“Grinding All My Life” by Nipsey Hussle

“Grinding” is a slang term which basically means to work. But when used by the likes of Nipsey Hussle, especially within the context of his early years, it is actually more synonymous with hustling, as in being engaged in some illicit activity in order to earn money. Youth growing up in neighborhoods like Crenshaw, where Nipsey came from, don’t come from families with their own businesses, and often are not inclined to go to the formal sector in search of work. So when they want to earn money, their grind is more along the lines of drug dealing and violent activities.

Nipsey has been committed to the grind for so long that he considers himself married to it. And accordingly, he brings up the dangerous, crime-filled past that he came from. However, now the game has changed, and he has gone legit. In other words, instead of engaging in street activities, now he is a successful rapper, with the latter more or less being a continuation of the success he experienced in the first.

The most-outstanding part of this track is when Nipsey references an 2011 incident involving 50 Cent, Floyd Mayweather and a whole bunch of other people that allegedly popped out because someone tried to steal his chain. According to Hussle, it wasn’t he the thieves targeted but rather people in his entourage. Either way, this ultimately resulted in the main culprit catching a bad one, as well as Hussle ‘fleeing the scene with 50 Cent and Mayweather’.