All Money In

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All Money In Records
Founded	2010 (2010)
Founder	Nipsey Hussle
Distributor(s)	Self-distributed (In the US)
Genre	Hip Hop
Country of origin	United States
Location	Los Angeles, California
Official website	www.allmoneyinrecords.com

All Money In is an American record label and concept created in 2010 by the late entrepreneur, activist, and rapper Nipsey Hussle.

The name of the label, "All Money in, No Money Out", conceptualizes economic self-sufficiency. Instead of spending money on depreciating assets, or other material goods, Nipsey emphatically emphasized the importance of saving money and investing that money to create wealth. As an activist, Nipsey promoted black entrepreneurship, unity, and self-sustainability.

The logo and concept of "All Money in, No Money Out" is a contemporary symbol for Black self sufficiency, unity, and economic resurgence of inner-city neighborhoods, such as Crenshaw, Nipsey's neighborhood of origin.

History

Based in South Central Los Angeles, Hussle began releasing music in 2003. In 2009, Hussle signed his first major record deal with Cinematic Music Group and Epic Records. Less than one year later, Hussle amicably parted ways with the record company and founded his own record label, All Money In. In an interview given around 2008, a reporter asks Nipsey why he doesn't show off his wealth with materialistic goods like jewelry, Nipsey responded:

"All that is cool, for the image... But all them is liabilities... I’d rather invest in some assets as opposed to trick off my money on some liabilities like diamonds, you know what I’m saying? Cars that lose value as soon as you drive them off the lot… a real asset, [to] take care of my peoples, because you know, it look good but at the end of the day, you losing value, homie. It ain’t appreciating, it’s depreciating... Material things ain’t nothing. You feel me? At the end of the day, it’s who you is. You wasn’t born with it, you gon’ die without it.”"

Hussle released his first major project through his record label on December 21, 2010, entitled The Marathon. Hussle signed several artists and released projects under his label, such as The Marathon Continues (2011), Crenshaw (2013) and Mailbox Money (2014).

Proud to Pay

In 2013 Hussle decided to take a non-traditional approach to releasing his Crenshaw project, releasing the mixtape on the internet as a free download and that 1,000 hard copies would be sold through a "Proud to Pay" program at a cost of $100 per unit. The purchase of a hardcopy entitled the buyer to become a Proud to Pay member allowing them to meet Hussle in person, get an autographed CD and receive tickets to a private show. Hussle’s non-traditional approach to releasing the project garnered criticism that generated media coverage across North America.

“I own my company," Nipsey said. I own the asset of this whole industry which is your masters, your intellectual property, you know what I’m saying, your publishing. So, you know, your metrics and what you gauge [as] an achievement is actually a peon, underboss way of looking at it. Because, you know like, I’m not in it for the fame. Everybody wanna be seen and held at the highest regard obviously but, you know, you can’t cash that out, you can’t take that to the bank.”

Hussle set up a pop up shop on October 8, 2015 in Fairfax, Los Angeles, and sold all 1,000 CDs in less than one day, making $100,000 dollars. Although Hussle admitted he initially got the idea from a book written by Jonah Berger that featured a story of a Philadelphia restaurant serving $100 cheesesteaks, his main motive behind was rebel against the major record labels to empower his independent label, All Money In. Hussle further explained his motive in an interview with HiphopDX in 2013:

“As an artist my goal is to inspire…entertain…motivate…and most importantly INNOVATE. And as lovers of art we should base our purchase on the artist's ability to do so. That being said, if my presence in the game has had any of those effects on you, $100.00 is your way of saying don’t change. It ISN’T the price of the plastic case and polyurethane disc…it’s the price of Revolution! The price of Rebellion against an industry that has tricked us all into making products that have no soul for fear of not being heard if we don’t.”

His controversial strategy influenced other artists, such as Eminem and Wu Tang Clan, who took similar approaches to releasing their projects. Hussle’s model emphasizes the importance of sentimental value. Similar to the way pieces of art are marketed, the profit in Hussle’s business model is mainly provided by the quality of the product and not the quantity of units sold.

Artists

• Nipsey Hussle
• J. Stone
• Cobby Supreme
• Cuzzy Capone
• BH
• Pacman Da Gunman
• Killa Twan

Mixtapes

• The Marathon (2010)
• The Marathon Continues (2011)
• Crenshaw (2013)
• Mailbox Money (2014)
• 25/8 No Breaks (2014)
• Slauson Boy 2 (2016)