Nipsey Hussle - Diamonds

Booth favorite Nipsey Hussle knows he’s got what it takes to succeed on a national level, and, with 13 features under his belt, he’s got just about everyone in the Booth standing behind him.  On this cut off Bullets Ain’t Got No Name (Vol. 3), the up-and-comer uses a quote from Biggie‘s Dangerous Emcees to explain what he’ll be doing once he hits it big: “Diamonds on my neck, chrome drop-top. Chillin on the scene…“ The subject matter is just what you’d expect from a Slauson boy with a taste for the gangsta classics, but Hussle elevates the cut with plenty of gritty quotables, and a few oddball gems that take a few spins to truly sink in; the couplet “So-so-ass rappers get no dough/ in the presence of this hip-hop Jacques Cousteau” seems both funnier and smarter with each repeat listen.  S1‘s midtempo, piano-driven groove sets the right mood, but the underlying rhythm is a touch off-kilter—personally, I can’t decide if it’s intriguingly different or just kinda confusing.  In any case, Hussle fans will want to check back with the Booth this summer, when BAGNN volume three and the emcee’s contribution to our exclusive freestyle series are slated to hit our front page.