Topics in Recorded Music: Nipsey Hussle: the Path of the Activist Artist

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In 2019, hip-hop artist Nipsey Hussle—born Ermias Asghedom in 1985—was murdered in front of a clothing store he owned in South Los Angeles. The outpouring of grief and condolences spoke to a cultural resonance greater than the sum of Hussle's career achievements. Where hip-hop's previous decades had been filled with entrepreneurs and investors whose primary purpose was enriching themselves and flaunting those riches, Hussle's independent hustle spoke to some loftier ideals. Hussle had become a local and national hero in his attempts to link his own commercial success to the community whence he came, launching local businesses, using his access to power to create change, healing long-held rifts in local gang culture, and providing a powerful example to other independent artists about how to monetize their creativity. In this 7-week class, join Rob Kenner, the author of Hussle's biography, "The Marathon Don't Stop," to examine the life and work of this influential artist as a way to answer a larger question that has daunted and dogged activist-artists for much of the history of our popular music: What are the promises and limits of using art as a platform to help a community, especially for one artist acting alone?