WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:02.319 So if you open up a browser right now and Google 00:00:02.319 --> 00:00:04.839 our subject for today, you're going to see two 00:00:04.839 --> 00:00:07.219 things almost immediately. Right. You'll see 00:00:07.219 --> 00:00:09.919 Grammy winning rapper and you'll see a date, 00:00:10.000 --> 00:00:13.699 March 31st, 2019. The day he was murdered. The 00:00:13.699 --> 00:00:17.519 day he was murdered. And it's, it's kind of sad, 00:00:17.739 --> 00:00:19.660 really. It is because in the public consciousness, 00:00:19.820 --> 00:00:24.719 that tragedy, it just, it often eclipses. The 00:00:24.719 --> 00:00:27.620 biography, the headline just completely swallows 00:00:27.620 --> 00:00:30.620 the human being. Exactly. And, you know, if we 00:00:30.620 --> 00:00:32.820 just focused on the music or the crime scene, 00:00:32.920 --> 00:00:34.740 we'd basically be doing a standard true crime 00:00:34.740 --> 00:00:37.039 episode or maybe like a greatest hits review. 00:00:37.159 --> 00:00:39.579 Sure. Yeah. But that is not the mission of this 00:00:39.579 --> 00:00:42.840 deep dive. Not at all. We are looking at Nipsey 00:00:42.840 --> 00:00:46.880 Hussle, born. Vermeer's Ask Herdom as a very 00:00:46.880 --> 00:00:49.560 specific kind of case study. We aren't just talking 00:00:49.560 --> 00:00:51.340 about hip hop here. We are talking about, I mean, 00:00:51.359 --> 00:00:53.880 radical entrepreneurship. It really is. It's 00:00:53.880 --> 00:00:56.140 a masterclass in vertical integration, if you 00:00:56.140 --> 00:00:57.859 want to get technical about it. Vertical integration. 00:00:58.280 --> 00:01:01.060 Explain that. Well, most people don't realize 00:01:01.060 --> 00:01:04.040 that while Nipsey was rapping, he was actually 00:01:04.040 --> 00:01:06.519 building a circular economy in South Central 00:01:06.519 --> 00:01:10.060 Los Angeles. A circular economy. Yeah. I mean, 00:01:10.079 --> 00:01:11.620 he didn't just want to get rich out of the hood. 00:01:11.760 --> 00:01:15.040 His whole plan, his whole vision. was to buy 00:01:15.040 --> 00:01:17.659 the hood so the wealth stayed there. And that's 00:01:17.659 --> 00:01:20.000 the marathon concept we keep hearing about, right? 00:01:20.079 --> 00:01:22.040 This is the one. You see, the marathon continues 00:01:22.040 --> 00:01:25.140 everywhere. T -shirts, hashtags, murals. All 00:01:25.140 --> 00:01:27.200 over the place. But it feels like for him it 00:01:27.200 --> 00:01:29.799 was, I don't know, it was more than just a marketing 00:01:29.799 --> 00:01:32.299 slogan. Oh, it was a business strategy. A deeply 00:01:32.299 --> 00:01:34.500 counterintuitive business strategy. I think so. 00:01:34.920 --> 00:01:36.939 Well, think about the world we live in. It's 00:01:36.939 --> 00:01:39.359 obsessed with viral hits, right? 15 seconds of 00:01:39.359 --> 00:01:41.620 fame on TikTok, quick cash. Get in, get out. 00:01:41.879 --> 00:01:44.319 Exactly. Nipsey was playing a 10 -year game, 00:01:44.459 --> 00:01:47.980 a game of endurance. He was betting on slow dimes 00:01:47.980 --> 00:01:50.939 over fast nickels. Slow dimes over fast nickels. 00:01:50.939 --> 00:01:53.920 I like that. The whole premise is that you endure 00:01:53.920 --> 00:01:56.659 the struggle of the short term. You put in the 00:01:56.659 --> 00:01:59.819 work now to secure long -term sovereignty later. 00:02:00.299 --> 00:02:02.799 And we are going to get into the nuts and bolts 00:02:02.799 --> 00:02:05.260 of that. Like, we really need to explain the 00:02:05.260 --> 00:02:08.259 economics of how you convince people to pay $100 00:02:08.259 --> 00:02:10.919 for a mixtape they could just get for free. It's 00:02:10.919 --> 00:02:13.219 genius when you break it down. We'll get there. 00:02:13.379 --> 00:02:17.050 But first... We need to set the scene. We have 00:02:17.050 --> 00:02:19.150 to ground this in geography because you just 00:02:19.150 --> 00:02:22.210 cannot understand Nipsey Hussle without understanding 00:02:22.210 --> 00:02:25.330 the Crenshaw district. No, it's impossible. Specifically 00:02:25.330 --> 00:02:28.550 that one intersection, Slauson and Crenshaw. 00:02:28.610 --> 00:02:31.669 That intersection is, it's the stage for his 00:02:31.669 --> 00:02:34.469 entire life. It's almost Shakespearean, really. 00:02:34.919 --> 00:02:37.020 How do you mean? The duality of his existence 00:02:37.020 --> 00:02:39.780 played out right there on those corners. On one 00:02:39.780 --> 00:02:42.939 side, you have the D Street ties, the gang culture, 00:02:43.060 --> 00:02:45.759 the Roland 60s. Right. On the other side, strictly 00:02:45.759 --> 00:02:49.060 business, a corporate vision. He wasn't trying 00:02:49.060 --> 00:02:51.020 to escape that neighborhood. He was actively 00:02:51.020 --> 00:02:53.840 trying to own the deed to it. So let's start 00:02:53.840 --> 00:02:56.650 at the very beginning, the origins. Because even 00:02:56.650 --> 00:02:59.129 the name Nipsey Hussle tells a story, doesn't 00:02:59.129 --> 00:03:01.330 it? It really does. He was born Aramis Joseph 00:03:01.330 --> 00:03:05.770 Askewdom on August 15th, 1985. But he didn't 00:03:05.770 --> 00:03:08.550 give himself that nickname, did he? No. And it's 00:03:08.550 --> 00:03:10.449 actually a bit of a throwback reference that 00:03:10.449 --> 00:03:13.789 I love. The name Nipsey Hussle is a play on Nipsey 00:03:13.789 --> 00:03:16.539 Russell. Wait, Nipsey Russell? Uh -huh. The comedian, 00:03:16.759 --> 00:03:18.740 the guy from the game shows in the 70s with the 00:03:18.740 --> 00:03:21.159 little poem. The very same. A childhood friend 00:03:21.159 --> 00:03:23.479 gave him the name. Okay, that's wild. But here 00:03:23.479 --> 00:03:25.939 is the interesting part. It wasn't because Ermias 00:03:25.939 --> 00:03:28.039 was, you know, cracking jokes all the time. So 00:03:28.039 --> 00:03:31.699 why then? It was because the friend admired his 00:03:31.699 --> 00:03:34.919 work ethic. He was always on the grind. He was 00:03:34.919 --> 00:03:38.590 always hustling. In the most literal, fundamental 00:03:38.590 --> 00:03:40.789 sense of the word. And that hustle started early. 00:03:41.009 --> 00:03:42.889 I mean, we always hear rappers talk about the 00:03:42.889 --> 00:03:45.909 grind, but there is this one detail in the research 00:03:45.909 --> 00:03:48.469 about him shining shoes at age 11 that just, 00:03:48.490 --> 00:03:51.430 it hits different. It's the sheer volume that's 00:03:51.430 --> 00:03:54.550 impressive. Yeah. At 11 years old, his goal wasn't 00:03:54.550 --> 00:03:57.129 just to shine a few pairs here and there. He 00:03:57.129 --> 00:04:00.330 set a quota for himself. 