“So Cold” by Privaledge (Ft. Nipsey Hussle)

This is a track that Philly-based rapper Privaledge dropped in 2019 featuring and in honor of the late Nipsey Hussle, who died just a couple of days prior to its release. The song is centered on the “world” being “so cold”. In other words, the artists rap about coming from an unforgiving environment where one has to hustle and be wise in order to make it.

Hussle’s verse begins with him telling listeners that they must strive hard in order to fulfill their goals.  And of course, as in most of his raps, he brings up the point that he was making buku dollars even before he became a famous rapper and disses whoever insinuate that he wasn’t. Hussle then throws additional shade at a person(s) who is ridin’ him but acts like his isn’t by stating that the woman this individual is involved with is actually more interested in him. Nipsey then basically ends the verse by threatening people who ‘play with his money’.

Privaledge begins his section sticking to the overall theme of the song by more or less stating that the powers-that-be prefer to see Black men in jail rather than prospering and enjoying life. He then details some of the challenges of growing up in the ‘hood, such as the financial appeal of drug dealing. Later he claims that some of the entertainers whom the listeners look up to aren’t genuinely concerned with or are too afraid to identify with their roots. But he then gives a shoutout to some who are, such as Drake, J. Cole and Kendrick Lamar. He also acknowledges the possibility of himself getting murdered by a “hater” and his hope to make as much of an impact as possible before then. Ultimately he wraps up the verse by stating that it is an exercise in self-analysis.

Sadly and strangely enough, Nipsey Hussle was eventually murdered. He was shot dead on March 31, 2019 in Los Angeles. He was just 33 years old at the time of his death.