It’s been 24 hours since Nipsey Hussle was shot and killed. I still haven’t had the heart to actually listen to his music. I’ve been hearing his whole catalogue from the stereo systems of cars all day as I’ve been driving through Los Angeles, but I haven’t played it for myself. I’m still trying to process what happened, so I’ve been listening to the great instrumental piece by Terrace Martin “Mortal Man” on repeat for the entire day.
Last night I went to his flagship shop on Crenshaw and Slauson. It was around midnight. Normally, I wouldn’t be out at this time, but I went. I wasn’t even thinking with my head, just my heart. Just going to go and bear witness to everyone else’s mourning.
I pull up and traffic is really slow. I didn’t think that people would still be out this heavy this late.
After parking, I walk up to the intersection. There’s a lot of people leaving, but there’s a steady stream of people arriving. I pass a woman who is crying with her boyfriend hugging her. I cross the street and glance back and they’re still hugging each other.
There’s a young lady with a bouquet of flowers crossing the street with me. I pass a row of light candles on the corner. The gas station next door to the Marathon Store is closed down because people have used it as a parking lot. Young people sitting in their cars, heavy hearts on their faces. Sadness. Confusion. Loss.
Directly across the street from the store, there’s a line of police officers, probably 15-20. Normally, a police presence that large takes up all my focus. But not tonight. I barely pay them any mind.
I’ve reached the parking lot and the emotion starts to hit me. I’ve actually never been in Nipsey’s store. Driven past it hundreds of times. Always had intentions of going inside, but never got around to it. But I still feel the entire devastation of it all. 33 years old. Father. Business owner with employees from the area. Pillar of South Central. Shot in the chest and the head. Most likely died within a few hours of the shooting. All gone. So fast.
I saw pictures of the store a few hours earlier and the crowd was in the hundreds. 15 minutes after midnight, the crowd was still in the hundreds. Young and old. Blacks, Latinos/Latinas, and Whites. I hear the voices all around.
“He was doing so much. And he was doing it for us. And they shot him. Another black man.”
“Y’all didn’t know him! Y’all just down here to get some pictures and some video for your Instagram! That was my friend! FUCK EVERYBODY HERE! AND FUCK THOSE POLICE! I don’t give a fuck!”
“I still can’t believe they shot my nigga man.”
“We gone keep it pushing for you Nip. On God. We gone keep it pushing for you.”
“I’m so hurt right now. Why they take Nip from us?”
“Look at all these people. Look at all this love he had. I wish my nigga could have seen this.”
The scene gets a little tense when some people think a fight breaks out and start running (there was no fight). Every single car is playing Nipsey’s music as I leave. Even the deep cuts that weren’t hit singles. I head home, still trying to make sense of it all.
I can’t believe somebody shot Nipsey.
It was 2008 when I first heard of the name Nipsey Hussle. “Hussle In The House” was getting some radio airplay and it was being written about on a lot of music websites that I would follow.
After that, he fell into the deep end of the pool, trying to maneuver with a record deal that wasn’t working out for him and figuring out who he was as an artist. He also had to deal with the stresses of real life as far as being a young black man in Los Angeles, a former gang member working in an area with a high crime rate, and the daily struggles that we all go through daily.
It was around 2010 when he worked out a release from his label deal and he made a concerted effort to do things his own way. He released the mixtape “The Marathon”, his clothing line was really starting to pop, and he was setting up a series of small businesses around the Crenshaw district.
But it was his new slogan “The Marathon Continues” is what helped him really connect with fans all over the world. The music industry has a short term mindset. The focus is on what’s hot now. Just recreate what’s popular. Originality is not important at all.
So when Nipsey came out and emphasized that life is a marathon, he set himself apart from the pack. It ain’t how you start, but how you finish. He was in this music business for the long haul. The marathon that life is. Just keep building and building with what you can so you can finish the race strong.
And that’s exactly what he did for the following next decade.
It was around 2011 when I personally hit hard times. For reasons I won’t get into for this story, I had the bottom come out from under me in both my professional and my personal life. Lost business associates, lost friends, and lost a lot of time.
Depression is something that is different for everybody. I’m not going to claim that I have an absolute, clear understanding of it all. I can only speak for myself when I state that my own personal depression, I was left with the inability to stop fixating on my failures and to overcome doubt.
During this time, I was randomly listening to Nipsey’s mixtape “Bullets Ain’t Got No Names, Vol. 3”. I got to the song “I Could Never Lose”.
I love the beat. The song is sparse on the lyrics:
Pride On The Line
Back To The Wall
Everything I Got, I’m Gonna Give It All
Only One Shot, So I’m Goin’ Hard
Everything I Got, I’ve Gonna Give It All
Cause I Could Never Lose
So If you want it then you gon’ have it
If you believe it then it’s gonna happen
And if you take it you don’t gotta ask it
Just if you do it, be the best at it
It’s a mantra. It’s a statement. It’s something that Nipsey wants to drill into your head and into your subconscious.
And it was a song that I would play at my lowest times as I went to rebuild my life and what I planned on doing with it.
When I heard it, I realized that Nipsey really did care about who was listening to him. He wasn’t just trying to be the best rapper or just an inspiration because he was popular. He was really telling the listener, be the best that they could be.
And I felt that. I still feel it to this day.
I wish that I could find the online credits as to who was the producer and singer on that track so that I could thank them for their work on that.
Over the next few years, Nipsey went on a run that was truly amazing.
After The Marathon, he released two short mixtapes. Through various interviews, he stated that he was a perfectionist and he really wanted to put out his best work.
