Nipsey Hussle:I Wish I Had Known of Him Sooner

Nipsey Hussle was gunned down on March 31st in front of his store in LA on March 31st 2019. He was only 33 years old. Before hearing about his murder I had never heard about this wonderful man. I wish I had known of him sooner. These types of brothers do not get much worldwide recognition for the wonderful things they do.  

Music brought Nipsey Hussle together with his great love, Lauren London. They were in a five-year relationship and shared a young son named Kross and recently opened up about their relationship in the March issue of GQ magazine.

The pair have been known as one of the genre's more enduring love stories. In fact, their GQ photoshoot which included a picture of London on a white horse with Hussle sparked engagement rumors in January. 

They formed a tight-knit family with their son, Hussle's daughter from a previous relationship and London's son, Cameron Carter by rapper Lil Wayne.

The couple participated in a couple's quiz for GQ, which as of Monday had almost 3 million views on YouTube.

Hussle revealed that they met for the first time in person at his store on Crenshaw and Slauson in Los Angeles and joked about the object of London's "celebrity crush."

On Monday there was an outpouring of support for London on social media.

Lauren wrote on her Instagram on Monday: "I've lost my best friend, My sanctuary, My protector, My soul, I'm lost without you, We are lost without you babe, I have no words."

I cannot imagine what she is going through.

But I do know the pain everyone must be feeling losing someone so great. 

Nipsey Hussle was more of a movement than just a musician. Hours after Nipsey Hussle was gunned down in the Hyde Park neighborhood, Los Angeles Police Commissioner Steve Soboroff announced that he had been scheduled to meet with the hip hop artist/businessman. 

The Grammy-nominated rhymesmith had requested the meeting, along with Jay-Z's Roc Nation, the Commissioner said. They wanted to speak with Soborrof and Los Angeles Police Chief Michael Moore "about ways he could help stop gang violence and help us help children," Soboroff tweeted. "I'm so very sad."

Nipsey bucked the conventional trappings of gang life. He spoke out against rappers (Such as Cardi B) who would boast of purported gang affiliations to stunt or look cool. Not because he wished them any violence, but rather to remind them that far too many young people, joining a gang was more so about survival. 

Despite his past affiliations, the 33-year-old worked to pave inroads, recording tracks with YG of Compton and Jay Rock of Watts.  When Nipsey dropped his long-awaited studio debut last year, The Game posted the cover to Instagram, along with his recollection of the first time the two met.  "Never thought the youn n***a that gave me his demo on Crenshaw at a red light would ever turn out to be one of my favorite West Coast MC's..just like I told you the day when you handed it to me, if you want it, it's yours'..proud of you homie."

It's poignant that Nipsey died after being shot in the head and torso in the parking lot of The Marathon Clothing "Smartstore" he owned near the corner of Slauson and Crenshaw. I recently watched a YouTube video where he sat and talked in depth about his smart store. He talked about the importance of not only eating healthy but providing that opportunity for the community and he wanted to turn a fish market in his complex into a more healthy food choice option. "I grew up on hamburgers, pastrami fries, and chili fries. We came into a different era of information where you learn about different things that are going on with the food and it makes it a little harder to not be conscious of the food. When you look at the options around you, and people who do not have a car to get to more healthy eating spots, you want to provide that for them." "It should be something close you can pull up to."

I have seen endless amounts of testimonials from locals about how Nipsey has impacted and empowered them. "If it wasn't for Nipsey, we wouldn't have anything around here." Says one female. "We don't have too many people who want to donate to the community"  

"I was out here in the streets getting into a lot of trouble, dropped out of school, drug cases, Nip gave me a job, put me on." One young brotha testifies while standing in front of Nipsey's store. 

Nipsey's store was unlike any other, providing "smart content" for his customers where the tags when scanned would give the buyer exclusive content pertaining to bigger and better things they could be the first to be informed on. And when they browse his "proud to pay" section, they could upload the image of the music to his exclusive app and listen to the music right in the store.  Customers could also by way of their merchandise tags gain exclusive access to new content streamed by way of the app. 

Nipsey was nominated for his first Grammy on his debut album which he felt very proud of, and his woman, Lauren London, was very supportive of as well. 

He spoke about "Destination Crenshaw" which he was proud to be a part of and it encouraged young ones to be a part of investment opportunities in the area. He worked on this project with The Councilman of the 8th District, Marqueese Dawson, to articulate his value to the rest of the city council.

He spoke highly of Dr. Sebi, taking his products and wanting to get the word out about the Dr., his message and his trial. He said he wanted to produce a documentary on Dr. Sebi's trial in 1995 and the events surrounding it. He also talked about the many holistic doctors that were killed recently and why. "I think the story is important. It's a powerful narrative." "If I can say Somebody cured AIDS, ya'll would be like yeah right, and then I can show you an example of him going to trial and proving in court to a jury that he cured AIDS, ya'll would be interested in that, and ya'll would look into that and into the way he did it." Put some light on that case"

The Eritrean-American Hip Hop Artist Nipsey Hussle born Ermias Davidson Asghedom was also a businessman and activist. His ventures spanned from his music label ad The Marathon Clothing Store to his Marathon Agency, a talent and marketing company, and his Proud 2 Pay campaign, a trailblazing means to distribute music. 

But for all the money and music he leaves behind, perhaps his greatest mark will be his philanthropic work, which extended beyond his efforts to mitigate gang violence. 

Tapping the anticipation surrounding "Victory Lap" last year, Nipsey opened a workspace and science, technology, engineering, and mathematics, or STEM center that he described as a bridge between the Silicon Valley and the inner city. He told the Los Angeles Times he hoped the center named Vector 90, would give young people more options and opportunities than he had as a child.

"In our culture, there's a narrative that says, 'Follow the athletes, follow the entertainers," "That's cool, but there should be something that says, 'Follow Elon Musk, follow Zuckerburg.' I think that with me being influential as an artist and young and coming from the inner city, it makes sense for me to be one of the people that's waiving that flag" He was clearly a great man, I wish I had known of him sooner.

Keep the Nipsey Hussle Legacy Alive!

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