100 pairs a day? 100 00:04:00.330 --> 00:04:04.210 pairs of shoes a day. He charged $2 .50 a pair. 00:04:04.620 --> 00:04:08.020 Okay, let me do the quick math here. That's $250 00:04:08.020 --> 00:04:12.300 a day for an 11 -year -old. In the mid -90s, 00:04:12.300 --> 00:04:15.620 that is serious money. It is. But forget the 00:04:15.620 --> 00:04:17.639 money for a second. Think about the psychological 00:04:17.639 --> 00:04:21.620 discipline required to hit 100 transactions in 00:04:21.620 --> 00:04:23.959 a single day. You're right. You have to handle 00:04:23.959 --> 00:04:25.540 rejection. You have to be charismatic. You have 00:04:25.540 --> 00:04:27.579 to be fast. You have to manage your time. And 00:04:27.579 --> 00:04:29.420 he was doing all of this, according to the sources, 00:04:29.600 --> 00:04:32.360 to pay for his own school clothes. Not for video 00:04:32.360 --> 00:04:35.170 games or candy. For necessity. Exactly. It just 00:04:35.170 --> 00:04:37.709 foreshadows everything that comes later. He understood 00:04:37.709 --> 00:04:40.629 volume and he understood service from the jump. 00:04:40.769 --> 00:04:42.949 It definitely sets the stage for that whole marathon 00:04:42.949 --> 00:04:45.769 mentality. But we also need to look at his heritage 00:04:45.769 --> 00:04:48.449 because that adds this really unique layer to 00:04:48.449 --> 00:04:50.949 his identity that a lot of his peers just didn't 00:04:50.949 --> 00:04:54.050 have. He was raised by his mother, Angelique 00:04:54.050 --> 00:04:56.629 Smith, who is African -American, and his father, 00:04:56.769 --> 00:04:59.970 Dawoud Askadam, who is Eritrean. That bicultural 00:04:59.970 --> 00:05:02.350 background is absolutely essential to understanding 00:05:02.350 --> 00:05:05.279 him. his father came to los angeles from eritrea 00:05:05.279 --> 00:05:09.019 back in the 1970s fleeing conflict so nipsey 00:05:09.019 --> 00:05:11.300 was raised with this awareness of a bigger world 00:05:11.300 --> 00:05:15.199 a world outside of south central and There's 00:05:15.199 --> 00:05:17.439 a specific pivot point in his life that I think 00:05:17.439 --> 00:05:19.680 the material suggests it defined his future more 00:05:19.680 --> 00:05:21.740 than almost anything else. Oh, absolutely. You're 00:05:21.740 --> 00:05:23.120 talking about the trip he took when he was 19. 00:05:23.339 --> 00:05:27.079 Exactly. In 2004, when Nipsey was 19, his father 00:05:27.079 --> 00:05:29.560 took him and his brother Samuel. Who everyone 00:05:29.560 --> 00:05:31.980 knows as Black Sam. Right, Black Sam. He took 00:05:31.980 --> 00:05:34.439 them on a trip to Eritrea. And this wasn't, you 00:05:34.439 --> 00:05:36.560 know, a week -long resort stay. They were there 00:05:36.560 --> 00:05:39.000 for three months. Three months. Can you imagine? 00:05:39.399 --> 00:05:42.319 As a teenager from South Central L .A. That's 00:05:42.319 --> 00:05:45.019 a lifetime. It's a massive culture shock. It 00:05:45.019 --> 00:05:47.740 was, but in the most positive way imaginable. 00:05:48.079 --> 00:05:51.459 Nipsey explicitly credited this trip with sparking 00:05:51.459 --> 00:05:54.019 his entrepreneurial spirit. So what did he see 00:05:54.019 --> 00:05:56.339 there that changed him? Well, you have to understand, 00:05:56.420 --> 00:05:58.439 he was coming from a place where the narrative 00:05:58.439 --> 00:06:01.040 for young black men was often very limited. Yeah. 00:06:01.079 --> 00:06:03.540 You know, gangs, sports, or music. That was kind 00:06:03.540 --> 00:06:05.980 of it. The typical paths out. Right. Then he 00:06:05.980 --> 00:06:08.740 goes to Eritrea. And he sees people who look 00:06:08.740 --> 00:06:10.379 just like him running the government, running 00:06:10.379 --> 00:06:12.420 the banks, owning the businesses, patrolling 00:06:12.420 --> 00:06:16.060 the streets as police. He saw complete self -determination. 00:06:16.199 --> 00:06:18.519 That breaks the conditioning, doesn't it? Completely. 00:06:18.620 --> 00:06:22.019 He saw black autonomy in action. He saw a community 00:06:22.019 --> 00:06:24.379 structure that wasn't based on oppression or 00:06:24.379 --> 00:06:27.180 reacting to an outside force. He came back to 00:06:27.180 --> 00:06:29.800 L .A. with totally different wiring. The perspective 00:06:29.800 --> 00:06:32.980 shift must have been huge. He realized, wait 00:06:32.980 --> 00:06:35.220 a minute. We don't just have to survive the hood. 00:06:35.319 --> 00:06:38.139 We can organize it. We can own it. But he came 00:06:38.139 --> 00:06:42.240 back to a very specific and a very harsh reality 00:06:42.240 --> 00:06:44.560 in LA. We have to be real about the environment 00:06:44.560 --> 00:06:47.180 he was in. Oh, yeah. At age 14, this was before 00:06:47.180 --> 00:06:49.579 the trip, he had left home and joined the Roland 00:06:49.579 --> 00:06:52.279 60s neighborhood Crips. That was his reality. 00:06:52.519 --> 00:06:54.839 He was. But even while he was in that life, the 00:06:54.839 --> 00:06:56.899 records show he was exploring other avenues. 00:06:56.959 --> 00:06:59.240 He was always looking for another hustle. Right. 00:06:59.300 --> 00:07:01.019 And this is the duality we were talking about. 00:07:01.079 --> 00:07:05.060 In 2002, at age 17, he joined a group called 00:07:05.060 --> 00:07:07.839 Buttervision. Buttervision? What was that? It 00:07:07.839 --> 00:07:10.759 was described as a creative multimedia digital 00:07:10.759 --> 00:07:13.040 guerrilla movement. He was involved in making 00:07:13.040 --> 00:07:15.759 DVDs, stuff like Beats and Baves, for one. Which, 00:07:15.879 --> 00:07:18.819 titles aside, it shows he was already thinking 00:07:18.819 --> 00:07:22.600 about product. About media. Exactly. He wasn't 00:07:22.600 --> 00:07:24.680 just thinking about wrapping a verse. He was 00:07:24.680 --> 00:07:26.779 thinking about the whole package. Production, 00:07:26.980 --> 00:07:30.259 distribution, the physical media itself. And 00:07:30.259 --> 00:07:33.240 that's when he recorded his first mixtape, Slauson 00:07:33.240 --> 00:07:36.079 Boy Vol. 1. And the context of how he sold that 00:07:36.079 --> 00:07:39.620 music is just iconic. He was selling these mixtapes. 00:07:40.000 --> 00:07:41.879 Out of the trunk of his car. At a strip mall. 00:07:42.300 --> 00:07:44.439 At the intersection of Slauson and Crenshaw, 00:07:44.540 --> 00:07:46.839 the very same strip mall that plays such a huge 00:07:46.839 --> 00:07:49.079 role later in the story. I mean, you couldn't 00:07:49.079 --> 00:07:51.079 write a better narrative arc. Standing in a parking 00:07:51.079 --> 00:07:53.459 lot, selling CDs out of a trunk, probably getting 00:07:53.459 --> 00:07:55.519 shooed away by security or police. For sure. 00:07:55.680 --> 00:07:58.120 To eventually buying the concrete underneath 00:07:58.120 --> 00:07:59.800 your feet so that nobody can ever move you again. 