Subscribe
HipHopWired Featured Video
CLOSE

“That was a conscious decision to stand out and be independent without signing to anyone of those NWA, Dr. Dre, or Snoop labels. I felt like people felt that was the only way to be heard and be respected in LA, was by going through one of those venues.

So for us not doing that, it made us independent and made us know that we are the reason why we hot now.” – Nipsey Hussle

With a few selected mainstream West Coast artists, it is time for the youngins’ to carry the torch that veterans like NWA, Too Short, and Snoop Dogg lit awhile ago.

Although many artists have emerged from connections with NWA, Nipsey Hussle relies on nothing but raw talent and West coast love. From the streets of Los Angeles, Nipsey has set a reputation for himself that not only has the West Coast on notice, but the whole country.

Peep The Interview After The Jump With One Of The Leaders Of The  New WEST!!! [More]

With co-signed singles from Game himself, “Bullets Aint Got No Name” and “They Roll” have already been street bangers. Whether it be his delivery or his powerful lyrics that make Nipsey stand out, it has gotten Nipsey noticed from even those West Coast legends he grew up listening to.

From hard beginnings in the streets, to working with the industries biggest artists in a “We Are the World (remake)” Nipsey is destined to be one of the best from the West. Hip-Hop Wired recently talked to Nipsey to get the scoop of whats to come from one of the “XXL Freshmen of the Year” artist.

Hip-Hop Wired:  Tell us about your Bullets Ain’t Got No Names mix tape series.

Nipsey Hussle: The Bullets Ain’t Got No Names mix tape series was just my honest opinion the state of the world. There wasn’t any sales pitch or singles involved, it was just what I had to say about my environment and the culture of LA. It was about my perspective coming from the west side of LA and my honest analysis of life from where I was standing at that point before I had a record deal. It was just kind of like the honest truth about LA.

Hip-Hop Wired:  Where can we pick them up?

Nipsey Hussle: All of them are free basically. Some places sell them like the mom and pop CD retailers in LA but online you can get them from datpiff.com or nipseyhussle.com.

Hip-Hop Wired:  When’s the official debut album coming out and what can we expect to hear from it?

Nipsey Hussle: As far as the release date, it hasn’t been set yet but we are working every day on it. The title of the album is called South Central State of Mind, and I went into it with everybody. Anybody that’s either hot in the city, and even that’s outside the city is on this album. As far as producers, I went in with the J.U.S.T.I.C.E League, The Runners, Swizz Beatz, Drumma Boy, and just every kind of producer. As far as what makes the album, we haven’t really cut the list down yet. I’m still in creative mode just recording everything but it’s going to be well worth the wait, believe that.

Hip-Hop Wired:  Any features with the Game or Snoop? I know you been working with them lately.

Nipsey Hussle: For sure, me and Game did a gang of records and me and Snoop did a couple also. As a matter of fact, last night I just went in with Snoop and Game where we did a remix to a single he just did, the “Big Money” record. That’s going to hit radio real soon, so look out for that.

Hip-Hop Wired: What’s that like working with Snoop, a legend in the West Coast and the Game, a vet right now?

Nipsey Hussle: Obviously Snoop being such an icon and being so important to Hip-Hop and West Coast to be specific, it’s an honor to be even mentioned in the same sentence as him. To be brought into the project that they value my creativity, means a lot to me. Snoop is an A-1 dude. It ain’t like we get in there and be nervous around each other, we just zone out and talk about the concept. After that we just knock Shyte out.

Hip-Hop Wired:  You, Jay Rock, and Kendrick Lamar are pretty much the first wave of MCs from the West Coast that’s not affiliated with the NWA umbrella in years. Can you elaborate on how y’all did that?

Nipsey Hussle: As far as myself, that was a conscious decision to stand out and be independent without signing to anyone of those NWA, Dr. Dre, or Snoop labels. I felt like people felt that was the only way to be heard and be respected in LA, was by going through one of those venues.

So for us not doing that, it made us independent and made us know that we are the reason why we hot now. Based on our work and based on what we’ve put out. I feel like it’s important, because someone always wants to take something away from you and somebody else bringing you in the game.

They tried to say that about Game when 50 did some records with him, and also when Dre introduced him to the world. Now he’s standing out as his own artist but it took 3 or 4 albums for him to come out of that shadow. So going into it I wanted to make sure whether they love me or hate me and they loved me for me.

Hip-Hop Wired:  With the South and East coast kind of dominating the air and video play, do you feel the West coast is kind of in a slump right now?

Nipsey Hussle: No, we getting money. I feel like we ain’t in the forefront of the mainstream, but if you got hot music and you got a consistent brand you gonna be alright no matter where you come from. The region means something, but at the same time if you got undeniable records it becomes irrelevant at some point. I feel like it makes the artist work a little harder and makes us a little hungrier.

Hip-Hop Wired:  What’s the relationship with the Blacks and the Browns in West coast with the Mexicans and the Black gangs?

Nipsey Hussle: If you in an institutions then it’s war. You go to county jail or penitentiary then we are definitely enemies in there. On the streets though it’s less intense, but there are certain specific gangs that don’t get along with certain others. There are certain Black gangs that don’t get along with Hispanics at all, and certain Hispanic gangs that don’t get along with Blacks as well. For the most part though, that politic really exists in the institutions.

Hip-Hop Wired: What other projects do you have coming?

Nipsey Hussle: An artist I’m working with named Kid Cali should be coming out this year, so look out for him and my new label All Money In. I’ll be going on tour soon and having a lot of features with a lot of people. I’m going to be everywhere!