Don’t Let the Water in the Boat: Thinking of Nipsey Hussle Two Years Later

Reflections on the rapper’s passing

“Don’t let the water in the boat,” Nipsey Hussle told me on February 22, 2018, six days after the release of his album Victory Lap. “The boat’ll never go down if you don’t let the water in the boat.” It was advice he shared with his daughter sometimes, wise words to hang onto when facing any kind of adversity.

“And that’s just water,” he said. “You know what I’m sayin’? That’s just rough seas. We got a destination. We tryin’ to get across the ocean to the other country, or to whatever land on the other side of this water. All that other shit, you go straight through the waves. Just don’t let the water in the boat.”

Thinking of those words, the image of Hussle in the “Victory Lap” music video comes to mind: standing in the prow of a fishing boat off the coast of Tulum, Mexico, puffing on a cigar, hanging onto a rope with one hand as the wooden vessel bounced on the waves.