Nipsey Hussle was killed in March 2019, but his impact on Los Angeles and the greater hip-hop community remains felt. To honor the late rapper and business mogul, a South L.A. train station is being dedicated to his memory, per the Los Angeles Times.
“After he caught the vision and he understood what the train would mean to this community and his neighborhood and businesses like his, he got very involved in making sure that this train worked on behalf of our people and helped us express and live out our possibilities and our hopes and our dreams,” L.A. City Councilmember Marqueece Harris-Dawson said at a dedication event.
The Hyde Park Station is part of the $2 billion K Line, which stretches from Crenshaw to Los Angeles International Airport. One phase of it will open before the end of 2022, and the rest in 2024. According to the L.A. Times article, there has also been a push from the local community to officially name the station after Hussle.
The choice of the specific spot is powerful, but also poignant. It is located right near where Nipsey opened the first brick-and-mortar store for his Marathon Clothing company on West Slauson Avenue—the site where Nipsey was later fatally shot by Eric Holder, Jr., who was convicted of first-degree murder for the act in July. (Nipsey’s family has announced its intentions to open another Marathon shop in Los Angeles later this year, since the original location remains closed.)
An alley near the original Marathon store has been closed by the city council due to pervasive crime issues, per the L.A. Times, but the area has primarily been used to honor the late rapper. A mural was painted of him with the popular slogan “The Marathon Continues,” and the intersection by the store was renamed Ermias “Nipsey Hussle” Asghedom Square.
Hussle, who died at 33, was raised in Crenshaw, and Los Angeles was a central part of his identity and music. He owned a number of businesses in the area that led to jobs for locals, and helped create a space for children of color to learn STEM fields. He will be honored with his own Hollywood Walk of Fame star on August 15, fellow Los Angeles MC Kendrick Lamar acknowledged Nipsey in his 2022 single “The Heart Part 5,” and Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James has paid tribute to Hussle in recent years.
No official posthumous Hussle projects have been released, though there have been a handful of singles, including “Deep Reverence” with Big Sean, “What It Feels Like” with Jay-Z, and the Grammy winning “Higher” with DJ Khaled and John Legend.