American Recording Artists and Grammy nominated rapper Nipsey Hussle tragically died on March 31, 2019 at age 33. His death was very shocking amongst the hip-hop community, his fans and throughout the Los Angeles area.
According to The Los Angeles Times and Los Angeles Police department, Hussle was allegedly murdered by 29-year-old Eric Holder, who was an aspiring rapper. Hussle died from gunshot wounds at 3:55 p.m. Los Angeles investigators were able to find the alleged gunman. Investigators believe the motivation behind the shooting was personal.
Holder was charged with one count of murder and additional charges have been added on April 4 by the Los Angeles County District Attorney Jackie Lacy. Holder pled not guilty and was represented by Attorney Christopher Darden, who was the prosecutor of the infamous O.J. Simpson Trial during the 1990’s. Holder’s bail is set for $5 million.
Fans were able to meet up at the Cadillac Square Park in downtown Detroit on Wednesday, April 3 to pay homage to Hussle. One memorial service was held at the Medhani-Alem Eritrean Orthodox Tewahdo Church in South Los Angeles on Sunday, April 8.
Hussle was born Ermias Asghedom and was from Crenshaw of Los Angeles, California. The public knew him as Nipsey Hussle but he was known as Nipsey in the neighborhood.
Hussle was one out of few rappers today in the entertainment industry who was able to connect to fans and his community. He used social-media platforms to start his rap career, then started to motivate the younger generations to become successful in anything that involved positivity.
Hussle’s music became more known around the hip-hop community and he even started to make a name for himself outside of Los Angeles. He was able to travel across the United States to share his life story through lyrics.
“The best thing you can do for a person is to inspire them,” Hussle said, according to Preezy Brown’s REVOLT article. “That's the best currency you can offer: inspiration.”
Many fans were able to interact with him throughout his career by more than just buying or downloading his music. One of those ways was building his own clothing brand and other businesses that allowed fans to be a part of his legacy. The Marathon Clothing was the most known throughout his businesses located at W. Slauson Ave in Los Angeles.
Celebrities like basketball players Lebron James, Stephen Curry and JR Smith wore his clothing brand. Pop culture icons like Khloe Kardashian and hip-hop legends Snoop Dogg and Ice Cube were also seen wearing The Marathon Clothing.
The signature shirt with the “CRENSHAW” logo on it was one of the popular items representing Hussle’s hometown. Hussle wanted to give fans and other celebrity figures a chance to enjoy his brand by putting a positive light on the Crenshaw district due to the negative stereotypes caused by gang violence.
Outside of Hussle’s music career and clothing brand, he was able to connect with the Crenshaw community in other ways. He developed many different types of community programs -- whether it was opening up new fast food branches like Fat Burger, allowing other local talented musicians to join his record label/songs or giving job opportunities to convicted felons.
His older brother, Blac Sam, and their father would help him develop new ideas like how to buy back his own community by investing into different types of businesses and academic programs. Those ideas gave him a chance to interact with different types of fans from across the globe and throughout the Los Angeles area.
Hussle was also looking into developing a new Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) program for the youth in his community. During a radio interview with Big Boy’s Neighborhood, Hussle expressed his plan on creating “a bridge between Silicon Valley and the inner city.”
Hussle also included his plans on putting the STEM program into other communities across the United States. Places like Atlanta, D.C. and Baltimore would be able to have a chance to be exposed in their inner cities to the STEM academies program in the near future.
Nipsey Hussle lives on through his two children and his fiancée, American actress and model Lauren London.
