There are three ways to hear Nipsey Hussle's mixtape Mailbox Money, which dropped on December 31st. You can download it for free. You can buy it for ten bucks on iTunes. Or you can pay $1000 for one of its 100 hard copies and also get an invite to a listening party for Nipsey's studio debut Victory Lap.
Human nature suggests most will go for option one. But in an interview with the Guardian, Hussle revealed that so far an impressive 60 music fans have bucked up for the third option
"It surprises me," he says. “As much as I believe in it. Every time I get a transaction, I get a text on my phone, and I’ve been hitting them back. The feedback and the connection I have with these people help me understand the psychology of the person paying $1,000 for some songs that, realistically, you could download for free."Hussle has used this #ProudToPay tactic before. In 2013, he put 1,000 copies of his mixtape Crenshaw up for sale at $100 each, and ended up selling out.
But there's a big difference between $100 and $1000, and getting 60 (and counting) sales at the higher price is a pretty impressive testament to his music.