Nipsey Hussle - Victory Lap

Pitchfork 78

The long-awaited debut from the Los Angeles rapper cashes in on its promise. It’s the most gripping record in his catalog.

The Guardian 60

(Atlantic)

In what might be rap’s longest promo campaign, G-funk revivalist Nipsey Hussle has been announcing the imminent arrival of his debut album, Victory Lap, since 2012. The album release date has shifted from 2013 to 2014 to 2016, to 2018, while Hussle has been making his name from a steady stream of mixtapes (including 2013’s Crenshaw, which he sold at $100 a pop, netting $100,000 in the process). The wait has been so long that many fans had consigned Victory Lap to the same graveyard of unreleased west coast classics as Dr Dre’s Detox album – now Hussle has finally deemed it worthy to be released, expectations are understandably high.

In Victory Lap’s best moments, Hussle effortlessly claims his place as crown prince of G-funk’s new school. On tracks such as Rap Niggas and Last Time That I Checc’d (where he’s joined by fellow LA revivalist YG) his brags rasp as hoarse and righteous as a man in the middle of a three-day bender, riding beats built from oozing bass swagger and slinking Compton synths, as brash and gleeful as peak-era NWA. It’s visceral west coast rap at its unapologetic finest, as Hussle refreshes cliches of unstoppable prowess with the conviction of a true believer. Elsewhere, there are saggy moments. Tracks are padded out with meandering instrumental outros – presumably to lend the album the cinematic gravitas a six-year gestation period demands; instead, they seem self-indulgent. At least half the album feels like padding, and there’s nothing with the sheer rage and power of his verses on 2016 anti-Trump classic FDT. Perhaps Hussle isn’t quite ready for the victory lap just yet.