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“It’s a marathon, word to nip hussle” Jamal Cristopher says, referring to a motto made famous by Los Angeles rapper Nipsey Hussle, who tragically lost his life in 2019. “I live by that” he says. “You learn so much about yourself, your journey if you just keep going”
Over the years Jamal Cristopher has gained a bit of a following on social media and he attributes most of that to merely being his self. “I used to do music and that was a big part of it. It never took off but I had a few fans that really supported me from all over. They’re still there listening to my music all the time. But I learned that music might not be my path. I learned that, sharing the little things about your life that makes your life special, if you do it right people will care. So whether that’s sharing me at dinner, what I’m wearing, if I’m at a clipper (LA Clippers) game, sharing my thoughts on the clippers, whatever it is that’s what I try to do.”
Cristopher states he always had big ambitions. But it took a long time to truly figure what it is he wants to do. A google search of Jamal Cristopher will tell you that it was music, that 1st garnered him any kind of notoriety, no matter small said notoriety may be. “It’s fucking hard man. It was fucking hard. And super expensive. I really loved making raps, making music. Maybe I’ll get in the studio one day again. It’d make more sense now. What I didn’t love is trying to get my music to the masses. That process was incredibly taxing. It showed…showed me that this isn’t what I wanna do. But I love music and it’s still a huge part of my life”
“You learn if you really LOVE music really quick” says Jamal. “I really did love making music. But I wanted to be part of the music business, not just make music. I wanted that to be how I supported myself and my family, you know?” Cristopher found out in that regard, making great music wasn’t enough. Releasing music he was confident in, only to see his music not reach the heights he felt it should’ve is what made him question his path. “I was telling stories about my real life, and people weren’t reacting to it. The plays weren’t there. I also didn’t work as hard in it as I could’ve but it’s hard to do so when you don’t see the results over time. I don’t even have my log in info for a lot of my music stuff at the moment haha..yeah it was hard.”
The ambitious nature Jamal Cristopher takes with him daily is credited to his Los Angeles, California, upbringing, Leimert Park to be exact. South Central, known to some as unforgiving, was known as “home” to Cristopher. “Leimert is home. I’m really grateful for how I grew up and the older I get the more thankful I am for it. Just not being ignorant to how real life can be. I was face to face with it. Through being college educated, being successful, I’m proud to say I’m doing my part in making us better.”
These days Jamal Cristopher is, as he calls it, his most honest self. “I never thought of myself as an influencer or anything like that. So it was crazy when I stopped doing music, that’s when my following got bigger. I’m not trying to be this or that anymore. When I was younger I wanted to be in the nba, then it was I wanted to be a rapper. Now, it’s just I’m being me. Whatever comes of that is fine. It’s been super cool. I enjoy my life everyday.”
Jamal Cristopher has become a rather large presence on what’s known as ‘NBA Twitter’, specifically “Clippers Twitter”, as tweets from Jamal Cristopher regularly go viral.
“I love it man. It’s a community where we just talk hoops all the time. Clippers twitter, NBA twitter, was my first time doing anything that reached that many people. I talk clippers and nba all day anyway so yeah it’s really cool.”
“I love the LA Clippers. That’s family. I grew up playing for JR Clippers in the clippers parks and recs leagues. I worked for the clippers for a couple years, worked with them on some projects, I love the clippers. Favorite team, favorite sport for sure. I’m a die hard.”
Jamal Cristopher is planning to take his ambitions when it comes to the NBA and lifestyle to another level, as he announces he has a podcast coming soon.
“It’s been something I’ve thought about for a while. I’ve been encouraged to do it a ton of times man. It’s a self confidence thing. It’s still hard to believe people would care about what I have to say. We’ll see but I think we’re gonna do it we’re working on it. Basketball and lifestyle we’ll do a lot of cool stuff. It’ll be more info on it to come real soon. I’m excited.”
Safe to say no matter the path Jamal Cristopher chooses going forward, he’ll be fine.
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