Nipsey Hussle adds to the independent blueprint

photo courtesy of Billboard

With his debut album, Victory Lap set to release soon, let's take a look at how he's been able to sustain this continued run of success on the independent tip.

Having always been a maverick when it comes to music, and entrepreneurship as a whole, the partnership with Atlantic Records may come as a surprise to some. But when you break it down, it actually makes perfect sense. After leaving Epic Records in 2010 and launching his independent label, All Money In, Nipsey has been steadily building his brand and cashing checks along the way. Through his label, he signed himself and built the machine he needed, his way. That leverage created all the difference at the negotiating table. In an interview with Billboard, he spoke on the partnership saying, “It’s not about fame, ambition or getting a radio record. The decision really came down to the message I’m trying to get across.” The Crenshaw emcee went on to say, “I wanted to give that message the best chance to be heard and consumed on the highest level. That was my goal from the jump as All Money In took time to build its position in the hip-hop lane.” Although the exact terms of the deal are undisclosed, it’s for multiple albums and All Money In will retain control of it’s roster that won’t be exclusive to Atlantic.

So how’d he do it? Three words: Engage. Mobilize. Monetize.

Here’s a quick breakdown that I’ll expand on in a later post.
Engage your fans through your music. Mobilize them through interviews and your social profiles. Then monetize on that mobilization by leading them to purchase merchandise, buy tickets to shows, listen on streaming services and put others on. Wash, rinse, repeat.

So what has been the key piece of his formula for success? Ownership.

Products and Merchandise
Through The Marathon Clothing and now The Marathon Store, he’s released countless pieces that reinforce his brand and speak to his following. While some may shrivel their faces at the price points, anywhere from $25-$225, others are proud to pay and show their support of an artist they love. Case and point with his Proud 2 Pay campaign. Comparable to Bandcamp’s model, just more evolved, through the campaign he allows fans to purchase music that’s available for free elsewhere. We first saw the campaign with his 2013 release, Crenshaw. He pressed up 1,000 physical copies, available for $100 each, a tactic sparked by reading Jonah Berger’s book Contagious: Why things catch on. Not only did he sell all 1,000 copies (that’s $100K for those counting at home) he also got the attention of Jay-Z who chipped in and bought 100 copies. He then upped the ante with his most recent release, Mailbox Money, pressing up only 100 copies available for $1,000 bucks each. This is a beautiful example of engaging with your fans and mobilizing them to support at their appropriate level of fandom.

Touring
According to Songkick, since 2010, Nipsey has been on 173 shows both stateside and overseas. While I can’t speak on how much he made, I do know those debits went to him and All Money In, not some outside label catching kickbacks. For those that don’t know, with 360 deals, labels get a piece of everything you do as an artist. With pirating and streaming having literally changed the way music is consumed, artists will tell you that show money is really where it’s at. Just ask Curren$y whose been performing for packed houses from his mixtape discography for years. Most recently resurrecting some of my personal favorites for the Pilot Talk Trilogy Tour.

Owning his catalogue
Around this time last year, in an Instagram post that has since been removed, Nipsey shared that he raked in just over $908K from Tunecore alone. Something that wouldn’t have been possible had he relinquished his masters or had to heavily split publishing with outside labels.
When he first launched the Proud 2 Pay campaign, there was some backlash, mostly from people who look like us. It kind of makes you think about how we discredit and ask for discounts from each other but are willing to pay full price to other cultures. Nip even spoke on those same sentiments when asked about it.

Additionally, Hussle is an investor in The Marathon Agency, which led the charge for the Marathon Store and his Proud 2 Pay Campaign. He also traveled to Amsterdam earlier this year to personally invest in new Crypto Currency social network, Follow Coin. Oh yeah, there’s also a book on the way as well.

Fans of Nipsey finally got the news we had been waiting on in April of last year when he announced, via Twitter(https://twitter.com/NipseyHussle/status/850122433675710464), that his long awaited album Victory Lap was finally done.

Now, with the ink dry on this partnership with Atlantic, we’ve finally got a release date for the highly anticipated debut that you can pre-order on iTunes here (https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/rap-n-s/1316706552?i=1316706679).