HILLARY: On March 31st, California MC, business man and community activist, Nipsey Hussle
was shot and killed outside of his Marathon Clothing store in Los Angeles.
He was 33 years old.
He is survived by two children and his partner, Lauren London.
Tributes have poured in, from fellow West Coast rapper, Kendrick Lamar…
[KENDRICK] Before we got on stage, we got wind that our brother, our warrior, our soldier
Nipsey Hussle passed away.
HILLARY: And Long Beach legend Snoop Dogg.
[SNOOP] It's fucked up man, I just wanna send prayers to Nipsey Hussle and his family,
Lauren London and her family.
HILLARY: Now the hip-hop community mourns an artist known for his integrity, self determination
and actually doing what he rapped about.
Genius gathered a few lyrics to celebrate the life and legacy of Nipsey Hussle.
HILLARY: Nip was serious about music ownership and took control of his craft in an industry
that can often leave musicians struggling.
[NIPSEY] The industry wasn’t built by artists so you can’t even be mad at it for real.
You just gotta figure out how to use whatever leverage you got to become an exception to
that rule.
HILLARY: Nipsey started from the ground up, selling his music outside of LA supermarkets
and other homegrown spots.
He was determined to be his own man with an eye for longevity.
So you trying to, you trying to, you trying to get land.
NIPSEY: Exactly homie, a real asset take care of my peoples.
Because you know, that’s thats, it look good but at the end of the day you losing
value homie.
It ain’t appreciating it's deprecating.
HILLARY: Later, he famously started his ‘Proud to Pay’ program selling exclusive copies
of his ‘Crenshaw’ and ‘Mailbox Money’ projects for $100 and $1,000 dollars a piece,
respectively.
[NIPSEY] Just about giving our music catering to our people skipping the platforms not worrying
about what radio need not worrying about what the A&Rs stressing, not worrying about what
the label think they need because they 55 stories up.
HILLARY: Nip worked hard to give back to his community in South Central’s Crenshaw District
by providing better opportunities than he had growing up.
[NIPSEY] You know the goal is to create a bridge between the inner cities and Silicon Valley.
And especially it's important to LA because it's an hour away. There's minimal representation.
HILLARY: And as a member of the Crips gang, he was also open about his pain.
He often spoke of dead friends in his lyrics.
[NIPSEY] Fatts, you know that’s one of my best friends.
We just had a genuine friendship you know what I mean...and also one of the people that
really believed that we could do something else besides gangbang
HILLARY: Although he was in a gang, he had plans to help stop gang violence.
The Los Angeles Police Commissioner recently tweeted that he and Hussle were slated to
meet on Monday, April 1st to discuss paths to peace.
HILLARY: In addition to working with the people in power, he also held them accountable.
HILLARY: And as Nipsey’s groundswell grew on the heels of his first Grammy-nominated
album, 2018’s 'Victory Lap,' he will always be remembered as the consummate hustler and
stand-up dude who motivated his fans.
[NIPSEY] It’s really what you do with it.
If you a hustler, you should find some way to capitalize off that and turn that into some money.
I’m Hillary with Genius News, bringing you the meaning and the knowledge behind the music.