One form in which Hip-hop heads assess the reputation of an artist is by the duration of its prime; this method distinguishes decent rappers, whose tenure at the top of the game is short, from stars who have been popular for more than ten years. That being said, their pinnacle is a more clear indicator of the excellence of a performer, the time in which an MC performs at the total height of their forces.
Death in hip-hop can sound so routine that we’re desensitized to it often. A trending day subject, a bump in streaming figures, some kind words about the music of the artist, and then we’re going on. But in Nipsey Hussle’s case his effect had been distinct since his death in 2019.
Nipsey Hussle Legacy:
Who is Nipsey Hussle? Once touted as the potential king of West Coast rap, in return for control, he adopted a lesser position in the hip-hop establishment, enabling him to remain close to his origins. He converted the gangbanging tales into a personal fortune which he later spent in his own small businesses. He used the stories of his turbulent life past to market non-violence, schooling, and restoration to black kids in his city, rising from gangbanger to rapper to city activist. In the meantime, he became on his own terms an outsider star.
Music by Hussle, and the campaign behind it, focused on the upliftment of his culture. The 33-year-old ‘s plans for affordable accommodation, revitalization investments and STEM services in his native South Central LA have been illuminated in the year after his burial. Hussle’s appetite for learning has motivated the emergence of pop-up book clubs around the nation that read and dissect the same texts that Hussle did throughout his lifetime.
And the inspiring music of the musician, of course, is still the centrepiece of his pass. Hussle’s rap associates honoured him with an on-air tribute appearance at the 2020 Grammy Awards, and Hussle was given prizes in two categories, best rap output and best rap / sung appearance.
He spent most of his music describing himself — as a West Coast classicist who had never been trapped by his forefathers’ legacies; as a no-nonsense realist whose method was more of a roadmap to survival than of philosophy; as a reflective individual puzzling the issues plaguing his hood in song and performance. He was becoming recognized for his creative spirit as his rapping began to sharpen, especially selling CDs of his Crenshaw tape for $100 (JAY-Z bought $10,000 worth).
50 Cents (2003–05):
The emergence of 50 Cent reverberated across hip-hop in 2003, when the world witnessed the up-and-coming artist converting himself into a real phenomenon. All looked like it was orchestrated in a lab, from his backstory to the groundbreaking cover of his debut album; it would be 50 Cent if you were making a worldwide rap star. Unlike everything we’d ever seen, he conquered the year, getting the biggest hit in pop music (‘In Da Club’), while Get Rich or Die Tryin ‘became one of history’s best-selling records.
Jay-Z:
Jay-Z, the successor to the legacy of Big Daddy Kane, fused high school braggadocio with strong lyrics and swagger. Jay might make tracks to get the rockin of the club, make you ponder or just want to fight straight up. Fair Doubt is his crowning achievement, and Jay is a hip hop hero on the strength of the album alone. It is hard to beat his stage appearance and he reflects the nature of an MC.
2Pac:
An MC’s nature-lyrics, rhythm, stage performance ( i.e. an MC capable of pushing the crowd). No other artist has, potentially, left a larger reputation than Tupac. Tupac LIVED his motorcycle of Gang Life every day, the biggest irony of hip hop-social worker on one side, rapper at some moments, brutal misogynist at some. Like so many of the greats of the past, Tupac’s influence transcended music.
