Nipsey Hussle Gunned Down In L.A.
• Grammy-nominated rap artist Nipsey Hussle was shot and killed Sunday afternoon outside his store in the Hyde Park neighborhood of Los Angeles. He was only 33. According to the Los Angeles Times, Hussle, whose given name is Ermias Davidson Ashedom, was shot multiple times around 3:20pm and transported to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead. No suspects have been detained, Mike Lopez of the LAPD told NBC. The shooting, which also injured two others, took place outside the Marathon Clothing Company, which Ashedom opened in 2017 with two partners. It shares a name with his clothing line, Marathon Clothing.
Details remain sparse, but a law enforcement source with knowledge of the investigation said Hussle was shot by a young man who opened fire at close range and then ran to a waiting getaway car. Based on initial information, the shooting was likely planned and gang-related, the source said. Born in 1985 and raised in South L.A., Hussle made no secret of his early life in a street gang, saying in a 2014 interview with YouTube channel Vlad TV that he had joined the Rollin’ 60s, a notorious Crips gang clique, as a teenager.
As Variety reports, Hussle released his first mixtape, Slauson Boy Volume 1, in 2005 and followed with two more, Bullets Ain’t Got No Name, Volumes 1 and 2, in 2008. He signed with Epic Records that year, although an album he reportedly completed for the label, South Central State of Mind, was never released and he left the label in 2010. He later collaborated with Drake on “Killer” and with Snoop Doggon “Upside Down.” He also collaborated with Rick Ross, YG, DJ Mustardand many others. He eventually signed with Atlantic Records and in early 2018 released Victory Lap, which was nominated for a Best Rap Album Grammy but lost to Cardi B‘s Invasion of Privacy. Hussle most recently performed at the Warner Music party in Los Angeles during Grammy Week. Hussle has a child with actress Lauren Londonand the two appeared in a GQ profile last month.
In what turned out to be an eerily prophetic social media post sent out at 2:52pm Sunday, less than 30 minutes before he was gunned down, Hussle tweeted, “Having strong enemies is a blessing.”
• Our friends at Benztown have produced an audio tribute to Nipsey Hussle, written and produced by Matt Anderson, Benztown’s Director of Custom Imaging, and voiced by Bill Royal.
