hustla

English

Noun

hustla (plural hustlas)

1. (hip-hop slang) Pronunciation spelling of hustler.
   • 2005 March 14, Cassidy, Jay-Z (songwriters), “I’m a Hustla”, in I’m a Hustla, performed by Cassidy:

     If you a hustla then do that dance

   • 2009 January 20, Beyoncé, Shondrae Crawford, Sean Garrett (songwriters), “Diva”, in I Am... Sasha Fierce, performed by Beyoncé:

     Diva is a female version of a hustla, of a hustla, of a, of a hustla

   • 2013, Jamie J. Fader, “Masculine Identity and Social Support”, in Falling Back: Incarceration and Transitions to Adulthood among Urban Youth, New Brunswick, N.J., London: Rutgers University Press, →ISBN, page 182:

     James was still a “hustla” because his survival was still a daily struggle, and he was committed to using every legally acceptable resource available to him to make it.

   • 2013, Sergey Ivanov, “Hip-Hop in Russia: How the Cultural Form Emerged in Russia and Established a New Philosophy”, in Sina A. Nitzsche, Walter Grünzweig, editors, Hip-Hop in Europe (Transnational and Transatlantic American Studies; volume 13), LIT Verlag, →ISBN, side A (Telling Their Stories: Hip-Hop Histories across Europe), page 94:

     Therefore ‘easy money making,’ fake ‘gangstas,’ and ‘hustlas’ are often taken to be necessary hip-hop attributes.

   • 2014, James A. Levine, Bingo’s Run, New York, N.Y.: Spiegel & Grau, →ISBN, page 170:

     You just a hustla who sell rubbish for a million dollar.

   • 2021 November 20, Bob Mehr, “Memphis rapper Yo Gotti doubles down with new set”, in The Commercial Appeal, volume 180, number 323, page 6A:

     In an accompanying post [Yo] Gotti, noted that “Free Game” “was made for a purpose … it’s to give u messages & tell u da experience of a young hustla dat come from da hood but ended up in a position no one expected him to be in, him being me. From cutting 2dollars off a dime bag of weed from touching 6 figures at 16. I’m from North Memphis, Ridgecrest Apts. Dam a lot done changed.”