Africa mourns fallen American rapper Nipsey Hussle
Eritreans and several Africans across the continent took to social media on Monday to mourn the fallen rapper Nipsey Hussle, who was shot dead in the US city of Los Angeles over the weekend.
Local media reported that 33-year-old Hussle was shot in front of his own clothing store Sunday afternoon at close range, by a man who fled in a getaway car.
Celebrities, rappers and the community in Los Angeles expressed their shock and grief at the death of the Grammy-nominated rapper who was highly revered among his peers.
In Africa, Eritrea’s information minister, Yemane Meskel led tributes for the American rapper with Eritrean roots.
Born Ermias Asghedom to an Eritrean immigrant and an African-American mother, Hussle, always spoke vividly about his Eritrean heritage.
Meskel shared an interview that Hussle did when he visited Eritrea with his brother and father last year.
What Hussle said about Eritrea
Asked what being Eritrean meant to him; Hustle said it gives him the greatest pride.
‘‘The history of our country, our struggle and the underdog story, the resilience of the people and our integrity is something that I feel pride in being attached to,’‘ Hussle said.
He also said he was proud of the meaning attached to his name, Nipsey, in the Tigrigna language spoken across Eritrea.
‘Nebsi’, in Tigrigna literally translates to ‘self’ and as a slang refers to ‘home boy’ or just ‘homie’.
‘‘Therefore, the meaning that we have of your name is either ‘self-hustle’ or ‘the hustle of a hommie’.
On Sunday in a shocking incident, the rapper was shot multiple times in Los Angeles, right outside his clothing store, and tragically passed away.
What many didn’t know was that Nipsey, real name Ermias Davidson Asghedom, was going to sit down with the president of the Los Angeles Board of Police Commissioners and the city’s chief of police to tackle an issue that, along with his music, has come to define his life: gang violence.
According to Steve Soboroff, president of the city’s police commission, Nipsey had wanted “to talk about ways he could help stop gang violence and help kids.”
Hours before his death Hussle — whose youth was intertwined with Los Angeles gang culture — tweeted: “Having strong enemies is a blessing.”
Hussle’s “Victory Lap” scored a Grammy nomination for Best Rap Album at this year’s ceremony.
It was his first formal album, which dropped after six years of teasing but ultimately lost the honor to rap’s woman of the moment Cardi B.
Hussle was seen by many in Los Angeles as a lynchpin of the community, redistributing his earnings into the violence-plagued neighborhoods he came from.
The artist was involved in a project to reclaim the California city’s southern districts for the black residents who made it sing.
“Hussle had a vision of a neighborhood built for and by the sons and daughters of South L.A.” said city councilman Marqueece Harris-Dawson in a statement following news of the rapper’s death.
“During his life, he moved from shadows into the bright hope of freedom and community revitalization.”
Hussle was open about his early years in the notorious Crips gang, telling the Los Angeles Times newspaper in 2018: “We dealt with death, with murder.”
“It was like living in a war zone, where people die on these blocks and everybody is a little bit immune to it,” he said.
“I guess they call it post-traumatic stress, when you have people that have been at war for such a long time.”
1. Nipsey overcame life in a street gang when he was younger – He was in a street gang in the early 1990s, but developed a love of music and technology and left the gang.
2. He was a father – At the time of his death he was in a relationship and has a two-year-old son named Kross Asghedom.
3. He recently released his first studio album – His album “Victory Lap”, which debuted at No. 4 on the Billboard 200 albums chart, was nominated for a Grammy Award in 2019. It featured artists YG, Puff Daddy and Kendrick Lamar. Before the album, he had released four mixtapes: “The Marathon”, “The Marathon Continues”, “Crenshaw” and “Mailbox Money”.
4. He collaborated with some of the industry’s biggest rappers during his career – Nipsey had worked with Drake on the song “Killer” and also appeared on YG’s 2012 single “B*tches Ain’t Sh*t”, which featured Tyga and Snoop Dogg.
5. Nipsey was a well-known community organiser – He was involved in the Destination Crenshaw arts project. He was also involved with opening Vector 90, a science, technology, engineering and mathematics-centric work space in the hard-scrabble Crenshaw neighbourhood.
6. He ran a clothing store – His Marathon Clothing store opened in June 2017, running on the smart store concept. It was a retail destination where fans could buy merchandise and preview exclusive content from the rapper through an app that worked in the store.
