A couple weeks ago we told you about Nipsey Hussle selling a mixtape for $100 a copy, proving a point, and giving it away for free the same day. That instinct, own the work outright, bet on yourself, never ran out.
Prolific, his posthumous album with Bino Rideaux, is the latest continuation of that legacy. Recorded in 2017, produced by Mike & Keys, Mixed By Ali, and a handful of others who understood exactly what the moment called for, it's not something assembled after the fact. It's the record Nipsey and Bino actually made together.
It ships this Friday, August 14th, the day before what would have been Nipsey's 41st birthday.
If you've been holding off on the pre-order, this is the week.
From the Crate
"He didn't ask permission to charge what he thought the work was worth. He just did it, and let the market answer."
Also Shipping Friday
Prolific isn't the only thing arriving August 14th. Mos Def's The Ecstatic, one of the most fully realized records in his catalog, Madlib, J Dilla, and Oh No behind the boards, Slick Rick and Talib Kweli on the mic, is getting its first-ever vinyl pressing. Clear red 2xLP, and there's one copy left.
One More Thing
Coming Thursday: the story behind Conway The Machine and Prodigy's Hell Still On Earth, a two-track EP from 2016 that borrowed its title directly from Mobb Deep, and one of the last documented moments of Prodigy on record before hip-hop lost him.
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— Diony C.