It’s now been more than five years since the murder of Los Angeles Rapper Nipsey Hussle. Hussle was just 33 years old when he was killed outside his South LA clothing store, but in his short life he made such an impact.
For many in his neighborhood, he was an inspiration.
“Nipsey definitely is my hero. He’s a hometown hero for a lot of people in the city,” Artist Six Sev said.
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Six Sev is also a designer and community activist. He said Nipsey showed people what’s possible and used his music to send a message.
“He was going to give you something you can take, apply to life, that you can learn something from. And retain,” he said.
But he was much more than a musician, he was also a businessman. In 2017 he opened his Marathon clothing store at Slauson and Crenshaw.
“He got his store and put it on the corner to show you, you can do it here,” Six Sev said.
Nipsey was also a supporter, of people like Six Sev who once bumped into the Rapper and shared a graphic design. Nipsey saw his vision and asked him to design a sweatshirt for the Marathon brand.
Then in Garden, Nipsey gave Craig Batiste a boost too. Batiste owns Mr. Fries man. In 2016 he was running his business out of his backyard when his phone rang.
“He had called and was like ‘hey I want to order some food’. My wife and I were like oh somebody playing on the phone like they are Nipsey,” Batiste said.
It was no joke. Nipsey ordered that night. Then hours after he ate the food another friend called Craig.
“And she was like ‘Look at your Instagram’. I’m like ‘what?’ And so I looked at the Instagram and I’m like ‘Oh! Nipsey just put it on his page!’,” Batiste said.
Nipsey posted a picture of his food shared with his millions of Instagram followers. The post helped Mr. Fries Man take off and today they have restaurants nationwide.
“So right now we have Gardena, Ontario, Vegas, Sacramento, Utah, Arizona, Atlanta, North Carolina, South Carolina, DC, and Maryland,” Batiste said.
Five years after his murder, Nipsey’s clothing store in South LA shut down, but they now have a new location on Melrose.
His family also runs the Neighborhood Nip Foundation and this year they are taking the original store that closed and plan to turn it into a community center for kids -- focused on academics and music.
Also this year, a team from the Marathon Clothing Store ran the LA Marathon. They raised funds that will go toward the rebirth of Nipsey Hussle Plaza and the foundation’s headquarters.
Between all the projects and people impacted by his life, Hussle’s legacy lives on now more than five years after his death.
In July 2022, Hussle’s killer Eric Holder was convicted of murder and sentenced to at least 60 years in prison.
