Quotes by Nipsey Hussle

I always wanted to do things right and represent myself as somebody that took the art serious and someone that took the business serious also, so I had time to weigh the options and figure it out and do my best to create the situation that was ideal.

Every artist wants something different out the game.

Cardi B put a lot of work in.

At the core, one of my original goals is to redefine what the streets expect.

I always had faith in my creative capacity.

I built a label at the same time I built a career.

Looking at 2014, I look back: we made more money off 'Mailbox Money' than we would have made off taking an advance from anybody. We made more money letting our fans buy the stuff directly from us than what any label could have offered us.

My music is influenced by L.A. culture.

We was able to become real successful in the mixtape space.

I'm touring the world, not doing nothing against the law, getting money to feed my family. I got employees that have felonies, and they can't get jobs. They work for me.

I really love the culture of hip-hop.

I think Ye is important to hip-hop.

My life is real.

'Victory' is like, you won, so the question is, what? What did you win? I think that the songs go into that. It's just about reaching a place in myself.

I respect Soulja Boy.

From the beginning of my rap career, since I was seen and heard, I always had a store.

I don't ever make moves under pressure.

If I inspire you, pay for it, period.

Compton got such a legacy in hip-hop.

When I first stopped going to high school, I was about 15, 16. It had to be, like, 2000, 2001.

I knew 'Crenshaw' had elevated me and distinguished me.

Snoop ain't never cosigned me, but I know everybody is like, 'That's the next Snoop.' Nah, I'm Nipsey, and I got to work to define myself.

A solution built by an artist serves the artist more than the solution the capitalist comes up with.

I built a company at the same time I built a career.

The artist part of me always wants to be appreciated. I read every review. But I never wanted to seek validation by awards or anything controlled by politics.

I'm not in it for fame. I've been famous in the streets already.

The reason children accept discipline from their parents is because they know their parents love them.

You've got to have faith in what you're doing and not take no for an answer.

I think that every artist -- or anybody that's in business -- could benefit from a direct-to-consumer strategy, so I think that that applies to us as artists and content creators, too.

I never thought my granny, somebody that was born down South, who witnessed America when it was segregated, would see, in her lifetime, an African-American in office as the President of the United States. It's major, it's a real historic day.

Anybody that doesn't like Cardi B a hater!

I realized the power of hip-hop. I realized how influential this music and this culture are.

Material things ain't nothing. You feel me? At the end of the day, it's who you is. You wasn't born with it; you gon' die without it.

As is the case with most people in this game, I am driven by financial motives and creative motives; the question I had to answer is which motive I will give priority to?

I grew up in an environment where being polite was taken as a weakness. So I just fought everybody.

I pay attention to politics and technology.

If you 35, 28, or 30 years old, and you decide you're gonna pick up a rag and start bangin', and you can look yourself in the mirror and you still feel like you're a man? That's cool, do your thing.

Look at Pusha-T. He makes a certain type of rap music. 'Daytona' is that on the highest level.

My experience with power, you can maintain it, or you get it taken from you. You get you some newfound power and go crazy, and it get taken from you quick.

Luck is just bein' prepared at all times, so when the door opens you're ready.

I want to thank my Eritrean fans for feeling connected to me and for supporting me. I feel extremely grateful.

I went through every emotion with tryna pursue what I'm doing, you know what I mean? And I think what's gon' separate whoever's gon go for something, that you ain't gon' quit.

I get a more passionate delivery when I just go in the booth and let the music talk.

As an entrepreneur, as an investor, I'm trying to be as educated as I can to where the progression of technological capability is going and what it does to these different categories that, me as an artist and an influencer, I can get involved and bring value.

I believe that economics is based on scarcity of markets. And it's possible to monetize your art without compromising the integrity of it for commerce.

I believe that we should own the fruits of our labor and the assets of our creations.

A lot was accomplished in my mixtape career. But I still needed a few things: I needed to be recognized. I need to have radio. I need to have a real retail machine that can get us where we need to get that.

People that's in power -- the central banks, these fiat currencies that are traded globally -- they got influence over the messaging and the narrative in the media.

I got an album concept called 'Exit Strategy,' that might be one of my last ones. It's a term they use in business when you build companies. You create an exit strategy as you make a company. You don't wait till you're five years in it; you create a exit strategy as you make the company.

My mom is American, so I was raised in her household in my formative years.

My thing is that I don't give no person that much power over my path that I'm walking. Not one person can make or break what I'm doing, except me or God.

Being self-made means never making an excuse as to why you can't take steps toward whatever your goal is.

All the smart money got they bets on me And all the real niggas wish the best for me.

As gang members, as young dudes in the streets, especially in L.A., we're the effect of a situation. We didn't wake up and create our own mindstate and our environment; we adapted our survival instincts.

If you don't know your full-throttle history, the whole story of how you came to where you are, it's kind of hard to put things together.

As an artist, as a brand, as a rapper, as a musician, you know you got a window and a lot of people, even an athlete; they don't have no exit strategy. It's just living in the false reality that it's going to be like this forever.

You listen to Charlie Parker or John Coltrane before they found their voice, they sounded different. And when you listen to them after they found their voice on their instruments, they sound more confident and in control. Artists have that, too.

Game's always been open arms with me.

I respect Snoop even aside from the music, just as a man, and especially the way he still represents who he is, after being a pop star and an icon. He's done it successfully and has still been able to balance it.

One pillar to wealth is having residual income.

Premature certainty is the enemy of the truth.

I was never ignorant, as far as being experienced in classrooms and learning about different subjects and actually soaking it up.

Obviously from childhood to my teenage years, I really came into my own. I left the house early; I was on the streets when I was, like, 15. I've been holdin' my own since that age.

Proud 2 Pay -- that's something that distinguishes me, that's something that defines me, and we're going to keep that going.

I hope my story inspires everyone out there to keep hustling and chasing their dreams.

I try to sprinkle a little gems and jewels in the music that people could use in their own life.

On a mission your worst enemy is idle time.

I actually met The Game in my hood on Crenshaw and Slauson. I was outside on the block with 20 of my homies. I see the Range Rover, and we all walked up to his car. I handed him my CD.

It's not called quitting if you quit while you ahead. It's about being aware and being strategic enough to know that you got to get out the pool at some point. You got to put your clothes back on and dry off.

In Eritrea in key positions -- president, government, police -- everybody's the same color. It's a country run by its people. No racial class, everybody feels a part of it.

We represent a hustler. I think we represent inspiration. I think we represent, you know, staying down. I think we represent building yourself up from the bootstraps.

I identify myself as a hustler since I was a young kid.

I'm at peace with what I'm doing, I feel good with what I wake up doing and about my lifestyle.

I intend to inspire people with my story: motivate young people that grew up like myself, or even not like myself. Just, you know, go through the human experience.

I say that in the most humble way: I always knew that I could perform with the best of 'em and I could deliver with the best of 'em.

It sounds simple telling people to work hard and never quit, but to really execute and demonstrate those principles takes discipline and faith. Those are the two factors that I believe separate the good from the great, the successes from the failures.

Even as you make progress, you need the discipline to keep from backtracking and sabotaging the success as it's happening.