Victory Lap (song)

## Song by Nipsey Hussle featuring Stacy Barthe

"**Victory Lap**" is a song by Nipsey Hussle, released as the lead title track from his only studio album, *Victory Lap* (2018). The official music video premiered posthumously on December 31, 2018, directed by Sergio.

## Background

Hussle told *NPR*, "If you check the stats—the murder rates and incarceration rates in the years I was a teenager in L.A.—in my section of the Crenshaw District, in the Rollin 60s, none of my peers survived. None of my peers avoided prison. None of 'em. Everybody got bullet wounds and felonies and strikes. So to make it out mentally stable and not in prison and not on drugs, that's a win. That's a victory in itself. Then to be in the position I find myself in as an artist and entrepreneur who has respect around the world—that's legendary. And I say it in the most humble way.

"That's what I was talking about in that line. When I reflect on it, it's unbelievable. It's gotta be evidence of a divine presence, because it wasn't that I'm just the smartest dude or just wiggled my way through. It had to be a calling on my life and I started to see that."

## Lyrics

**Lyrics**
[Intro: Stacy Barthe, *Arctic Monkeys*]

Woah-oh

Woah-oh

Woah-oh

*Like the beginning of Mean Streets, you could* (Oh)

*Like the beginning of Mean Streets, you could*

*Like the beginning of Mean Streets, you could*

[Verse 1: Nipsey Hussle, *Arctic Monkeys*]

I'm prolific, so gifted

I'm the type that's gon' go get it, no kiddin'

Breaking down a Swisher front of your buildin'

Sitting on the steps, feeling no feelings

Last night, it was a cold killin'

You gotta keep the devil in his hole, n\*\*\*a

But you know how it go, n\*\*\*a

I'm front line every time it's on, n\*\*\*a

Hunnid proof flow, run and shoot pro

458 drop, playin' "Bullet Proof Soul"

Every few shows, I just buy some new gold

Circle got smaller, everybody can't go

Downtown, Diamond District, jewelers like, "Yo

Hussle, holla at me, I got Cubans on the low"

Flew to Cancun, smokin' Cubans on the boat

Then docked at Tulum just to smoke, look

Listening to music at the Mayan Ruins

True devotion on the bluest ocean, cruisin'

My cultural influence even rival Lucien

I'm integrated vertically, y'all n\*\*\*as blew it

They tell me, "Hussle, dumb it down, you might confuse 'em"

This ain't that weirdo rap you motherfuckers used to

*Like the beginning of Mean Streets*

I'm an urban legend, South Central in a certain section

Can't express how I curved detectives

Guess it's evidence of a divine presence, blessings

Held me down, at times, I seem reckless, F it

You got an L, but got an E for effort, stretched him

Dropped him off in the Mojave desert, then left him

Ain't no answer to these trick questions

Money Makin' Nip, straighten out my jewelry on my bitch dresser

Well known, flick up and jail pose

Snatch a champagne bottle from Rico's 'til T show

Whatever, n\*\*\*a, playin' chess, not checkers, n\*\*\*a

Thirty-eight special for you clever n\*\*\*as

See, bro, if you ain't live and die by the street code

Been through all these motions, up and down like a see-saw

I can never view you as my equal

Fuck I wanna hear your CD for?

[Chorus: Stacy Barthe, *Arctic Monkeys*]

*Like the beginning of Mean Streets*

*Like the beginning of Mean Streets*

*Like the beginning of Mean Streets*

*Like the beginning of Mean Streets*

*Like the beginning of Mean Streets*

*Like the beginning of Mean Streets*

(We gotta make it)

*Like the beginning of Mean Streets*

[Verse 2: Nipsey Hussle]

Yeah, look

I'm finna take it there

This time around, I'ma make it clear

Spoke some things into the universe and they appeared

I say it's worth it, I won't say it's fair

Find your purpose or you wastin' air

Fuck it, though, y'all n\*\*\*as scared

Eyes opened, I can see it clear

They don't make 'em bar none, they don't make 'em real

They don't make it where I'm from, they don't take it here

They ain't see in due time, I be makin' mils

Bossed up in this game, I been makin' deals

Get your lawyer on the phone, we can make it real

I got checks and balance, I flex dramatic

Other fifty on my neck, just my reckless habit

Ain't no pussy on my rep, disrespect the savage

I make one phone call and the rest get handled

It's just another front step with candles

Lil' message from the set, "We accept your challenge"

[Outro: Stacy Barthe]

Woah-oh

Woah-oh

Woah-oh

Woah, woah

We gotta make it, yeah, we gotta

We gotta make it, oh, we gotta make it

Oh, ah, ooh

We gotta make it, oh

Victory Lap

## References

1. ↑ Carmichael, Rodney (February 16, 2018). "Nipsey Hussle Tells the Epic Stories Behind 'Victory Lap,' Track by Track". *NPR*.