Rapper Nipsey Hussle Shot to Death After Tweeting About Enemies

It is a sad irony that those who defend certain groups might die in that exact process. It is not the type of irony that makes you shake your head and laugh. Instead, it gives a calm focus and a sense of sadness.

This is the case when it comes to Nipsey Hussle’s tragic Sunday shooting. Hussle lost his life in a shooting on Sunday outside of his Los Angeles clothing store. Two other people were injured, but Hussle was the only one who paid the ultimate price here.

The irony of course, is that Hussle was trying to reach out to his community to help deal with gang violence.

Hussle grew up prowling with the gangs in Los Angeles. He left home at the tender age of 14 and left school at the age of 16. Whether he wanted to be a part of the gangs or not there was always trouble. He figured he might as well join up if he couldn’t avoid it anyway.

This mentality follows a lot of children who join up with gangs.

He did have a desire to stay in school, but the schools didn’t seem to share that. Hussle worked side jobs that weren’t always legal or beneficial to society to afford to live. His school accused him of stealing computers from school grounds, which he still claims he didn’t do.

That was just too much trouble to fight in a system that was already rigged so hard against Hussle and other kids like him.

It’s just a way of life in Los Angeles, Hussle often claimed. You grow up in a war zone then it becomes your reality. Make no mistake, the streets of Los Angeles can in fact be a war zone.

Growing up and seeing your friend’s get shot or get caught up in bad situations is just normal down there. It seems like there’s no way out and you just have to go with the flow or be in danger without any defense.

Hussle was scheduled to attend a meeting on Monday, April 1^st, in which he was going to discuss gang violence issues and ways to help kids.

Hussle has not been a stranger to philanthropy in the community that he grew up in. Vector90 of South Central Los Angeles was a project he poured his heart into. It’s meant to be space kids in STEM to help them work on the sciences. It can be hard to find ways to your passion when there aren’t any bridges, and Vector90 was designed to be that bridge from the inner city to the bigwigs.

Finding someone who cared was all Hussle wanted as a kid, and he talks about that openly. He felt that everyone who tried to help had an agenda, and that’s if anyone helped at all. Getting jumped and beaten up and robbed was a normal part of his childhood and so was being used and betrayed by adults meant to care.

Often Hussle claimed that he was only now hitting it big because of where he came from. He refused to let go of his roots because they helped form him into the man he now was. He contributed constantly to the community with funds and representation to do his best to help.

Community first came before Hussle’s own success. This is why he was so beloved in the community and even to the music industry with his burgeoning talents.

From the age of 9 Hussle was freestyle rapping to songs by Snoop Dog and names him and Tupac as some of his biggest inspirations. Part of what made him so fresh and noticeable to the music industry was the smart ways he chose to market himself.

Hussle put out mixed tapes frequently to keep it real and fresh, and then did something that was the first of its kind. He released downloads for his music for free and then upped the prices of physical copies because they were limited.

This was a great tactic to make his music worth something while still spreading it around and making people feel like they got a great deal. For Nipsey, ultimately, the music was the endgame.

Music and community were at the forefront of Hussle’s focus, which is what made him so beloved in his community. In an era where it seems almost too easy to sweep the struggles of black kids under the rug, Hussle never forgot what it meant to grow up in the streets.

Giving kids opportunities that he wished he had was how he most helped. He knew that if he were given the chance and the resources back in the day, things might have turned out differently. But instead, gangs offered him the only safety he had ever known while schools judged and turned on him.

Hussle was a hero to many kids in the community. There aren’t a lot of young black men who fit the bill of hero for kids in that city, but Hussle stood up as one. Everyone needs a role model they can see themselves in and Hussle wanted to be that.

The shooting that took place out in front of his clothing store, Marathon, was senseless and forced the community to lose a decent man. Activists are already pushing for the shooter to turn himself in and using this tragedy to make a statement. Gun violence and gang violence are still there in the city.

The activists are even advocating for the local streets of Slauson and Crenshaw to be named in his honor because all he wanted to do was help others. Hussle’s death should never have happened.

There has been quite a pickup in violence in the last week, as there have been 26 people shot and 10 homicides.

Violent crime will still be fought and hopefully some battles will be won against the streets of Los Angeles.