Grammy-nominated rapper Nipsey Hussle was shot dead in
the US city of Los Angeles Sunday, sparking an outpouring of grief from
fellow celebrities as the city’s mayor blamed “senseless gun violence.”
Local
media reported Hussle, 33, was shot in front of his own clothing store
Sunday afternoon at close range, by a man who fled in a getaway car.
“Our
hearts are with the loved ones of Nipsey Hussle and everyone touched by
this awful tragedy,” LA Mayor Eric Garcetti tweeted.
A police spokesman told AFP the suspected shooter remained at large. Two other people were wounded.
“L.A. is hurt deeply each time a young life is lost to senseless gun violence,” Garcetti said.
The Los Angeles Times reported the shooting was “likely planned and gang-related.”
‘Gone 2 Soon’
The
Grammy-nominated rapper found minor commercial success but was highly
revered among his peers, and his shock death triggered an outpouring of
tributes from hip hop royalty.
“Gone 2 soon,” rapper Snoop Dogg posted on Instagram. “I’m so sad right now I’ll just reflect on the good times we had.”
Superstar Rihanna posted that “this doesn’t make any sense!
“My
spirit is shaken by this! Dear God may His spirit Rest In Peace and May
You grant divine comfort to all his loved ones! I’m so sorry this
happened to you @nipseyhussle.”
Outside his clothing store, a
crowd gathered behind yellow police tape, and a grief-stricken woman
clasped her hand over her mouth.
At least one cartridge case lay on the ground, near a black ball cap.
Long
part of the underground rap circuit, Hussle struggled to find fame but
began selling his own mixtapes, which rap king Jay-Z once bought 100 of
for $100 each.
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 honour to rap’s woman of the moment Cardi B.
Megastar Drake also posted his condolences, saying: “My whole energy is just at a low right now hearing this.”
“You were a real one to your people and the rest of us,” Drake wrote. “Rest easy my g.”
Born
Ermias Asghedom, Hussle was seen by many in Los Angeles as a lynchpin
of the community, redistributing his earnings into the violence-plagued
neighbourhoods 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
neighbourhood 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.”
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