00:07:59.920 --> 00:08:01.939 That's the whole story right there. Yeah. So 00:08:01.939 --> 00:08:04.500 let's move into that business evolution. Because 00:08:04.500 --> 00:08:08.610 Nipsey... He defied the industry norms from pretty 00:08:08.610 --> 00:08:10.750 early on. He did the major label thing for a 00:08:10.750 --> 00:08:13.069 hot minute, right? He did. He signed to Epic 00:08:13.069 --> 00:08:15.850 Records, and he had some real momentum, you know? 00:08:16.149 --> 00:08:19.470 The Bullets Ain't Got No Name tape series had 00:08:19.470 --> 00:08:21.810 built up a serious regional buzz. He was getting 00:08:21.810 --> 00:08:24.129 known. Yeah, he collaborated with Drake on a 00:08:24.129 --> 00:08:27.529 song called Killer way back in 2009. He was on 00:08:27.529 --> 00:08:30.160 Snoop Dogg's album. malice in wonderland and 00:08:30.160 --> 00:08:33.559 he got that xxl cover that's right xxl magazine 00:08:33.559 --> 00:08:35.879 even named him one of their freshman top 10 in 00:08:35.879 --> 00:08:39.580 2010 they labeled him most determined most determined 00:08:39.580 --> 00:08:42.820 wow that feels almost prophetic looking back 00:08:42.820 --> 00:08:45.960 it really does but then the classic industry 00:08:45.960 --> 00:08:49.360 story happened epic records experienced financial 00:08:49.360 --> 00:08:53.200 issues in 2010 and you know usually when a label 00:08:53.200 --> 00:08:56.039 has money trouble the artists get stuck in limbo 00:08:56.509 --> 00:08:58.570 You get shelved. You can't release music, but 00:08:58.570 --> 00:09:00.570 you can't leave either. It's career purgatory. 00:09:00.730 --> 00:09:03.049 It kills careers. It's happened to so many great 00:09:03.049 --> 00:09:05.450 artists. So what did Nipsey do? He didn't wait 00:09:05.450 --> 00:09:07.789 around. He didn't let them decide his fate. He 00:09:07.789 --> 00:09:10.110 opted not to renew his contract. He just walked 00:09:10.110 --> 00:09:12.470 away. And that's the birth of All Money In. That's 00:09:12.470 --> 00:09:14.169 where he founded his own record label, All Money 00:09:14.169 --> 00:09:17.149 In. All Money In. No middleman. But I mean, going 00:09:17.149 --> 00:09:19.389 independent is scary. It's gotta be. You lose 00:09:19.389 --> 00:09:21.950 that big machine behind you, the radio pluggers, 00:09:21.950 --> 00:09:25.480 the marketing budget. Everything. It is scary, 00:09:25.600 --> 00:09:28.000 but Nipsey turned it into a strength. He actually 00:09:28.000 --> 00:09:30.519 refused to sign major deals later on. Really? 00:09:30.700 --> 00:09:33.100 Yeah, even when big names came calling. The sources 00:09:33.100 --> 00:09:35.620 mentioned Rick Ross' Maybach Music Group wanted 00:09:35.620 --> 00:09:39.120 to sign him. And he said no. He said no. He realized 00:09:39.120 --> 00:09:41.960 that ownership was more important than a quick 00:09:41.960 --> 00:09:44.559 check. He understood that if you sign a standard 00:09:44.559 --> 00:09:46.360 record deal, you are essentially an employee 00:09:46.360 --> 00:09:48.539 of the label. You're working for them. You are. 00:09:48.659 --> 00:09:51.600 If you own the label, you're the boss. He wanted 00:09:51.600 --> 00:09:54.169 the equity. He wanted to own his masters. And 00:09:54.169 --> 00:09:57.289 this entire philosophy, this entire strategy, 00:09:57.429 --> 00:09:59.610 it all culminated in what I think is his most 00:09:59.610 --> 00:10:02.269 famous business move. Oh, yeah. The Crenshaw 00:10:02.269 --> 00:10:04.769 mixtape in 2013. I really want to spend some 00:10:04.769 --> 00:10:06.710 time here because this is where the marathon 00:10:06.710 --> 00:10:09.529 genius just really shines. This is the proud 00:10:09.529 --> 00:10:11.549 to pay concept. Yeah. We have to look at the 00:10:11.549 --> 00:10:14.710 context of the time. 2013, this is the peak of 00:10:14.710 --> 00:10:17.090 the Napster aftermath. Yeah, right. Streaming 00:10:17.090 --> 00:10:19.429 is just starting to figure itself out. But piracy 00:10:19.429 --> 00:10:22.149 is everywhere. People are barely willing to pay 00:10:22.149 --> 00:10:24.850 99 cents for a song on iTunes, let alone a whole 00:10:24.850 --> 00:10:27.070 album. Music had been completely devalued. It 00:10:27.070 --> 00:10:29.769 was just expected to be free. Exactly. The perceived 00:10:29.769 --> 00:10:32.529 value was zero. So Nipsey Hussle, an independent 00:10:32.529 --> 00:10:35.470 artist, decides to drop a mixtape called Crenshaw. 00:10:35.649 --> 00:10:38.450 And he releases it as a free download on DatPiff. 00:10:38.549 --> 00:10:40.830 So anyone on earth could get it for zero dollars. 00:10:40.909 --> 00:10:44.350 No barrier to entry. Yes. But, and this is the 00:10:44.350 --> 00:10:48.710 big, but. He also manufactured 1 ,000 physical 00:10:48.710 --> 00:10:51.470 hard copies. Yeah. And he put a price tag on 00:10:51.470 --> 00:10:54.690 them. $100. $100 each. Okay, I have to stop you 00:10:54.690 --> 00:11:01.169 here. $100 for a CD in 2013. I know. That sounds 00:11:01.169 --> 00:11:04.009 like economic suicide. I mean, why would anyone 00:11:04.009 --> 00:11:06.009 on earth pay that when they can literally click 00:11:06.009 --> 00:11:08.350 a download button for free? That's the genius 00:11:08.350 --> 00:11:10.889 of it. That's the entire play. On paper, it's 00:11:10.889 --> 00:11:12.470 insane. But you have to look at the psychology. 00:11:12.730 --> 00:11:15.330 He was weaponizing scarcity. Weaponizing scarcity? 00:11:15.590 --> 00:11:17.649 How? He wasn't just selling a CD with audio files 00:11:17.649 --> 00:11:19.710 on it. He was selling a collector's item. He 00:11:19.710 --> 00:11:21.789 was selling a badge of honor. He called the campaign 00:11:21.789 --> 00:11:23.870 Proud to Pay. Proud to Pay? He was challenging 00:11:23.870 --> 00:11:27.009 his core listeners. He was saying, if you say 00:11:27.009 --> 00:11:29.250 you support the hustle, if you say you believe 00:11:29.250 --> 00:11:31.450 in this movement, put a price on your loyalty. 