<img height="1" width="1" style="display:none" src="https://www.facebook.com/tr?id=192888919167017&amp;ev=PageView&amp;noscript=1">
Thursday, March 28, 2024
March 28, 2024

Linkedin Pinterest

Nipsey Hussle fans draw inspiration from songs, life

By Victoria Hernandez, Los Angeles Times
Published: February 18, 2021, 6:00am

LOS ANGELES — The Crenshaw strip mall that was the center of Nipsey Hussle’s fame is surrounded by a fence, nearly two years after the rap star was fatally shot there.

Vector 90, Hussle’s coworking space and incubator for local entrepreneurs, is mostly shuttered because of the coronavirus pandemic.

But people close to Hussle say they are pushing forward with his vision of empowering his South Los Angeles community.

And Hussle’s fans are drawing inspiration from his songs and his life story during a time of racial unrest and a pandemic that has killed more than 460,000 Americans, crippled the economy and put millions out of work.

Last Friday, more than 40,000 people from around the world tuned into a livestream celebrating the drop of Hussle’s seminal mixtape, “The Marathon,” 10 years ago. Another 400,000 viewed the YouTube video in the days afterward.

“The Marathon” came out in December 2010, but organizers decided to save the anniversary event until the turmoil from November’s presidential election died down. They also thought Black History Month was a fitting time for a tribute to Hussle, who was born Ermias Asghedom.

Fans who tuned in were taken on a tour of important places in Hussle’s career, from the now-demolished House of Blues on the Sunset Strip where Hussle had his first major show to the Hollywood Roosevelt hotel, where Hussle was interviewed by TMZ several times.

The event was spearheaded by Hussle’s road manager, Jorge Peniche, who helped craft the mogul’s image through stark black-and-white photography. The video was produced by creative agency OkiDoki using animation, Peniche’s photos and interviews that provide insight into Hussle’s music as well as his “Marathon” mindset, which emphasizes entrepreneurship and giving back to the community.

Hussle’s voice came through in video clips of previous interviews. He was also represented in the livestream by a silver Mercedes-Benz SL 550 — one of his prized possessions.

Hussle recorded “The Marathon” at the Wilshire Westlake building on the edge of MacArthur Park, sleeping there overnight while spraying boric acid to keep roaches away, his brother, Samiel Asghedom, said in the video.

“That studio was free of ego and was full of inspiration and vulnerability and honesty and authenticity,” Peniche said as a song from the album, “Mac 11 on the Dresser,” played in the background.

The song touches on a theme Hussle often highlighted — his struggle to move past his membership in one of LA’s most notorious street gangs, the Rollin’ 60s Crips.

Most the time I look inside and find the answers waitin’

Been tryna change my life but it’s aggravatin’ …

An obligatory stop on the video tour was the strip mall at Crenshaw and Slauson, where Hussle sold CDs from his car as a fledgling rapper and where he and his brother opened the T-shirt store that eventually became Marathon Clothing.

Loading...