Born Ermias Asghedom, the late rapper Nipsey Hussle was so much more than an emcee.
An entrepreneur, philanthropist, and innovator, this California native found a way to enrich
not only himself, but also his community.
Here's how much he was really worth, and how he used his wealth to give back.
The $100 mixtape
Nipsey Hussle was tragically gunned down in front of The Marathon Clothing store on March
31, 2019.
It was a retail business that he'd co-owned, and it served as a hub for Hussle to sell
his own merchandise.
"My first day job was shining shoes for commission.
I made $2.50 a shoe."
Clearly he was destined for far greener pastures: Nipsey Hussle's out-of-the-box thinking helped
him earn a huge profit off his 2013 mixtape Crenshaw.
According to Forbes, Hussle had originally planned to release it to free mixtape download
site Datpiff, but reading a book called Contagious made him change his mind.
He told Forbes:
"In the second chapter, a restaurant owner created the first $100 Philly cheesesteak
and got ridiculed but got a ton of prominent people interested."
In less than 24 hours, Hussle had sold one thousand hundred-dollar CDs at a pop-up store
in Los Angeles.
"He's a trendsetter, definitely."
"I'm a sneakerhead; I wouldn't even camp out for shoes… but I'll camp out for his mixtape."
Hussle earned $100,000 through this clever marketing strategy, and even Jay Z bought
one-hundred copies of Crenshaw.
Hussle ultimately used that money to take care of expenses for his record label, All
Money In No Money Out.
You have to admit, that's pretty genius.
Major labels came calling
In November 2017, Nipsey Hussle signed a deal to partner his label, by then shortened to
All Money In, with Atlantic Records for his first and only studio album Victory Lap.
After a string of mixtapes, the album marked Hussle's first major commercial release, and
it debuted at No. 4 on the Billboard 200 albums chart, selling 300,000 traditional copies
and streaming 21,000 album equivalents.
The album went on to earn a 2019 Grammy nomination for Best Rap Album.
He told XXL in November 2017:
“I wanted to raise the platform that we delivered our records on."
He also told Fader:
"The decision was really about me thinking about the message in the music and it deserves
to have a global platform."
Marathon Clothing: The first "smartstore"
Nipsey Hussle opened his Marathon Clothing store in Los Angeles on June 17, 2017.
As Billboard reports, it was much more than just another retail outlet, but rather
"a smartstore where customers can purchase merch and use an app to preview exclusive
content."
The Marathon Clothing wasn't Hussle's only store, either.
"And next door, a basic needs shop.
They sell everything from prepaid cell phones to fragrances."
Co-creating a business incubator
Not only did Nipsey Hussle invest in himself, but he also used his entrepreneurial spirit
to invest in underrepresented communities as well.
As CBS Los Angeles reports, Hussle and real estate investor David Gross financed the development
of South Central L.A.'s Vector 90, described on its website as "an inner city coworking
community."
Hussle helped imbue the space with his own unique style.
"This is one of his life mottos.
It's also the name of the non-profit downstairs that will offer STEM classes to kids.'
In April 2018, Hussle explained the goal of Vector 90 to 247HH:
"It's to help bridge the gap between, you know, the inner cities and number one, Silicon
Valley, and number two, just the entrepreneurial space."
Topping the streaming charts
Nipsey Hussle's music will continue to provide for his family, but unfortunately, the sharp
spike in his streaming revenues came in the wake of his fatal shooting.
According to TMZ, streams of Hussle's catalog took off on Amazon and iTunes in the aftermath
of the tragedy.
TMZ also reports that his Grammy-nominated studio album Victory Lap rose by 504,766 percent,
leading the album to top Amazon's Movers & Shakers list at Number One.
All in all, Billboard reports that, quote,
"Hussle's music sales increase[d] 2,776 percent After [His] Death."
Nipsey Hussle did it all: Game-changing business enterprises.
Celebrated musical ventures.
More than ten acting credits to his name, including a particularly memorable cameo on
Crazy Ex-Girlfriend:
"Gawww, this is how you get ready?
This is… this is horrifying.
Like a scary movie or something."
An entrepreneur and Renaissance man in every sense of the world, Hussle continually brought
unique marketing and business ideas to the rap game.
According to Celebrity Net Worth, he'd amassed 8 million dollars at the time of his tragic
death, thanks to his savvy, style, and smarts.
Nipsey Hussle may be gone, but it seems that his impact won't soon be forgotten.