Nipsey Hussle – Victory Lap

Now, I am a relatively new Nipsey fan. When I was going through YouTube and I heard the lead single “Rap N*****” I knew this guy was talented. I then saw the other single “Last Time I checc’d” Ft YG and knew that I had slept on this guy’s talent.

I then went and tweeted Nipsey, asking for some songs to listen to and he redirected me to his fans to help me out… And god damn, my Twitter actually blew up. But, I found out so many Nipsey Hussle gems, so this made me hype for February 16^th. The release of Nipsey debut album, Victory Lap. A suitable title for an artist that is releasing a debut album, but already has accomplished more than some of your established rappers.

Nipsey putting me on game on Twitter

 The album starts with the album title single, “Victory Lap” featuring the vocals from Stacy Barthe, and lets you know what to expect from the album, Nipsey will be dropping knowledge, giving you the truth and speaking to you as a motivational speaker. If you listen to the album on the way to work, and don’t ask for a promotion when you get to work, you missed the album.

The features on this album are a symbol of how highly rated Nipsey Hussle is in the rap industry, from features with Diddy, Cee Lo-Green, YG, The Dream and a feature from Kendrick Lamar. All of these features bring the best out of the artists and are definitely a feature the artist wanted to be a part of, a perfect example is the single “Dedication” featuring Kendrick Lamar, where Kendrick and Nipsey go verse for verse speaking about the hard work they have put into the rap industry, and the challenges faced. But when you see where both are in the game now, the hard work has definitely paid off for them. Every feature in this album gives there all for Nipsey, and that’s when you know you have an artist that is respected amongst peers and fans. 

Honestly, I could talk about every single on this album, as the beats/verses/choruses are delivered to a high standard. This really feels like Nipsey Hussle has given his all for the album, he’s made the most out of the features he’s used, and known when they are needed, and when he can hold down a single by himself. The single “Hussle & Motivation” tells the story of how a young Nipsey got his foot into the game and made sure he never let his foot off the neck of the game, applying pressure whenever needed. “Status Symbol 3” features one of my favourite upcoming artists Buddy, who I’ve been a fan of since I heard “Shine” you know him and Nipsey have great chemistry between them, as they have featured on projects together many times and affiliated artists in the game now.

The album comes in at 65 minutes, which usually is a push for artists, but I feel with Nipsey charisma and art of storytelling, Nipsey made the time fly by quickly, and had me surprised when the album was finished as I did not realise the time had gone by so quickly. For a “debut album” from an artist that has been in hip hop for 10 years, got a net worth over $5million, you know that Nipsey has used the knowledge learnt over the years in the industry and avoided the missteps that could have ruined his careers and delivered a stand out album that should definitely be listened to by any fan of hip-hop. Take your Victory Lap Nipsey, you’ve deserved this.