Master P is still coming to terms with the death of Nipsey Hussle, having stressed in a new interview that the late rapper received a lot of “fake love” after his passing.
The 51-year-old discussed how Nipsey’s artistry, particularly with his debut album, Victory Lap — which was released in February 2018 — wasn’t given the same amount of praise until Nipsey, whose real name is Airmiess Joseph, died in March 2019.
Following the release of Victory Lap, the record debuted at No. 4 on Billboard’s Hot 200, with first-week sales amounting to 53,000 units before it reached a new peak at No. 2 in the wake of the senseless shooting that ended up taking Nipsey’s life outside of his Marathon Clothing Store.
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Master P was very vocal in saying that Nipsey had spent a lot of time perfecting his album, only for it to receive moderate success after its release. But right after the father-of-two’s death, not only did his music sales begin to surge, but thousands of people began coming out of the woodwork to pay tribute to him.
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The No Limit Records founder is now asking the question of why that same amount of love Nipsey received after his passing was not shown while he was still alive, especially during a time when the latter began to doubt himself when Victory Lap didn’t perform as well as he hoped.
“He was like, ‘Man, I put my all into this project….And then when it didn’t happen, – and just watching the people, this guy didn’t know that his funeral was at the Staples Center,” Master P explained, per TheJasmineBrand. “He didn’t know that he had that type of love.”
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According to the ‘90s rap legend, when the reception to Victory Lap had proven to be minuscule, people were alleged to have discouraged Nipsey by telling him that he may not be as good of a rapper as he thought.
Interestingly enough, however, the project has since earned a Platinum plaque for sales upwards of one million units, which has left Master P completely baffled.
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“Let’s be honest, he was still in Inglewood and Crenshaw trying to figure it out […] People would tell him, ‘Well, I don’t think that you got it.’ What happened? I mean, it’s the same album,” he remarked.
“The same album that people love now. That’s the part that I don’t understand. That’s why we got to celebrate while we were here. Stop it with fake love.”
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“I just think in our culture, it just natural that people just self-hate. They don’t want to see somebody else make it until they are gone. You don’t want to tell somebody they are great while they are alive. That’s the thing that I just couldn’t understand about Nipsey is that he was talented.”
Nipsey is survived by his two children: daughter Emani, 13, and five-year-old son Kross Ermias, 5, whom he shares with actress Lauren London.