– Written by KD
Nipsey Hussle and the Concept behind the ‘100 dollar Mixtape’.
Nipsey Hussle has been looked at as an innovator these last couple of weeks because of his concept of selling his new mixtape “Crenshaw” at $100 each copy. Although, there are some free copies available through the website Dat Piff.com. his main goal was for a 1000 copies to be sold at 100.00 each. He reached this goal however. He has been getting cosigns on this project from industry heavy weights such as Rick Ross (who is still trying to sign Nipsey to his Maybach Music Group Label) and the one and only Jay Z ( who bought 100 copies). All in all, after the first 1000 copies, Nipsey made about $100,000 off of the mixtapes he sold. Maybe it was a clever marketing scheme he added to include a free concert for those who bought the mixtape.
Nipsey Hussle is clearly on his “A” game. He claims he was inspired by the book “Contagious”, where the author discusses the idea of selling a $100 philly cheese steak. This really occurred however, and many people had different things to say about this steak. It gained national headlines as stars such as Oprah Winfrey and Dave Letterman came to buy this steak from the owner of the spot. Nipsey’s actions represent the movement that Jay Z has been talking about called the “New Rules”. Today musicians and other artist are crafting the rules for the music industry that have not been made before. Jay Z started his own version of the new rules by having Samsung, the cellular phone company, buy a million copies of his album before its intended release date. The music industry allowed this and now Nipsey has created his own version of the “New Rules” with his $100.00 mixtape.
The ‘$100 dollar mixtape’ is not the end of the new strategies for Nipsey Hussle. He claims that he will release his debut album for free as well. He will also include a fee for those who want to buy it. He feels that he can let the CD go for free because there will be those who bootleg his music. I feel that Nipsey is an extremely sharp businessman with a high mental acumen. He has a strong team around him that is helping him come up with some of these power moves that he has come up with lately.
I wish him nothing more than the best of luck for the future. The public response to his campaign has been incredible. Hopefully, this strategy that he has been implementing will translate into record sales since he is an independent artist for now. He claims he might sign a deal if the company that offers him a deal is able to abide by his demands and wishes (he claims he wants a partnership not just a basic record deal). Only time will tell for this hustling artist. They say hard-work pays off and hardwork beats talent when talent does not work hard. Nipsey Hussle is clearly making some noise in the music industry and it is only a matter of time until we see if the rest of the nation marches to the beat of his drum.
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