Image from Variety.com
The past two weeks have stirred a whirlwind of emotions for LA, and all over the the country with the murder of rapper Nipsey Hussle on March 31, 2019. The rapper was fatally multiple times in the abdomen and the head right outside of his clothing store around Slauson Avenue and Crenshaw Boulevard in the early afternoon. Hussle died soon after being shot, his death certificate reveals he was pronounced dead just 35 minutes after the tragedy. Shockwaves hit people all around the country, with minute by minute updates on social media. Celebrities like Chance the Rapper, Lebron James, and Jhene Aiko expressed their feelings about the unsettling tragedy. Images of the crime scene surfaced capturing the horrific chain of events. After being pronounced dead it seemed as though everybody was in a state of shock and the news could not be digested right away. For a second I thought to myself “no this can’t be true, I just saw an interview with Nipsey and his girlfriend Lauren London the other day, there’s no way he could just be gone that quickly.” The following weeks were flooded with posts and videos filled with condolences for Hussle’s family. It seemed like everybody on social media was completely filled with anger, sadness and shock. The loss of Nipsey Hussle was especially impactful because of his well known work in his community. His store, the Marathon Clothing store featured things like prepaid phones, and sweat suits, Hussle wanted to create a convenient store for quick buys, so that people could go in and out. What struck me so hard about his death was the fact that Hussle had dream of bringing different social issues to the forefront. He was working on a documentary about Dr. Sebi, a Honduran biologist, and herbalist who had an alleged cure for aids. Hussle was interested in a number of different social issues and wanted to promote positivity. His death brought people from across the world together. His funeral at the staples center was filled with an abundance of love, tears, and even funny stories. Beyonce and Jay Z were amongst some of the big names who attended Hussle’s funeral. Snoop Dog who spoke at his servivce gave a heartfelt, and humorous speech which erupted the crowd with laughter at some points. Aside from his music I felt a genuine connection to Nipsey’s self taught mentality, he was very relatable and poetic.
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