Los Angeles rapper Nipsey Hussle was fatally shot outside his clothing store, The Marathon Clothing, in Los Angeles yesterday, March 31st, around 3:20 P.M.

Recently grammy-nominated, Nipsey Hussle was a rapper, an entrepreneur, and a community philanthropist. With the earnings he received from his rap career, he began to invest in real estate in his hometown, South Central. His most recent entrepreneurial move was his investment in Vector90, a co-working space where monthly memberships included a mailing address, internet access, and office supplies. In addition, Vector90 had an entire floor dedicated to teaching STEM to students in South L.A., and he had goals to expand STEM across the country. He had a true passion for children and education. In a statement he made to LA Times, he believed that “In our [black] culture, there’s a narrative that says, ‘follow the athletes, follow the entertainers,’ and that’s cool, but there should be something that says ‘follow Elon Musk’ follow [Mark] Zuckerburg,’ I think that with me being influential as an artist…it makes sense for me to be one of the people that’s waving that flag.”

As a rapper, Hussle had a strong affinity to the hip-hop genre, and he believed that the genre also came with a strong spirit of entrepreneurship. In 2013, he created the Proud2Pay project, a project aimed to reward his most loyal fans with concerts, priority access to new material and one-of-a-kind gifts, like an old rap notebook or a signed photo. He sold 1,000 copies of his mixtape Crenshaw for $100. It sold out within 24 hours with hip-hop mogul Jay-Z. However, Proud2Pay was not his only gamble. In 2010, he left his record deal at Epic Records and created his own label: All Money in No Money Out. He built and ran his own studio, and he owned a quarter of the label. He released two mixtapes, The Marathon and The Marathon Continues. The series of these two mixtapes would be the inspiration for his clothing store, The Marathon Clothing. With All Money In No Money Out, Hussle combined it with an Atlantic Records deal in 2017, which enabled him to rise to more acclaimed fame. In 2018, his major debut Victory Lap, granted him the honor of receiving a grammy nomination. He believed that a major label should be like a “venture capitalist [and] provide…resources– the relationships, staff, and professionals to [elevate] an artist from 60 to 100.”

Apart from his entrepreneurial endeavours and his rap career, Hussle was an advocate for promoting safety and decreasing gang violence in his hometown of Crenshaw. According to CNN, Hussle had scheduled a meeting with LA Police Commissioner Steve Soboroff and LAPD Chief Michael Moore to discuss ways to stop gang violence. As stated by Steve Soboroff, “We( Michael Moore and I) were meeting at the request of Nipsey Hussle with him an [Roc Nation] tomorrow at 4 p.m. to talk about ways he could help stop gang violence and help us help kids.”

Various celebrities, including Pharrell Williams, Drake, Rihanna, J. Cole and others have expressed their regards to Hussle and his family. Hussle is survived by his long time girlfriend, Lauren London, their 2-year-old son, a daughter from his previous relationship, and Lauren London’s son.

It is evident that Nipsey Hussle and his contributions to music and his community will forever be missed, but the respect that he has received for the time that he was here will keep his legacy going.