Happy Birthday, Nip!

Ermias Asghedom was a legend far beyond his years in wisdom, leadership, inspiration and the pursuit of success.

I wanted to wait until a lot of the noise and outpouring of tributes surrounding the passing of Nip had died down to write this. Partially b/c, I didn’t want to be lumped in with the group of people who upon his death, all of a sudden were life long fans (not that I have anything against people caught up in the wave).

Some people already know this, but for those who don’t. I used to be a part of a start up. The key investor’s daughter in that start up was a very senior marketing person at Frito Lay for a time, and came in to help. One of the things that she introduced us to was a firm that upon defining helping us define our brand had us fill out a questionnaire. I still use it for my web development company when we do intake. The key question that always sticks out to me is:

Imagine your brand was a person(s), who would it be, and why?

Well for this brand, that’s easy. On any given day, I’d probably go back and forth with Malcolm and Pimp C, but for the most part it’s Nipsey Hussle.

Nipsey, being of Ethiopian descent and growing up in Crenshaw, both recognized the importance and was an embodiment of a deep connection to black American culture , and a connection to Africa and black consciousness.

He never shied away from where he grew up and what being a RSC represented. But, he also represented the advancement of self and community through: seeking and attaining knowledge, pride in heritage and sense of self, and practical application of that knowledge gained through discipline and hard work.

That is what I want this brand to represent. An acknowledgement of the things that are a part of the core fabric of our makeup as individuals and as a community which includes things that may not always be explicitly positive. But also the ascension and elevation of self and people through knowledge, being true to who you are and who and where you come from and systematic improvement of self and community.

Happy Birthday, King.