Nipsey Hussle was a Grammy-nominated West Coast rapper known for his mixtapes and his 2018 debut studio album, "Victory Lap." Hussle, born Ermias Asghedom, released his first mixtape in his native Los Angeles in 2005 and followed it up with the "Bullets Ain't Got No Name" series. By 2013, his mixtapes were so sought after that he was able to release his limited-edition "Crenshaw" at $100 per hard copy. All 1000 copies sold in less than 24 hours. including, reportedly, 100 copies bought by Jay-Z. Hussle's "Victory Lap" was nominated for a Grammy Award for best rap album in 2018.

Hussle was well known and beloved in South L.A., where he grew up and continued to live even as his fame grew. He was a businessman as well as a musician, owning restaurants and a barber shop. He became involved with forward-thinking ventures including Marathon Clothing, his "smartstore" that integrated a brick and mortar location with an app that could be used to buy exclusive products. Russle was among the creators of Destination Crenshaw, a Los Angeles art installation celebrating African-American art and culture. And he was an investor in the South Central based cowork space Vector 90, offering the inner city's young people STEM training and access to technology. He had planned to talk to L.A.’s police chief and commissioner about how he could help them address gun violence, the meeting was set for the day after his death.

His famous quote in Los Angeles Times interview "In our 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 Zuckerberg.' I think that with me being influential as an artist and young and coming from the inner city, it makes sense for me to be one of the people that's waving that flag."