LOS ANGELES, CA – JUNE 23: (EDITORS NOTE: This image has been converted to black and white. Color version available.) 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. (Photo by Ser Baffo/Getty Images for BET)
From $100 albums (which sold thousands of copies) to building a brand and “smart” store with The Marathon Clothing that integrates technology into the framework of the shop, Los Angeles rap star Nipsey Hussle is no stranger to innovation and entrepreneurship.
Hussle is well known for his love and allegiance to his Crenshaw neighborhood. And as an owner of several successful businesses in the Crenshaw district of South Los Angeles, he has dedicated the fruits of his success into uplifting the community that raised him. His latest ventures include a co-working space with a STEM center on the second level, in collaboration with Los Angeles real estate developer Dave Gross.
Made clear in his business moves both inside and outside of the music industry, is that economic empowerment is a keystone in Hussle’s message. As a long time independent artist he maintained control of his brand, message, and career until he was able to receive the leverage and deal that he wanted from a major record label.
His 2018 first major label release “Victory Lap” (Atlantic Records) debuted at number four on the Billboard charts. However, the opening of Vector90 a co-working space in his Crenshaw neighborhood would become his most impactful work to date.
As an early investor and champion of cryptocurrency, blockchain and other technology-based advancements, Hussle is no stranger to the world of STEM and its growing value in the marketplace. The mission behind Vector90 is toengage inner-city communities, according to their website “spaces will anchor cultural and intellectual hubs for entrepreneurs and creatives, and will heighten the economic and social fabric of the neighborhoods [we] enter”.
A major aim of the space is to minimize the economic gaps that are growing across the country, specifically in black and brown communities, through empowering local startups in tech arenas. By reducing income inequality in these neighborhoods, it increases the chances of economic mobility for those living there.
LOS ANGELES, CA – OCTOBER 22: Nipsey Hussle greets kids at the Nipsey Hussle x PUMA Hoops Basketball Court Refurbishment Reveal Event on October 22, 2018 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Jerritt Clark/Getty Images for PUMA)
True to his name, Nipsey Hussle, has always taken traditional avenues of business to the next level through sheer grind and innovation. Now, at 33 years old Hussle is taking his mission of neighborhood empowerment to the next level by attacking the foundation of any successful community, education.
Recognizing that the future of the industry lies within the fields of science, technology, engineering and mathematics, the second level of Vector90 is home to a community STEM lab, “Too Big To Fail”. Too Big To Fail is a “STEM center and MakerSpace that encourage design, thinking, and innovation in local youth.
In partnership with Vector90, we’re creating impactful hubs where neighborhood youth can feed off of each other’s talent, creativity and support”. Nipsey says that he hopes that the center will serve as “a bridge between silicon valley and the inner city”.
While Crenshaw may be home to the first STEM center from Nipsey Hussle, it won’t be the last as he and his team have plans to launch centers around the country. His ultimate goal with the Too Big to Fail STEM centers is to create a “resource network across the country” that kids from the inner cities can tap into for inspiration, mentorship, and access to the technologies of the future.
Dr. Kevin Kinney, board certified and licensed Chiropractic Physician featured on INSIDER.com, TheTodayShow.com & BlackDoctorsMatter.org. Connect with Dr. Kev at drkevinkinney.com or @DrDuval904
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