No matter, his fans would wait.
In the meantime, he traveled and toured all over the world and build up his fanbase even more. He performed his catalogue, sold his merchandise, and promoted the Marathon aspect of his music and business career everywhere he went. And he was still expanding on The Marathon Store on Crenshaw and Slauson in his hometown.
So when he released “Crenshaw” and stated that he was going to sell 1,000 limited edition copies for $100, the music industry went crazy. People relentlessly joked about it online and in the music media.
And when he actually sold every single one of those copies, everyone took him serious. That same media wrote about it and praised him at every opportunity. It left artists scrambling, trying to mimic the same model, but with no success. They looked at the promotion of it and not the relationship that Nipsey had built with his fans over the years.
The following year, he released the project “Mailbox Money”. Again, 1,000 limited editions would be sold, but for $1,000 this time. And again, he sold out of all them.
And he was doing this independent of any of the major record labels.
The music industry is difficult to find success in and there are very few who find such success all on their own. There’s usually some sort of financial or marketing backing coming from somewhere for most artists that are known to be independent. But Nipsey really did all this on his own, setting up his own apparatus for success after learning from his record deal and truly studying the industry.
And aside from all that, both projects were outstanding albums.
So naturally, when Nipsey wanted to release his next project, the labels approached him on his terms. A partnership was established with Atlantic Records for his first official album “Victory Lap”. Using everything that he learned, as well as all his hard work as an evolution of an artist, the project was nominated for a Grammy award.
I will never forget the feeling of seeing Neighborhood Nipsey Hussle sitting in the Grammy audience.
And his businesses were doing well. Most people in his position would have set up shop on Melrose, Fairfax, Downtown, or some other affluent area of the city with the success and access that Nipsey was getting. But he stayed right on that corner next to Shell gas station, across the street from Slauson Donuts and the check cashing center.
He had technologically revamped his store. He was investing funds in various businesses across the city. He was working towards creating more educational opportunities for students of South Central.
His girlfriend was one of the most desired women on the planet. He was receiving praise from the hood, the industry, and the general public.
Years of building. It was all working out. He was winning.
This morning, I went back to The Marathon Store around 10am. Wasn’t sure what to expect, but I honestly didn’t think it would be the same as last night.
I was wrong.
Hundreds of people were in the parking lot area. This time, there was news vans all set up across the street. The police presence was still there, but not as heavy.
I actually walked up on the parking lot this time. I lost it.
I started crying.
The thought that this was the actual spot where Nip died took over.
Was overwhelmed with grief, but also appreciation. All these people wanted to be there that felt the same way. All ethnicities. All ages. But some brought their young kids out today. Babies and toddlers.
The school across the street that was in session had all of the kids lined up near the fence, looking at the scene.
I look at the crowd in the parking lot and hear the pain.
“Looking like Downtown with all these people in the hood.”
“I still can’t believe it.”
“We need more candles. Somebody go to the store and buy some more candles. We need 1,000 candles out here for Nip.”
“WHAT THE FUCK? This shit ain’t real.”
“This is what he did. He put us on his back and never gave up on us. Now it’s our turn. We ain’t gonna let you down my nigga. Nope.”
I can’t stop crying.
I go to move closer into the lot. I pass a young man freestyling on the sidewalk. A lot of people are wearing The Marathon t-shirts.
I get right into the front of his store. There’s a giant circle of candles. I absolutely lose it.
It all rushes into my soul.
This is where he died. This exact spot.
Right in front of the store he and his team built up. From just an idea, into this. A true landmark.
I take a knee.
A young woman places a candle with balloons tied to it.
A man in a wheelchair comes up close to the circle lighting a candle. The woman he came with puts it into the circle for him. He stares at the circle for a good 3 minutes before he pulls off to the side.
Another man drops a candle and crosses his heart in prayer before walking away.
I’ve totally lost it now. The tears can’t stop. And I’m not trying to stop them.
Just looking at the spot and realizing he died there.
Seeing all the things he did and how it affected people.
Seeing all the things that he was going to do.
Seeing all the things that are possible as far as conducting yourself and living your life.
I leave. My eyes all puffy and red. Just looking down as a walk by the steady stream people still coming to pay respects.
I head back to my house and cry some more.
As of this writing, the identity of the potential shooter has been revealed. It’s someone that Nipsey knew. Somebody from the area that shot him.
People on social media are claiming that Nipsey was assassinated either by the government or by some people that were threatened because of a documentary he was making about a cure for AIDS.
I’m not here to tell you what to believe. Because if you really want to focus on that right now, then anything I tell you won’t help you.
In this age of social media, people will believe anything. Especially if it fits their agenda, no matter how far fetched it is.
The bottom line is that Nipsey Hussle died yesterday. And he didn’t have to.
He was a man that came on the scene with a hit record, got lost in the shuffle in the music industry, and released a Grammy nominated album 10 years later.
He was a man that set up his whole business apparatus in the middle of South Central Los Angeles. And as the neighborhood is experiencing gentrification, he was working to helping those in the neighborhood keep their homes and businesses.
He was a man that became a symbol of hope and success to so many people. But he became that symbol by just being himself and working to be the best at what he did. That’s it. Pure and simple.
He was a man that motivated me when I needed all the help I could get.
And so, after crying all day. I’m going to play “Right Hand 2 God” off of the “Victory Lap” project. I’m going to dry my eyes, take a deep breath, and get to work on achieving what I set out to do.
It’s what Nipsey would want for me to do.
Written By Reggie Reagor © April 1, 2019