were other examples in the book, this was the one that really stood out to Nipsey.

“I mean for one I just thought it was a dope idea… Immediately, I put the book down and was like damn that’s crazy! That was one (example) that really stood out to me. When I was thinking about the days and weeks leading up to the release of my project. I was just thinking about ways that we can… I believe we are in a guerrilla era it’s all type of guerrilla tactics we can take… Kanye was putting videos on the wall that was bigger than any single off that album.. Jay did some scavenger hunt with his book when he put his book out (the Easter Eggs)… I think that is the era we living in where we can be creative and for minimal overhead we could do some dope shit.”- Nipsey Hussle (The Combat Jack Show)

Nipsey went on to sell his project; Crenshaw for $100 per CD. One of his biggest supporters you might ask? JAY Z. In an article written by Rob Markman for MTV he wrote:

On Tuesday Nipsey posted a screenshot of the wire transfer between he and the superstar MC on Instagram with a caption that read: “N—as be like ‘who gone spend $100 on a cd’ I be like…”

The pic didn’t specify how much Hov actually sent over, but did list his “S Carter Enterprises” in a field labeled “Customer Name.”

On Wednesday (October 9), a photo of 100 copies of Crenshaw was posted to Jay Z’s Life and Times site, suggesting that Jigga dropped a whopping $10,000 in support of Nipsey.

Photo of Nipsey Hussle’s “Crenshaw” Album // Posted to Jay Z’s Life and Times site

One of the underlying factors that I wanted to showcase with this article is how Nipsey’s legacy has left a long lasting impression on the life of people who knew him and others who never had the opportunity to do so. The seeds of wisdom that Nipsey left behind have influenced people from different walks of life, and who are in different stages of their careers.

joMi an artist that has been featured here at CrazyHood.com, never had the opportunity to meet Nip. Regardless, joMi used those seeds of wisdom and watered them. And has personally seen his art and business grow.

“My introduction with Nipsey was a bit unconventional. I became a fan of his interviews and business mindset/insight first before even listening to any of his records.” joMi continues; “I first heard Nipsey’s voice officially in 2013 on a “Sway In The Morning” interview where he discussed how he was selling his mixtape for $100 a pop and how Jay-Z had copped 100 copies. I thought it was genius. I then began going out of my way to listen to any OTHER interviews he had out just on the basis of how sharp his mind was in regards to branding and business moves. I remember literally binge watching ANY Nip interview I could get my hands on from that moment moving forward. He inspired me to move differently in relation to the “independent” grind and how to think outside the box. Eventually I started listening to his actual music after the absorption and consumption of interviews. Musically, what I appreciate the most apart from the business gems within the lyrics, is the production and beat selection he goes with. I understand the difficulty of crafting a unique sound within the production, and I believe that his ear was impeccable.” – joMi

Power Brand: The Marathon Clothing and Store are great examples of how powerful Nipsey’s brand has become. Opening in 2017 the store is considered a “smart” store. With the help of software engineer Iddris Sandu, Nipsey incorporated technology within the brick and mortar. And through the “TMC Smart Store App” it allows customers to interact with the store or items purchased from the store, by giving customers access to exclusive content from Nip. In 2017, CNBC‘s Falyn Page interviewed Iddris Sandu and commended him and The Marathon Store for “bridging the gap between culture and technology”.

Nipsey unfortuantely didn’t get to see the release of TMC’s collaboration with Puma. However, before his death Nip was integral in the design of the collection. The PUMA X TMC Collection featured a variety of sweatsuits, shirts, hoodies, shoes etc. The collaboration also brought Nipsey together with one of his biggest supporters, JAY Z, who is the Creative Director at Puma.

Nipsey Hussle’s life was cut short on March 31st 2019. Although his legacy will live forever, it’s not the same. Nipsey was full of life & wisdom and obtained a vision that seen far beyond 2020.

Nipsey was 33 years old and is survived by his two children and his girlfriend Lauren London. Here at CrazyHood.com we would like to express our condolences to his family and friends.

BONUS CONTENT

In his memory here’s a video of Nipsey Hussle when he first performed in Miami, FL. This performance took place almost 9 years ago, as the event was held at White Room in downtown Miami. Hip Hop Recording Artists Garcia, Ghostwridah and Lunch Money also performed.

From the Grammy Nominated album VICTORY LAP here are some of Nipsey‘s latests videos, including the Grammy Award Winning Song RACKS IN THE MIDDLE.