The hip-hop community is mourning the death of Nipsey Hussle after the Grammy-nominated rapper was shot near his clothing store in Los Angeles on Sunday afternoon, according to various reports.
Hussle, 33, founded the Marathon Clothing company in Hyde Park to help reduce violence in the South Los Angeles neighborhood. He is survived by his girlfriend, actress Lauren London, and two children.
According to Richard Winton and Laura Newberry of The Los Angeles Times, Hussle was very active in the community and gave back as often as he could.
The rapper owned several businesses on the block where he was shot, said 54-year-old Hyde Park resident Glenn Taylor, including a burger restaurant, a barbershop and a fish market. He was known to give jobs to residents who were struggling to get by, some of them homeless. He once gave a pair of shoes to every student at 59th Street Elementary School. He also donated money to renovate the school’s playground and basketball courts.
The news of his death sent widespread shock throughout the entertainment business and the sports world. Several NBA players reacted to the news, including Stephen Curry, Tobias Harris and Russell Westbrook.
Hussle first caught fame with the release of several mixtapes before he graced the cover of XXL Magazine’s ‘Freshman Class of 2010’ alongside J. Cole, Wiz Khalifa and others.
He eventually released his debut album in 2018, titled Victory Lap, which debuted at No. 4 on Billboard‘s 200 album charts. The project earned critical-acclaim by many and was nominated for Best Rap Album at the Grammy Awards.
Authorities are still searching for a suspect in the shooting.
