Blacc Sam, Nipsey Hussle's brother, gave an update on the Bootleg Kev Podcast, explaining why the long-discussed documentary series about his brother has taken years to complete. "We didn't want to sell it to certain individuals and certain companies trying to come in and take creative control," he said. "We've just been taking a step back and doing it the long way," he added. "Self-financing it a hundred thousand at a time."
The result has grown into something much larger than a traditional documentary. Sam said the current version runs roughly eight or nine episodes, built from an archive he described vividly: "We got footage from everywhere," he said. "Footage from things I didn't even think existed. We have hundreds and hundreds of hours of footage to go through."
That material reaches back well before Victory Lap or The Marathon Clothing store. Sam said viewers will see Nipsey as a child and follow him teaching himself to record and make beats, then through his early hustling years, including footage from when he was "selling dope" in his neighborhood, before the point where music stopped being an experiment and became the career he intended to build.
The family footage may prove just as revealing. Sam said the series also gets into Nipsey's home life and the birth of his daughter, opening parts of his story that stayed largely private even as his public profile grew, a level of access Sam said is one reason the project has stayed episodic rather than a single feature.
"We're looking at another five to six months to just finish it," he told Bootleg Kev. "Then, once it's finished, there's nothing up for critique or anything, this is it." After that, the priority becomes finding a distributor able to put Nipsey's story in front of the widest possible audience; Netflix is high on his wish list, though no deal has been announced.
The documentary lands amid an active year of posthumous activity for the hip-hop icon, including the album Prolific with Bino Rideaux, word that he once turned down a label offer from Rick Ross's MMG, and an unreleased joint album with YG that Blacc Sam says is still in the works.
The facts
- Blacc Sam gave the update on the Bootleg Kev Podcast
- The family has self-financed the project rather than sell creative control
- The series has grown to roughly eight or nine episodes
- It draws from hundreds of hours of archival footage
- It covers Nipsey's childhood through his early music and hustling years
- It also covers his home life and the birth of his daughter
- Sam says the team needs another five to six months to finish
- Netflix is high on his wish list for distribution, with no deal announced
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