00:11:31.809 --> 00:11:34.250 Show me. It's almost like a modern day Patreon 00:11:34.250 --> 00:11:36.929 before Patreon really existed. He was asking 00:11:36.929 --> 00:11:39.169 for direct patronage from his most dedicated 00:11:39.169 --> 00:11:42.730 fans. That's a perfect way to put it. He realized 00:11:42.730 --> 00:11:46.029 he didn't need a million casual fans who kind 00:11:46.029 --> 00:11:49.149 of liked his song on the radio. He needed a small 00:11:49.149 --> 00:11:51.509 army of superfans who believed in the entire 00:11:51.509 --> 00:11:54.070 mission. It filters the audience down to the 00:11:54.070 --> 00:11:56.909 true believers. And he got a massive cosign from, 00:11:57.009 --> 00:11:59.470 well, arguably the biggest businessman in hip 00:11:59.470 --> 00:12:02.019 -hop history. Jay -Z. The stories that Jay -Z 00:12:02.019 --> 00:12:04.379 heard about the strategy, he didn't just tweet 00:12:04.379 --> 00:12:06.740 about it or give him a shout out. No. He respected 00:12:06.740 --> 00:12:09.340 the audacity of it so much that he personally 00:12:09.340 --> 00:12:12.399 contacted Nipsey's team and bought 100 copies. 00:12:12.720 --> 00:12:14.379 Let me do the math on that one more time. That's 00:12:14.379 --> 00:12:17.379 a $10 ,000 transaction. From one person. Nipsey 00:12:17.379 --> 00:12:19.480 met up with him, gave him the discs. But think 00:12:19.480 --> 00:12:21.120 about the ripple effect of that. The headline 00:12:21.120 --> 00:12:24.179 wasn't just Nipsey makes 10K. The headline was 00:12:24.179 --> 00:12:27.179 Jay -Z validates Nipsey Hussle's business mind. 00:12:27.580 --> 00:12:29.620 The marketing value of that one transaction had 00:12:29.620 --> 00:12:32.080 to be worth millions. Absolutely priceless. It 00:12:32.080 --> 00:12:34.379 legitimized the entire experiment. And what was 00:12:34.379 --> 00:12:37.399 the end result? He sold out. All 1 ,000 copies. 00:12:37.580 --> 00:12:40.460 How long did it take? Less than 24 hours. He 00:12:40.460 --> 00:12:43.759 made $100 ,000 cash instantly as an independent 00:12:43.759 --> 00:12:48.259 artist. Wow. No distribution fees. No label taking 00:12:48.259 --> 00:12:52.460 80 % of the pie. Just him and his team. Pure 00:12:52.460 --> 00:12:56.169 profit. That... completely flips the entire industry 00:12:56.169 --> 00:12:59.090 script. It proves you can exist outside the system 00:12:59.090 --> 00:13:02.610 if your product has enough perceived value with 00:13:02.610 --> 00:13:05.049 a core audience. Exactly. And he proved it wasn't 00:13:05.049 --> 00:13:08.309 a fluke the very next year for his mixtape mailbox 00:13:08.309 --> 00:13:11.870 money. Yeah. He sold copies for $1 ,000 each. 00:13:12.090 --> 00:13:15.409 $1 ,000. $1 ,000. Okay, now that is just flexing. 00:13:15.490 --> 00:13:17.070 But he didn't just, you know, keep that money 00:13:17.070 --> 00:13:19.090 under his mattress or buy a fleet of Lamborghinis. 00:13:19.269 --> 00:13:21.850 He invested it. Back into the neighborhood. Back 00:13:21.850 --> 00:13:23.429 into the block. Let's talk about the Marathon 00:13:23.429 --> 00:13:25.389 Clothing Store. This is the physical manifestation 00:13:25.389 --> 00:13:28.950 of his entire brand. In June of 2017, he opened 00:13:28.950 --> 00:13:30.850 the Marathon Clothing Store. And of course he 00:13:30.850 --> 00:13:32.850 didn't open it on Melrose or in Beverly Hills. 00:13:33.230 --> 00:13:36.250 Of course not. He opened it at Slauson and Crenshaw. 00:13:36.470 --> 00:13:38.690 Right back where he was selling tapes out of 00:13:38.690 --> 00:13:41.340 the crunk. of his car, the full circle. The exact 00:13:41.340 --> 00:13:44.139 same spot. He founded it with his brother Black 00:13:44.139 --> 00:13:47.179 Sam and his business partners Karen Seville and 00:13:47.179 --> 00:13:50.480 Steve Carlos. But I want to dig into this smart 00:13:50.480 --> 00:13:53.399 store idea because that term gets thrown around 00:13:53.399 --> 00:13:56.419 a lot. Yeah. Smart store usually just means they 00:13:56.419 --> 00:13:59.299 have an iPad at the register or like free Wi 00:13:59.299 --> 00:14:02.340 -Fi. Was it just a gimmick? Yeah, this was way, 00:14:02.340 --> 00:14:05.279 way deeper. Nipsey collaborated with a brilliant 00:14:05.279 --> 00:14:08.279 software engineer named Idris Sandhu. Andrew 00:14:08.279 --> 00:14:10.799 Sandhu. Their goal was to bridge the gap between 00:14:10.799 --> 00:14:13.960 street culture and Silicon Valley, to merge the 00:14:13.960 --> 00:14:16.259 physical and the digital. So what did they actually 00:14:16.259 --> 00:14:18.919 do? How did it work? They embedded technology 00:14:18.919 --> 00:14:21.940 into the physical tags of the closing. So on 00:14:21.940 --> 00:14:24.850 price tag. Or the label. Yeah. So if you bought 00:14:24.850 --> 00:14:26.409 a shirt, you weren't just buying a piece of cotton. 00:14:26.509 --> 00:14:29.110 You had to use a specific app on your phone to 00:14:29.110 --> 00:14:31.730 scan the tag, and that action unlocked exclusive 00:14:31.730 --> 00:14:34.190 content. What kind of content? Music, videos, 00:14:34.409 --> 00:14:35.769 behind -the -scenes footage, things that you 00:14:35.769 --> 00:14:37.730 couldn't get on YouTube or Spotify or anywhere 00:14:37.730 --> 00:14:40.789 else. So the shirt is literally a physical key 00:14:40.789 --> 00:14:44.429 to a digital world. Precisely. Nipsey called 00:14:44.429 --> 00:14:47.690 it his urban Sanrio concept. But think about 00:14:47.690 --> 00:14:49.389 the data play here. This is the really brilliant 00:14:49.389 --> 00:14:52.620 part. Okay. He's not relying on Instagram's algorithm 00:14:52.620 --> 00:14:56.120 to reach his fans anymore, is he? No. He owns 00:14:56.120 --> 00:14:58.980 the app. He owns the data. He knows exactly who 00:14:58.980 --> 00:15:01.059 bought the shirt, where they are, and how to 00:15:01.059 --> 00:15:04.519 contact them directly. He was building a direct 00:15:04.519 --> 00:15:07.279 pipeline to his consumer that couldn't be shut 00:15:07.279 --> 00:15:10.080 off by a third -party platform. That is incredibly 00:15:10.080 --> 00:15:12.580 forward thinking. And then came the ultimate 00:15:12.580 --> 00:15:14.940 power move the year before his death. The real 00:15:14.940 --> 00:15:16.860 estate play. He partnered with a real estate 00:15:16.860 --> 00:15:19.539 investor named David Gross to actually buy the 00:15:19.539 --> 00:15:21.399 whole strip mall where the store was located. 00:15:21.700 --> 00:15:23.539 He became a landlord. He didn't just lease the 00:15:23.539 --> 00:15:26.360 storefront. He bought the land. And why is that 00:15:26.360 --> 00:15:28.620 distinction so important? Why not just keep leasing 00:15:28.620 --> 00:15:31.840 it? It's cheaper. Because usually when a neighborhood 00:15:31.840 --> 00:15:34.200 like Crenshaw gets revitalized, what happens? 