The increased sales of another underground rapper’s music following news of his passing seems to prove the theory that the news of musicians’ death can affect their popularity.
According to Billboard.com, Nipsey Hussle’s 2018 ‘Victory Lap’ Album is aiming for Top 10 return on Billboard 200 Chart. The website states that the late rapper’s album could earn between an additional 40,000 and 60,000 equivalent album units in the week ending April 4, following a surge of interest in his music after his death on Sunday. This is in comparison to the previous week when the album tallied about 3,000 units.
Victory Lap was Hussle’s first studio album and from its release in February 2018 through to the week ending March 28 of this year, the Victory Lap set had earned 302,000 equivalent album units, and its songs have accumulated 300 million on-demand audio streams, according to Nielsen Music. The album also granted Hussle his first Grammy award nomination for best rap album early this year.
Nipsey is not the only slain rapper to benefit from a boost of sales following his death. XXXtentacion, real name Dwayne Onfroy, also received a rise in popularity after he was murdered on June 18, 2018, in an apparent robbery just outside a motorcycle store in Deerfield Beach, Florida.
Xxxtentacion became a part of the high-earning dead celebrities such as Michael Jackson, Elvis Presley, Bob Marley, Hugh Hefner and more. X made $11 million, largely from being one of the most streamed musicians of 2018. X racked up more than four billion streams and he was honoured at both the American Music Awards and BET Hip Hop Awards. Notably, his single, Moonlight went 2x Platinum in December