“How long should I stay dedicated? How long ’til opportunity meet preparation? I need some real nigga reparations Before I run up in your bank just for recreation” Dedication Nipsey Hussle
Nipsey Hussle transitioned from us a little over a month ago and I still have trouble processing this.
I still remember driving in my car headed to the movies on 76 when my girlfriend text me: Hey J, you heard about your boy? My reply, What you talking about? Who? Her, Nipsey Hussle got shot in the head in front of his store? My chest gets a little tight and my eyes are filling up, (flashback to getting the news about Biggie) What, you lying? Then CNN alert pings my phone and my stomach drops, “Nipsey Hussle dead after a shooting near his Los Angeles clothing store” I recall just not being able to hear for like 10 seconds. Complete and utter shock, the tears roll down my face and all I can mutter is, DAMN.
Nipsey was a real one trying to make change in the place he called home. The same spot where he hustled in the parking lot, he now owns, which is the same place he was senselessly murdered and taken from us. I was introduced to his music about 2013-2014 through a mix-tape, and on first listen I thought it was Snoop. After listening to it a few more times I checked the credits and saw Nipsey Hussle. As with any thing you search you go down an endless rabbit hole of finding all things Nipsey. Since that search he definitely became one of my top artists.
Born Erimas Joseph Asghedom meaning “Rise from God” it was something about his energy on screen that was magnetic, you couldn’t look away. He was California all day long. The way he would drag certain words, his swag, and of course he repped his set and hood. He was on my bucket list of people to meet on my recent trip to Los Angeles.
Nipsey Hussle was smart, which is not surprising because most guys in the streets are very intelligent. He would drop a gem in casual conversation which would have you doing more research. As with all great music it transports you and takes you into the artist’s world, and Neighborhood Nip’s music did just that. His words just had a way of transporting you to that vibe it was hard, it was real, it was truth.
Nipsey Hussle stood in his truth, cared about his family, his woman, and hood. Instead of talking about it, he did it. Purchasing the lot of where his Marathon Clothing Store stands at West Slauson off Crenshaw Boulevard. He was creating the blue print for his hood of cooperative economics. Creating jobs where others might say the area is blight, Hussle made it fruitful.
Often times we hear rappers say they can’t go to the hood anymore because the same people who loved them on the way up are the ones waiting to take them out. Unfortunately this narrative is too familiar of a headline these days.
In a recent interview with Page Six, Suge Knight even chimed in to say loyalty to his hood, could have been a contributing factor to his death.
As friends and family laid Hussle to rest at the Staples center, Philadelphia rap artist said it best when he posted to Instagram, “Obama wrote you a letter…. your life celebration was at the staples center…. you stayed down with your people… you you held your family down to the max … you never folded and stood for something and you had a heart of gold!!” he wrote. “You took this shit to another level for us young kings! You gave us more value and I thank you for that! #hussleday.”