00:15:34.440 --> 00:15:38.080 Gentrification. Gentrification 101. Outside developers 00:15:38.080 --> 00:15:41.409 come in. They see cheap land. They buy it all 00:15:41.409 --> 00:15:44.330 up. They jack up the rents. They put in a fancy 00:15:44.330 --> 00:15:47.210 coffee shop and a yoga studio. And they push 00:15:47.210 --> 00:15:50.350 the original residents and businesses out. Exactly. 00:15:50.690 --> 00:15:53.250 The people who live there through all the hard 00:15:53.250 --> 00:15:56.409 times don't get to enjoy the good times. They 00:15:56.409 --> 00:15:58.370 get priced out. So Nipsey was trying to flip 00:15:58.370 --> 00:16:01.190 that. Completely. He called it buying back the 00:16:01.190 --> 00:16:04.070 block. It's defensive development. He wanted 00:16:04.070 --> 00:16:06.250 to upgrade the neighborhood, put in new buildings, 00:16:06.409 --> 00:16:09.039 better food options, residential units. But he 00:16:09.039 --> 00:16:10.639 wanted to do it for the people who were already 00:16:10.639 --> 00:16:12.740 living there. For the community. He wanted to 00:16:12.740 --> 00:16:14.879 prove you can have nice things. Schem centers, 00:16:15.139 --> 00:16:17.960 smart stores, without displacing the culture 00:16:17.960 --> 00:16:19.840 that built the place in the first place. That 00:16:19.840 --> 00:16:22.539 is the literal definition of community sovereignty. 00:16:22.980 --> 00:16:25.759 Now, amidst all of this business, all this strategy, 00:16:26.120 --> 00:16:29.539 we can't forget the music. No. Because the music 00:16:29.539 --> 00:16:32.100 was the engine that drove the whole car. It absolutely 00:16:32.100 --> 00:16:34.559 was. Yeah. The music was the marketing for the 00:16:34.559 --> 00:16:36.360 entire movement. Yeah. We mentioned the Bullets 00:16:36.360 --> 00:16:38.320 Ain't Got No Name series. That built the foundation. 00:16:38.830 --> 00:16:40.830 Then came the marathon, and the marathon continues 00:16:40.830 --> 00:16:44.149 mixtapes. That's where he was establishing that 00:16:44.149 --> 00:16:46.529 very clear brand identity. And he wasn't working 00:16:46.529 --> 00:16:48.470 in a vacuum. He was collaborating with everyone. 00:16:48.610 --> 00:16:50.570 All the time. We talked about Drake and Snoop, 00:16:50.570 --> 00:16:53.549 but he also had a very, very significant collaboration 00:16:53.549 --> 00:16:59.350 in 2016 with YG. Oh, you mean the song FDT? FDT, 00:16:59.450 --> 00:17:02.889 or, to be explicit, Fuck Donald Trump. Not a 00:17:02.889 --> 00:17:05.529 lot of ambiguity in that title. It became a protest 00:17:05.529 --> 00:17:09.160 anthem almost overnight. It did. But the context 00:17:09.160 --> 00:17:11.420 in the source material is important here. It 00:17:11.420 --> 00:17:13.980 wasn't just... like a political stunt to get 00:17:13.980 --> 00:17:16.740 views or to be controversial. The song was written 00:17:16.740 --> 00:17:19.400 about Nipsey's positive experiences with Mexican 00:17:19.400 --> 00:17:22.380 immigrants in Los Angeles. He felt that the rhetoric 00:17:22.380 --> 00:17:24.240 coming from the Trump campaign about immigrants 00:17:24.240 --> 00:17:26.519 was fundamentally wrong based on what he saw 00:17:26.519 --> 00:17:28.539 with his own eyes in his own neighborhood every 00:17:28.539 --> 00:17:30.420 single day. It was a solidarity track. It was 00:17:30.420 --> 00:17:32.720 about black and brown unity. Exactly. And that 00:17:32.720 --> 00:17:35.400 unity was a theme he kept pushing over and over. 00:17:35.559 --> 00:17:37.859 And then after all those mixtapes, all those 00:17:37.859 --> 00:17:40.019 years of building, we finally got the official 00:17:40.019 --> 00:17:43.180 debut album, Victory Lap. The wait for Victory 00:17:43.180 --> 00:17:45.779 Lap was a saga in itself. I mean, he had been 00:17:45.779 --> 00:17:47.720 teasing it for years. Fans were getting really 00:17:47.720 --> 00:17:50.480 impatient. They were, but he waited until February 00:17:50.480 --> 00:17:54.279 2018 to release it for a reason. He wanted to 00:17:54.279 --> 00:17:56.299 make sure all the infrastructure was right. So 00:17:56.299 --> 00:17:58.339 what was the deal? Did he sign with a major again? 00:17:58.559 --> 00:18:00.640 He entered a partnership with Atlantic Records, 00:18:00.839 --> 00:18:04.240 but it wasn't a standard new artist deal because 00:18:04.240 --> 00:18:07.019 he had all that leverage from his independent 00:18:07.019 --> 00:18:09.279 success from the $100 mixtapes. He had proof 00:18:09.279 --> 00:18:12.140 of concept. He had proof of concept. So he negotiated 00:18:12.140 --> 00:18:14.700 a partnership where he maintained a level of 00:18:14.700 --> 00:18:17.480 control and ownership that new artists, frankly, 00:18:17.640 --> 00:18:20.599 never get. And was it worth the wait, musically? 00:18:20.740 --> 00:18:23.279 Oh, absolutely. It debuted at number four on 00:18:23.279 --> 00:18:27.119 the Billboard 200. It sold 53 ,000 units in the 00:18:27.119 --> 00:18:30.480 first week, which is huge for a debut. But critically, 00:18:30.759 --> 00:18:34.190 it was universally acclaimed. It was nominated 00:18:34.190 --> 00:18:36.789 for Best Rap Album at the Grammys. He lost to 00:18:36.789 --> 00:18:38.769 Cardi B's Invasion of Privacy that year, right? 00:18:38.910 --> 00:18:41.190 He did, but just being in that conversation as 00:18:41.190 --> 00:18:43.589 an independent -minded artist, standing on that 00:18:43.589 --> 00:18:46.369 stage, it was a victory in itself. It validated 00:18:46.369 --> 00:18:49.950 the entire marathon strategy. And sadly, the 00:18:49.950 --> 00:18:52.609 accolades, the big awards, they continued to 00:18:52.609 --> 00:18:55.269 grow after he passed. Yeah. Racks in the Middle 00:18:55.269 --> 00:18:57.829 with Roddy Ricch and Hit -Boy won a Grammy for 00:18:57.829 --> 00:19:01.170 Best Rap Performance in 2020. And higher. That 00:19:01.170 --> 00:19:03.910 incredible track with DJ Khaled and John Legend. 00:19:03.970 --> 00:19:06.250 That one for best melodic rap performance. That 00:19:06.250 --> 00:19:09.539 higher video is just... It's tough to watch now. 00:19:09.660 --> 00:19:12.180 It is. It was filmed just days before his death. 00:19:12.279 --> 00:19:14.319 He's wearing that bright blue suit, standing 00:19:14.319 --> 00:19:16.940 on top of a parking structure in Inglewood, looking 00:19:16.940 --> 00:19:18.579 like he's on top of the world. Because he was. 00:19:18.859 --> 00:19:21.859 He was. And this connects directly to his activism. 00:19:22.119 --> 00:19:24.319 He wasn't just rapping about success. He was 00:19:24.319 --> 00:19:27.200 actively trying to create a pipeline for other 00:19:27.200 --> 00:19:29.640 people to be successful. Right. You mentioned 00:19:29.640 --> 00:19:32.099 the smart store, but there was also Vector 90. 