Nipsey Hussle Breaks Down Why "Victory Lap" Is Rap Album Of 2018

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Nipsey Hussle performs onstage at the STAPLES Center Concert Sponsored by SPRITE during the 2018 BET Experience on June 23, 2018 in Los Angeles, California.
"This is what our genre sounds like at its best."

Nipsey Hussle took a risk to release his album at the top of the year. Despite the number of great albums we've received in the past 12 months, Victory Lap is still considered one of the best releases of the year. In a recent article in Billboard, the rapper said that he wasn't aiming to have the best album of the year, but rather, release something timeless.

Nipsey Hussle opened up on why he believes that Victory Lap should be considered the album of the year. His Grammy-nominated debut album was announced in 2017, but the rapper said that the project feels like a culmination of his entire career in the rap game.

"I just think the amount of life, the amount of narrative, the amount of truth, the amount of pieces of somebody's life stories that went into Victory Lap is one of the reasons why my album is the best rap album of 2018," he said. "I wasn't trying to make the album of the year, I was just trying to make something that would stand the test of time."

And he did. Instead of Victory Lap being forgotten about a few weeks after its release, the rapper's latest body of work became one of the most celebrated rap albums of the year. "I just wanted to do something timeless and that years from now, you'd enjoy it and say, "That was classic hip-hop right there. That's what our genre sounds like [at its best]," he said. 

He added, "I just felt like it was like a moment for me as a fan of hip-hop, and as a fan of the underdog, and just the American dream of coming from nothing to something."

Peep the article here. 


About The Author
Aron A. is a features editor for HotNewHipHop. Beginning his tenure at HotNewHipHop in July 2017, he has comprehensively documented the biggest stories in the culture over the past few years. Throughout his time, Aron’s helped introduce a number of buzzing up-and-coming artists to our audience, identifying regional trends and highlighting hip-hop from across the globe. As a Canadian-based music journalist, he has also made a concerted effort to put spotlights on artists hailing from North of the border as part of Rise & Grind, the weekly interview series that he created and launched in 2021. Aron also broke a number of stories through his extensive interviews with beloved figures in the culture. These include industry vets (Quality Control co-founder Kevin "Coach K" Lee, Wayno Clark), definitive producers (DJ Paul, Hit-Boy, Zaytoven), cultural disruptors (Soulja Boy), lyrical heavyweights (Pusha T, Styles P, Danny Brown), cultural pioneers (Dapper Dan, Big Daddy Kane), and the next generation of stars (Lil Durk, Latto, Fivio Foreign, Denzel Curry). Aron also penned cover stories with the likes of Rick Ross, Central Cee, Moneybagg Yo, Vince Staples, and Bobby Shmurda.
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