Airmiess Joseph Asghedom (August 15, 1985 – March 31, 2019), aka Nipsey Hussle (often stylized as Nipsey Hu$$le), was an American rapper, entrepreneur, and activist from Los Angeles, California.
In the late 2000s and early 2010s), he built a following, particularly in his home state of California, from his numerous mixtapes, including two sets of mixtape series - Bullets Ain't Got No Name (released throughout 2008 and 2009) and Marathon (released throughout 2010 and 2011). In 2013, he gained mainstream attention for his mixtape Crenshaw, which he sold a limited-edition print run of 1,000 copies for $100 each (with Jay-Z buying 100 of them). He completed a similar feat the following year with his follow-up tape Mailbox Money, selling a limited-edition run of 100 copies for $1,000 each. After being in Development Hell for several years, he released his debut studio album Victory Lap in 2018, achieving critical acclaim and commercial success, being nominated for Best Rap Album at the 2019 Grammy Awards, losing to Cardi B's Invasion of Privacy.
Outside of music, he founded the brand Marathon with his brother Samiel, designer Steve Carless and social media strategist Karen Civil, encompassing a design agency (run by Carless) that began in 2013, and the Marathon Clothing store in his home city of Los Angeles, which he opened in 2017. He also built a co-working environment in Los Angeles which he named "Vector 90". Those unfamiliar with hip-hop are likely to be familiar with him for his appearance in Crazy Ex-Girlfriend, in which he plays the featured rapper on "The Sexy Getting Ready Song".
In 2013, he began dating actress Lauren London, with whom he had a son, Kross, in 2016.
Tragically, on March 31, 2019, he was fatally shot outside the Marathon Clothing store. Eric Holder, a 29-year-old man who had gotten into an argument with him earlier that day, was arrested and charged with murder two days later. Holder was found guilty of first-degree murder on July 6, 2022. He is survived by London and their son, Kross.
In 2020, he posthumously won 2 Grammy Awards for his songs "Higher" (with DJ Khaled and John Legend) and "Racks in the Middle" (the last track he released during his lifetime).
Discography:
Mixtapes
- Slauson Boy (2005)
- Bullets Ain't Got No Name Vol. 1 (2008)
- Bullets Ain't Got No Name Vol. 2 (2008)
- Bullets Ain't Got No Name Vol. 3 (2009)
- The Marathon (2010)
- The Marathon Continues (2011)
- TMC: X-Tra Laps (2012)
- Raw (with Blanco) (2012)
- Crenshaw (2013)
- Mailbox Money (2014)
- Slauson Boy 2 (2016)
- Famous Lies And Unpopular Truths (2016)
- No Pressure (with Bino Rideaux) (2017)
Albums
- Victory Lap (2018)
Trope Examples
- Gangsta Rap: Much of his work falls into the blue-collar style of this genre.
- Protest Song: "FDT" is this to Donald Trump, notable for protesting his Presidential candidacy rather than his election as President or his actions during his presidency.
- Sampling: "Victory Lap" is built on a vocal sample of, of all acts, the Arctic Monkeys' "Knee Socks".
- A Wild Rapper Appears!: His appearance on Crazy Ex-Girlfriend, in which he performs this role in "The Sexy Getting Ready Song".