00:19:32.380 --> 00:19:35.019 Vector 90 is, I think, arguably one of his... 00:19:35.319 --> 00:19:37.759 most important contributions, even if it gets 00:19:37.759 --> 00:19:40.420 less press than the music or the store. What 00:19:40.420 --> 00:19:42.480 was it exactly? It's a co -working space and 00:19:42.480 --> 00:19:44.299 a STEM center right in the Crenshaw district. 00:19:44.839 --> 00:19:47.740 Noosi saw this massive disconnect. You have Silicon 00:19:47.740 --> 00:19:50.660 Valley up in Northern California generating trillions 00:19:50.660 --> 00:19:52.839 of dollars in wealth. And then you have inner 00:19:52.839 --> 00:19:55.759 city kids in L .A. who are brilliant, who are 00:19:55.759 --> 00:19:58.539 smart, but they have zero access to that world. 00:19:58.720 --> 00:20:00.700 They don't even know it exists as an option for 00:20:00.700 --> 00:20:03.339 them. So Vector 90 was designed to be the bridge. 00:20:03.859 --> 00:20:06.849 Exactly. It provided classes in science, technology, 00:20:07.210 --> 00:20:10.029 engineering, and math. It was a place where local 00:20:10.029 --> 00:20:12.390 entrepreneurs could come and work, get mentorship. 00:20:12.730 --> 00:20:15.269 He wanted to show young people that there were 00:20:15.269 --> 00:20:17.750 other paths out of the hood besides just sports 00:20:17.750 --> 00:20:19.849 and entertainment. He wanted to create the next 00:20:19.849 --> 00:20:22.230 generation of coders. The next generation of 00:20:22.230 --> 00:20:24.190 coders and engineers and founders right there 00:20:24.190 --> 00:20:26.450 on the block. He was also involved in another 00:20:26.450 --> 00:20:30.029 big project, Destination Crenshaw, right? Yes, 00:20:30.029 --> 00:20:33.029 that's the Open Air Museum project. As the Metro 00:20:33.029 --> 00:20:34.789 K line was being built through the district, 00:20:35.009 --> 00:20:37.529 there was a real fear that it would just bulldoze 00:20:37.529 --> 00:20:39.990 the local culture, literally and figuratively. 00:20:40.210 --> 00:20:42.509 So he got involved. He was involved in the planning 00:20:42.509 --> 00:20:45.369 and advisory stages. He used his influence to 00:20:45.369 --> 00:20:47.529 help brand the project and ensure that it would 00:20:47.529 --> 00:20:50.109 showcase black history and culture, turning the 00:20:50.109 --> 00:20:52.569 transit line into a destination in its own right, 00:20:52.750 --> 00:20:55.069 rather than just a way to pass through the neighborhood. 00:20:55.529 --> 00:20:58.289 But perhaps the most dangerous work he was doing, 00:20:58.450 --> 00:21:01.849 and I use that word intentionally, was the peacemaking. 00:21:02.029 --> 00:21:04.630 It is dangerous work, no question. I mean, Nipsey 00:21:04.630 --> 00:21:06.869 was affiliated with the Roland 60s, the Cripset. 00:21:06.910 --> 00:21:09.250 That was his background. Right. But he openly 00:21:09.250 --> 00:21:12.069 collaborated with and was friends with Bloods 00:21:12.069 --> 00:21:15.769 -affiliated rappers like YG. He was constantly 00:21:15.769 --> 00:21:19.309 trying to set an example of unity. He was trying 00:21:19.309 --> 00:21:22.089 to break the cycle of retaliatory violence that 00:21:22.089 --> 00:21:25.140 had plagued the city for decades. And this leads 00:21:25.140 --> 00:21:28.079 us to a detail that is just it's gut wrenching 00:21:28.079 --> 00:21:30.420 to read about the meeting. This is one of those 00:21:30.420 --> 00:21:33.160 what if moments that just haunts you. Nipsey 00:21:33.160 --> 00:21:35.980 had reached out to the LAPD. To the police. To 00:21:35.980 --> 00:21:38.119 the police. He had a meeting scheduled with the 00:21:38.119 --> 00:21:40.059 police commissioner and with representatives 00:21:40.059 --> 00:21:42.299 from Rock Nation. And what was the agenda? The 00:21:42.299 --> 00:21:45.079 agenda was to discuss ways to prevent gang violence. 00:21:45.339 --> 00:21:47.160 They were going to sit down and talk about real 00:21:47.160 --> 00:21:49.799 tangible solutions. When was that meeting supposed 00:21:49.799 --> 00:21:51.700 to happen? The meeting was scheduled for April 00:21:51.700 --> 00:21:55.339 1st. One day after he was killed. One day later. 00:21:55.759 --> 00:21:58.680 He was literally killed on the eve of a major 00:21:58.680 --> 00:22:00.940 step toward the very peace he was trying to build. 00:22:01.140 --> 00:22:04.759 So we have to talk about that day. March 31st, 00:22:04.759 --> 00:22:07.539 2019. It's a Sunday. It was a Sunday afternoon. 00:22:08.079 --> 00:22:10.539 And Nipsey was at the Marathon clothing store. 00:22:11.440 --> 00:22:13.700 This is important. He was there without heavy 00:22:13.700 --> 00:22:16.640 security. Why? He often moved around the neighborhood 00:22:16.640 --> 00:22:19.480 without a massive entourage because he felt safe 00:22:19.480 --> 00:22:21.819 there. It was his home. He was taking pictures 00:22:21.819 --> 00:22:24.339 with fans, talking to people in the parking lot, 00:22:24.460 --> 00:22:26.420 just being part of the community. And then at 00:22:26.420 --> 00:22:29.160 3 .18 p .m., everything changed. A man named 00:22:29.160 --> 00:22:32.240 Eric Holder approached him. Holder was 29 years 00:22:32.240 --> 00:22:34.700 old. He was an acquaintance of Nipsey's and also 00:22:34.700 --> 00:22:36.859 from the Roland 60s. So this wasn't a random 00:22:36.859 --> 00:22:40.119 robbery. No. And it wasn't a rival gang hit in 00:22:40.119 --> 00:22:42.960 the traditional sense of like a drive -by? No, 00:22:43.019 --> 00:22:45.359 not at all. It was personal. Yeah. Extremely 00:22:45.359 --> 00:22:47.019 personal. What was the motive? What happened? 00:22:47.779 --> 00:22:49.400 Testimony at the trial revealed that they had 00:22:49.400 --> 00:22:51.799 an argument earlier in the day. Nipsey had apparently 00:22:51.799 --> 00:22:53.599 told Holder that there was talk on the streets 00:22:53.599 --> 00:22:56.140 about him snitching, about him cooperating with 00:22:56.140 --> 00:22:58.180 law enforcement. And in that culture, that is 00:22:58.180 --> 00:23:00.700 the most serious accusation you can make. It 00:23:00.700 --> 00:23:03.359 ruined your reputation instantly. It's a death 00:23:03.359 --> 00:23:06.039 sentence, socially. Holder didn't take it as, 00:23:06.140 --> 00:23:08.140 you know, a friend giving him a heads up. He 00:23:08.140 --> 00:23:10.700 took it as disrespect. And what did he do? He 00:23:10.700 --> 00:23:13.140 left the parking lot. He went and retrieved two 00:23:13.140 --> 00:23:16.880 handguns. And he came back. He came back. That's 00:23:16.880 --> 00:23:19.980 the key. That's the key to the whole case. He 00:23:19.980 --> 00:23:22.779 fired at least 10 shots. Nipsey was hit multiple 00:23:22.779 --> 00:23:26.559 times. And the brutality of it. Holder then kicked 00:23:26.559 --> 00:23:28.359 him in the head before he fled the scene. And 00:23:28.359 --> 00:23:30.920 two other people were wounded. In the crossfire, 00:23:30.960 --> 00:23:33.700 yes. Nipsey was rushed to the hospital, but it 00:23:33.700 --> 00:23:36.019 was too late. He was pronounced dead at 3 .55 00:23:36.019 --> 00:23:39.730 p .m. He was only 33 years old. 33. Think about 00:23:39.730 --> 00:23:41.730 everything we just discussed. The store, the 00:23:41.730 --> 00:23:43.990 real estate, the STEM Center, the Grammy -nominated 00:23:43.990 --> 00:23:47.150 album. Yeah. He did all of that by 33. The aftermath 00:23:47.150 --> 00:23:50.390 of that day. Yeah. The shockwave was just instant. 