4. Jay-Z
When he sampled Jay-Z’s “Hard Knock Life” for “Hussle & Motivate,” Nipsey says that he went through Jay who originally negotiated his own sample back in ’98 to include a clause that every rapper after him could get the clearance to use the song. In other words, if a rapper wants to sample the Annie record, they can but have to go through Jigga to get the green light. Nipsey met Jay back in the day when Hova copped the lowrider from the “Best of Me” video from his man. Jay eventually copped 100 copies of Nipsey’s Crenshaw project for $100 a piece.
