After over a year of waiting, we’ve gotten a consecutive project from the Crip Nipsey Hussle. After taking a few years of hiatus to deal with his life issues, we received the first $100.00 project ever titled Crenshaw, which made it on our list of one of the best mixtapes of 2013. Now we receive the $1,000.00 album Mailbox Money. After fans of music and critics reacted to the price of Crenshaw, Nipsey broke records when people thought he was a fool. The idea stemmed from a book he read by Jonah Berger titled Contagious: How Things Catch On in which he sold cheese steak’s for the same price. Fans and supporters bought both of the products because of the quality of the product. There are other’s that believe this is still blasphemous, but success was inevitable for both of the manufacturers. Contributors came from everywhere, even the top of the totem pole. Jay Z purchased 100 copies of Crenshaw which amounted to $10,000.00. Nip sought to out do his self this year with the release of Mailbox Money and he succeeded yet again. Now $1,000.00 is a lot of money to pay for one body of music but it is also offered for $12.00 and for free from multiple well-known mixtape sites. Nipsey Hussle has made history as an artist to own his masters and not even have to go through a major company to sign a deal. Regardless of the price or whether or not you are a fan of the his music, you have to respect his hustle and his grind.
Mailbox Money kicks off with “Killa” (emphasis on the spelling due to a prior track with Nipsey Hussle and Drake titled “Killer”). A phenomenal intro, as a huge fan of his, Nip gets ready to tell you a story from Crenshaw as he sits in his Benz smoking killa (weed) with his air conditioning on and his windows cracked. Life in South Central has been nothing but a war zone in his life whether it was with rival gang members, the cops, or life in general. Further into the song he lets listeners know how appreciative and grateful of the success he has accumulated sitting in first class doing things that he didn’t think he would be doing.
“That’s How I Knew” is a motivational track and very inspiring with even a recording of him speaking on how he views certain treasures. This track is about believing and standing by your dreams or goals with conviction. Nip put his mind to it and used the internet & media as a platform to circulate his media (as many other artists have done and are currently doing). Not only squeezing his fruits, he believed in the music he was creating aside from the unsubstantial trash that has been populating the industry titled “rap & hip-hop.” Though there are tracks that have deep meaning don’t forget, Nip Hussle is an OG from the Rolling 60’s Crip gang from Los Angeles. With that being said, “Where Yo Money At” is a track to ride out to that can definitely be considered a hood classic. If you don’t enjoy street tracks from time to time then this track is probably not for you, especially if you do not like Dj Mustard and his use of the electric Bass. “Where Yo Money At” makes you feel like you want to get up, get out and go hustle (whatever that hustle may be) to get more money.
While fans are waiting for Victory Lap, what seems to be like his own version of Dr. Dre’s alleged album Detox, this has definitely been a great project to hold fans off with our own impatience. Mailbox Money is definitely another collective to add to the West Coast’s regime of being on top of Hip-Hop. Though you may not be a fan of Nipsey Hussle, a lot of artists respect him, his grind and his team for what they have done for the culture and the game. Along with the respect, his features on other people’s tracks has dramatically increased. He has made appearances on T.I.’s latest album, tracks with Wale, Rick Ross and more so it’s hard to believe if someone hasn’t even liked a verse of his with his cameos from well respected artists in the game. Nipsey has even worked with 9th Wonder and Rapsody, for fans that are less into commercial rap and more into the underground scene. If you haven’t listened to Nipsey Hussle before I recommend his last project Crenshaw or any of the Marathon series to build up to this since it his not his greatest body of work. If you choose to start here you do not have to pay $1,000.00 or even $12.00, it is offered for free on hotnewhiphop, datpiff, and livemixtapes. Enjoy!
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