Who was Nipsey Hussle?
The 33-year-old American rapper and entrepreneur known as Nipsey Hussle was shot dead in his native Los Angeles on March 31. He had been part of the West Coast hip hop scene since 2005.
Jay Z bought 100 copies of his Crenshaw mixtape for $100 apiece in 2013. Nipsey Hussle’s first studio album was released in February 2018 and was an immediate critical and commercial success.
It was nominated for a 2019 Grammy Award in the Best Rap Album category. The eventual winner of this category was Cardi B’s “Invasion of Privacy.”
Hussle was shot fatally outside his Marathon Clothing store in South Los Angeles. Eric Holder was subsequently put under arrest and charged with murder two days after the shooting. The two men had had a confrontation at the store earlier that day.
In his youth, Hussle was part of the gang scene in Los Angeles. However, as he got older, he began to speak out against gun violence through his influence, music, and work in the community.
The memorial service for Hussle took place at the Staples Center. During the service, a letter sent by former President Barack Obama was read.
The letter spoke about the positive influence Hussle was in the community. Obama wrote: “While most folks look at the Crenshaw neighborhood where he grew up and see only gangs, bullets, and despair, Nipsey saw potential.”
Partner reveals casino investment
Nipsey Hussle also had a keen interest in business and investing. His goal was to create financial security for himself and his family. He set up numerous trust funds for his family.
At the time of his death, he owned 14 businesses. Among them were his record label, “All Money In,” and his Marathon Clothing store. He also played a role in a beautification project Crenshaw, his home neighborhood.
This project is transforming a 1.3-mile area of Crenshaw Boulevard into “Destination Crenshaw,” an open-air art museum.
All of his master recordings were under his ownership and he also had investments in real estate. According to a recent report, he was investing in a casino in Las Vegas that is scheduled to open in 2020.
David Gross, one of Hussle’s business partners, recently spoke about their casino investment. He said they were approached by senior executives of the Richard Branson Virgin Hotels about investing in some hospitality space. The pair had previously made an unsuccessful bid on the Viceroy Santa Monica.
Gross put up an Instagram post of himself and Hussle at the private Atlantic Aviation section of McCarran Airport in Las Vegas. The caption reads: “This is the meeting a couple months later, that would result in us becoming partial owners, of not a hotel… But a resort and casino in the desert.”
Reaction to this report
In response to this report, the property partner and CEO for the Hard Rock Hotel, Richard Bosworth, says the report from Gross is “a big overstatement.”
He went on to say that Hussle was only a minority investor through a partnership managed by Gross. This was a collective known as the Confluent Group, which has other investors, such as NBA star Carmelo Anthony.
Bosworth spoke to the Las Vegas Review-Journal about the relationship with Hussle. He said: “Hussle was an investor in David Gross’s firm, which made an investment in another fund, which made an investment in J.C. Hospitality. They are three steps removed from being a partner in the property.”
This Hard Rock Hotel and Casino is about a mile to the east of the Las Vegas Strip. It is undergoing a $200m (£154m) renovation, after which it will be the Virgin Hotel Las Vegas. It will include 1,500 hotel rooms and a 60,000-square-foot casino.