00:23:50.829 --> 00:23:53.089 But justice moves a lot slower. They caught Holder 00:23:53.089 --> 00:23:54.910 pretty quickly, though, right? They did. He was 00:23:54.910 --> 00:23:57.730 arrested on April 2nd. But the legal process 00:23:57.730 --> 00:24:00.329 was agonizingly slow, partly because of all the 00:24:00.329 --> 00:24:02.609 pandemic delays. The trial didn't really get 00:24:02.609 --> 00:24:05.769 underway until mid -2022. And the defense tried 00:24:05.769 --> 00:24:08.349 to argue that it wasn't premeditated. That seems 00:24:08.349 --> 00:24:11.210 like a stretch. Right. The defense used a heat 00:24:11.210 --> 00:24:14.210 of passion argument. They claimed Holder just 00:24:14.210 --> 00:24:17.529 snapped because of the snitching accusation that 00:24:17.529 --> 00:24:19.250 he was so provoked he couldn't control himself. 00:24:19.609 --> 00:24:22.210 But he left and came back with guns? That was 00:24:22.210 --> 00:24:24.769 the prosecution's entire case. The deputy DA, 00:24:24.910 --> 00:24:27.230 John McKinney, he argued he thought about it 00:24:27.230 --> 00:24:30.609 and he did it. They pointed out that Holder left 00:24:30.609 --> 00:24:33.390 the scene, had time to cool off, went and got 00:24:33.390 --> 00:24:36.289 weapons, and made the conscious choice to return 00:24:36.289 --> 00:24:40.150 and kill. That is the literal definition of premeditation. 00:24:40.369 --> 00:24:42.849 And the jury agreed with that? They did. On July 00:24:42.849 --> 00:24:46.470 6, 2022, Eric Holder was found guilty of first 00:24:46.470 --> 00:24:48.960 -degree murder. He was also convicted of attempted 00:24:48.960 --> 00:24:51.279 voluntary manslaughter for the two bystanders 00:24:51.279 --> 00:24:53.460 who were wounded. And the sentence. On February 00:24:53.460 --> 00:24:56.900 22, 2023, he was sentenced to 60 years to life 00:24:56.900 --> 00:24:59.079 in prison. So he'll never get out. Effectively, 00:24:59.079 --> 00:25:01.019 he will die in prison. It's justice, technically. 00:25:01.480 --> 00:25:04.460 But it doesn't bring Nipsey back. And it doesn't 00:25:04.460 --> 00:25:06.599 undo the loss to the community. Not even close. 00:25:06.940 --> 00:25:10.079 But looking at the response to his death. It 00:25:10.079 --> 00:25:12.859 showed just how much he truly meant. This wasn't 00:25:12.859 --> 00:25:15.099 just another celebrity death. No, it was a cultural 00:25:15.099 --> 00:25:18.420 event, a seismic event. The response was unprecedented 00:25:18.420 --> 00:25:21.460 for a rapper of his generation. The memorial 00:25:21.460 --> 00:25:23.920 service was at the Staples Center. The Staples 00:25:23.920 --> 00:25:26.390 Center. The arena where the Lakers play, they 00:25:26.390 --> 00:25:28.089 gave away free tickets to the public and they 00:25:28.089 --> 00:25:30.390 were gone instantly. And the procession, that's 00:25:30.390 --> 00:25:33.289 the image that just sticks with me. A 25 .5 mile 00:25:33.289 --> 00:25:35.609 funeral procession. It wound all through South 00:25:35.609 --> 00:25:38.250 Central, Watts, all the places Nipsey grew up 00:25:38.250 --> 00:25:40.349 or had influence. And people just lined the streets. 00:25:40.789 --> 00:25:43.009 Crowds lined the streets for miles. It wasn't 00:25:43.009 --> 00:25:45.349 just fans, it was families, grandmothers, gang 00:25:45.349 --> 00:25:48.250 members from different sets. The Nation of Islam 00:25:48.250 --> 00:25:51.150 provided security for the procession. It was 00:25:51.150 --> 00:25:54.329 just this massive citywide display of love. and 00:25:54.329 --> 00:25:56.910 respect. And former President Obama sent a letter 00:25:56.910 --> 00:25:59.269 that was read at the service. That's a whole 00:25:59.269 --> 00:26:02.509 other level. That was a powerful moment. Obama 00:26:02.509 --> 00:26:04.890 wrote that while most folks looked at a neighborhood 00:26:04.890 --> 00:26:07.829 like Crenshaw and saw only gangs, bullets, and 00:26:07.829 --> 00:26:12.450 despair, Nipsey saw potential. He saw hope. That 00:26:12.450 --> 00:26:14.990 validation from the highest level of government, 00:26:15.170 --> 00:26:18.450 it really cemented Nipsey's status as more than 00:26:18.450 --> 00:26:20.569 just an entertainer. He was being recognized. 00:26:21.160 --> 00:26:23.940 As a true civic leader. And in a tragic twist 00:26:23.940 --> 00:26:26.460 of fate, his death actually seemed to accelerate 00:26:26.460 --> 00:26:29.220 the very peace he was working toward. This is 00:26:29.220 --> 00:26:31.500 the silver lining, if you could even call it 00:26:31.500 --> 00:26:34.680 that. In the days after he was killed, gang leaders 00:26:34.680 --> 00:26:37.420 from rival sets groups that had been killing 00:26:37.420 --> 00:26:39.619 each other for decades, they marched together 00:26:39.619 --> 00:26:41.900 in his honor. There was a ceasefire. Real ceasefire. 00:26:42.019 --> 00:26:44.460 Hundreds of gangs from L .A. and Compton reportedly 00:26:44.460 --> 00:26:47.079 agreed to a peace agreement. very similar to 00:26:47.079 --> 00:26:49.660 the famous 1992 truces that happened after the 00:26:49.660 --> 00:26:52.099 Rodney King riots. They agreed to stay out of 00:26:52.099 --> 00:26:54.539 each other's territory and stop the retaliatory 00:26:54.539 --> 00:26:56.640 attacks. It took a tragedy of this magnitude 00:26:56.640 --> 00:26:59.339 to shake the foundation enough to make that happen. 