Memorial highlights the man behind the rap character of Nipsey Hussle



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LOS ANGELES (AP) – Thousands of people gathered to remember Nipsey Hussle's life during a busy memorial ceremony on Thursday, offering mourners a greater appreciation of Ermias Asghedom, the man to the origin of the hip-hop character in full swing.

Some of those who knew Hussle best, his girlfriend-girlfriend Lauren London, her dear friend Snoop Dogg and her mother shared their most personal stories about the rapper during the three-hour service at Staples Center in Los Angeles. The 21,000-seat concert hall hosted its first celebrity funeral since Michael Jackson's 2009, ending with a video montage of the rapper's song "Dedication."

Hussle's coffin, draped in the flag of his father's native country, Eritrea in East Africa, then embarked on a 25-kilometer tour of the city, drawing thousands of people to the streets. to catch a glimpse of the hero of his newly-born hometown.

Police watched the crowd, which seemed largely peaceful. At one point, people sat at the top of a police car bomb painted with the words: "Nips in Paradise".

London shared a text sent to the rapper in January, calling him "my visit and my church". She learned a lot from her presence as a provider and protector, but she became sad at the thought that their son is unable to remember his father.

"My pain is for my two years," she said.

After the service, she revealed a new Hussle tattoo on her forearm, writing in a post on Instagram that "Real Love Never Dies" and that from now on "When you see me, you'll always see it . "

Hussle's mother, Angelique Smith, spoke calmly about the fact that she was "in perfect peace" and "happy and complete" despite the death of her son. She said: "Ermias was an inheritance."

She called him a "superhero" who was not afraid to lead, telling the story of Ermias, aged 9, who was running in the middle of the street to stop a fire truck in order to extinguish the engine of his car, which was in flames. Miraculously, the car was still running.

"We burn but are not destroyed," Smith said.

Snoop Dogg honestly said that Hussle was a visionary and met him for the first time.

"Most rappers when they use Snoop Dogg with a mixtape, their sentence is:" Ahh, man, listen to my music. I can earn you a million dollars, "said Dogg." Nipsey's sentence was: "Hi buddy, listen to my music. Listen to her. "No contract with a record, you do not want to put yourself on it, so he had the vision to know and understand that I do not want anything to be distributed, I'll come get mine."

Hussle was shot dead on March 31 while he was standing in front of The Marathon, his clothing store south of Los Angeles, not far from where the rapper grew up.

Eric R. Holder Jr., accused of killing Hussle, pleaded not guilty. Police said that Holder and Holder had several interactions on the day of the shooting and described it as the result of a personal hassle.

At least one of the rapper 's wishes came true on Thursday. In his song "Ocean Views" of 2016, he talked about a song by Stevie Wonder at his funeral. The legendary singer took the stage to perform "Rocket Song", one of Hussle's favorites.

Earlier during the ceremony, a montage of photos showing the rapper from his earliest childhood, his youth and adulthood, with fellow rappers, his family and London, was shown to the crowd, as part of " My Way "by Frank Sinatra.

Hussle's children also appeared on stage to pay homage. Cameron Carter, London's son with rapper Lil Wayne, said that shortly after Hussle's death, he had had a dream in which he had seen the rapper.

"I realized Ermias had told me what the sky looked like, he said it was a paradise," Cameron said.

Cameron then told the audience that Hussle sometimes looked at him from the window and told him "respect." Cameron then asked the crowd to say "respect" in unison, and the crowd sent the word resonating through the arena.

For a decade, Hussle has released some much-researched mixtapes that he has sold in the trunk of his car, helping him create a buzz and earn respect from rap purists and his peers. He said his stage name, a play about Nipsey Russell, had been given to him by an older friend as a teenager because he was so stubborn – always in a hurry.

He charged $ 100 for his 2013 "Crenshaw" mixtape, which was a real money and publicity coup when Jay-Z bought 100 copies for $ 10,000.

Last year, Hussle reached new heights with "Victory Lap", his critically acclaimed first major label album and Atlantic Records, which made the list of best-ofs for critics. The album debuted at number 4 on Billboard's 200 albums and earned him a Grammy nomination.

But the rapper was also a beloved figure for his philanthropic work that went well beyond the usual philosophy of celebrity "celebrity". After his death, politicians and community leaders praised enthusiastically.

Hussle recently purchased the linear shopping mall where The Marathon is located and is planning to redevelop it, which fits into Hussle's broader ambitions of redoing the neighborhood in which he grew up and trying to break up the cycle of gang life that attracted him in his youth.

His family and friends promised to continue his work and London told the crowd: "The marathon continues!"

Hussle's brother, Samiel Asghedom, also gave life to his motto. He recounted how Hussle would assemble pieces to build his first computer, but became moved at the thought that his brother was leaving his "heart and soul" at the popular intersection of Crenshaw and Slauson Avenue.

"Bro, you made the world proud," he says.

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Follow Jonathan Landrum Jr., editor of AP Entertainment, on Twitter: http://twitter.com/MrLandrum31

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