Los Angeles rapper Nipsey Hussle pulled an unexpected marketing move earlier in the year when he announced that he would sell his Crenshaw mixtape for $100 and also make the project available for free online.

Despite its lofty price tag, Nipsey says he made $100,000 from sales of the mixtape. And during a recent interview on The Combat Jack Show, the West Coast wordsmith spoke on those who bought his project.

In addition to an alleged purchase of 100 copies from Jay Z and Roc Nation, Nipsey says those who purchased his album were “genuine music lovers” and people who have supported him since the start of his career.

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“The first dude was like a young rapper from Compton,” said Nipsey. “He was like 16. He bought it. Just people that love the music. That been supporting from day one and I think they was just genuine music lovers and like just people from this generation that understand why that’s such a current idea because they understand iTunes. They understand the DatPiffs. They understand the bootleg world. They understand what’s really happening with music. This is they generation. So, they understand why that’s a really current idea and why that made so much sense because they know music is an option to them. Like I know it is. And they know when they do buy something it’s after they’ve experienced it for free.”

Nipsey did also speak on the purchase from Jay Z and revealed that he kept the news of the rapper’s purchase from his team for a couple of days. He also stated that he gained even more respect for Jay due to his purchase.

“I’m like ‘Don’t tell nobody. I don’t want niggas to get lazy. Popping champagne and shit,’” he said. “So, we ain’t say nothing to nobody for a couple of days. We just kept—not even to say my team is like that. Cause if anybody I’m the most like celebratory of my whole team…I wrote Jay a thank you letter and sent some merchandise to his team and all that…I was humbled by it and I just—if it was possible to have any more respect for Jay, I did based on that move.”

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Prior to speaking on his Crenshaw project, Nipsey addressed the controversy surrounding fellow artist Kendrick Lamar’s GQ story. The publication received heavy criticism from Top Dawg Entertainment and fans of K-Dot due to the way in which those at TDE were portrayed in the Steve Marsh-penned story. Despite critiques from TDE head Anthony “Top Dawg” Tiffith, GQ Editor-In-Chief Jim Nelson defended the story in a statement released last month.

While addressing Marsh’s story, Nipsey echoed a familiar sentiment as he questioned how the writer behind the GQ story was surprised at Kendrick’s success and Top Dawg’s discipline.

“I agree with a point that was made that it should not surprise you,” said Nipsey. “You shouldn’t be surprised by the success of Kendrick Lamar or the discipline of Top Dawg unless you have a reason to be surprised. Now what’s your reason? That’s the question. Why didn’t you expect? That’s where the offensive gesture is.”

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Nipsey’s interview on The Combat Jack Show comes several weeks after the October 8 release of Crenshaw.

RELATED: Nipsey Hussle Details Jay Z’s Support For “Crenshaw”

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