00:26:59.480 --> 00:27:02.000 It did. And the city, the institutions, they 00:27:02.000 --> 00:27:04.880 honored him officially, too. Oh, yeah. They renamed 00:27:04.880 --> 00:27:07.859 the intersection of Slauson and Crenshaw. It's 00:27:07.859 --> 00:27:11.359 now officially Ermias Nipsey Hussle Ashkenum 00:27:11.359 --> 00:27:13.890 Square. That's incredible. The new Metro K line 00:27:13.890 --> 00:27:16.769 station at Hyde Park was dedicated to him and 00:27:16.769 --> 00:27:20.710 the community in August 2022. And on what would 00:27:20.710 --> 00:27:23.829 have been his 37th birthday, he received a star 00:27:23.829 --> 00:27:26.569 on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Culturally, his 00:27:26.569 --> 00:27:28.769 impact just kept expanding after he was gone. 00:27:28.930 --> 00:27:32.079 The murals, I mean, there. everywhere in LA. 00:27:32.299 --> 00:27:34.799 Over 50 murals went up in Los Angeles within 00:27:34.799 --> 00:27:36.920 just a few months. He became this saint -like 00:27:36.920 --> 00:27:39.099 figure on the walls of the city. You really can't 00:27:39.099 --> 00:27:40.980 drive through South Central without seeing his 00:27:40.980 --> 00:27:43.160 face. But the impact went deeper than just paint 00:27:43.160 --> 00:27:45.630 on a wall. The Marathon Book Club is a great 00:27:45.630 --> 00:27:47.890 example of this. I love this part. Tell me about 00:27:47.890 --> 00:27:50.029 the book clubs. So Nipsey was an avid reader. 00:27:50.190 --> 00:27:52.529 He was constantly self -educating. And he would 00:27:52.529 --> 00:27:55.069 always mention books in his interviews. Business 00:27:55.069 --> 00:27:57.410 books like Contegious, cult classics like The 00:27:57.410 --> 00:28:00.269 Spook Who Sat by the Door, books by black authors. 00:28:00.549 --> 00:28:03.039 So he was leaving a syllabus. He left a syllabus. 00:28:03.240 --> 00:28:05.539 And after he died, fans started forming these 00:28:05.539 --> 00:28:07.619 book clubs all over the country to read the books 00:28:07.619 --> 00:28:10.519 that Nipsey recommended. He made reading and 00:28:10.519 --> 00:28:13.720 self -education cool in a way that very few influencers 00:28:13.720 --> 00:28:17.200 are ever able to do. And we saw tributes in sports 00:28:17.200 --> 00:28:19.960 and music as well. Constantly. Russell Westbrook, 00:28:19.960 --> 00:28:23.059 the NBA player and a fellow L .A. native, dedicated 00:28:23.059 --> 00:28:27.440 a historic 20 -20 -20 game. 20 points, 20 rebounds, 00:28:27.440 --> 00:28:30.940 20 assists. to Nipsey. And Kendrick Lamar. Kendrick 00:28:30.940 --> 00:28:33.779 Lamar, in his video for The Heart Part 5, used 00:28:33.779 --> 00:28:36.460 deep fake technology to morph his own face into 00:28:36.460 --> 00:28:38.980 Nipsey's while he was rapping about his legacy. 00:28:39.259 --> 00:28:41.920 It was a haunting, beautiful, and really powerful 00:28:41.920 --> 00:28:44.430 tribute. Puma released the marathon clothing 00:28:44.430 --> 00:28:46.009 collection that he had been working on. They 00:28:46.009 --> 00:28:48.089 did, with all the proceeds going to his neighborhood 00:28:48.089 --> 00:28:50.150 NIF Foundation to continue his work. Even the 00:28:50.150 --> 00:28:52.490 TV show All -American got involved, right? They 00:28:52.490 --> 00:28:54.210 did, and the source material says Nipsey was 00:28:54.210 --> 00:28:56.069 actually scheduled to appear in the season one 00:28:56.069 --> 00:28:58.670 finale of that show, but he died before it could 00:28:58.670 --> 00:29:01.150 happen. So instead, the show wrote in a eulogy 00:29:01.150 --> 00:29:03.569 for him. They had characters wearing marathon 00:29:03.569 --> 00:29:06.289 clothing, and they painted a huge mural specifically 00:29:06.289 --> 00:29:09.799 for the episode. It just showed how deeply embedded 00:29:09.799 --> 00:29:12.980 he was in the L .A. narrative beyond just music. 00:29:13.099 --> 00:29:15.059 It's just so clear that while the man is gone, 00:29:15.200 --> 00:29:17.480 the brand and more importantly, the philosophy 00:29:17.480 --> 00:29:19.720 is stronger than ever. And that brings us right 00:29:19.720 --> 00:29:23.200 back to the core concept, the marathon. But we 00:29:23.200 --> 00:29:25.220 do have to acknowledge the physical reality of 00:29:25.220 --> 00:29:27.720 the situation now. Which is what? The marathon 00:29:27.720 --> 00:29:30.579 clothing store. That smart store on the corner 00:29:30.579 --> 00:29:33.119 he fought so hard to own has remained closed 00:29:33.119 --> 00:29:36.400 and fenced off ever since his death. It's a memorial 00:29:36.400 --> 00:29:39.410 now. A landmark. So what does this all mean? 00:29:39.509 --> 00:29:41.630 We've looked at the hustle, the music, the business, 00:29:41.789 --> 00:29:44.349 the community work, the tragedy. What's the final 00:29:44.349 --> 00:29:46.589 takeaway? I think it means that Nipsey Hussle 00:29:46.589 --> 00:29:50.490 provided a blueprint, a tangible one. He showed 00:29:50.490 --> 00:29:52.470 that you don't have to leave your community to 00:29:52.470 --> 00:29:55.000 be successful. You can build in your community. 00:29:55.160 --> 00:29:56.680 You don't have to escape. You don't have to escape. 00:29:56.740 --> 00:29:58.759 You can own your masters. Yeah. You can integrate 00:29:58.759 --> 00:30:01.140 technology. You can bridge the gap between the 00:30:01.140 --> 00:30:03.400 streets and the boardroom. He went from the Slauson 00:30:03.400 --> 00:30:07.019 boy selling mixtapes to a community icon. And 00:30:07.019 --> 00:30:09.420 he left a manual for economic independence that 00:30:09.420 --> 00:30:12.059 hip hop and really anyone is still studying. 00:30:12.299 --> 00:30:14.980 Exactly. The manual is there for anyone to pick 00:30:14.980 --> 00:30:17.369 up and read. So before we wrap up, here's a final 00:30:17.369 --> 00:30:19.210 thought to leave you with. We've talked about 00:30:19.210 --> 00:30:21.910 the marathon. We talked about endurance. Nipsey's 00:30:21.910 --> 00:30:24.549 flagship store is physically closed. The doors 00:30:24.549 --> 00:30:28.549 are locked. Yet his message is louder and more 00:30:28.549 --> 00:30:31.130 global now than it ever was when he was alive. 00:30:31.710 --> 00:30:34.130 It raises a really interesting question. How 00:30:34.130 --> 00:30:37.289 does a marathon continue when the runner is gone? 00:30:38.269 --> 00:30:40.450 It continues because he successfully passed the 00:30:40.450 --> 00:30:42.990 baton. The real question is, are you looking 00:30:42.990 --> 00:30:45.390 at your own community, your own block, your own 00:30:45.390 --> 00:30:47.569 neighborhood with the same kind of vision that 00:30:47.569 --> 00:30:49.690 Nipsey had? Are you seeing the despair or are 00:30:49.690 --> 00:30:51.849 you, like him, seeing the potential in the pavement? 00:30:52.069 --> 00:30:54.349 That is the challenge he left all of us. Thanks 00:30:54.349 --> 00:30:56.349 for diving deep with us. Keep running your lap.