Drake pays tribute to Nipsey Hussle as music industry reacts to rapper's death
LOS ANGELES (Variety.com) - News of the death of Nipsey Hussle hit the music industry hard on Monday morning, with fellow artists like Drake and Rihanna jumping on social media to pay tribute.
Drake, who wrote that he saw Hussle "as a man of respect and a don," also revealed that the two had planned to do a song together this year.
A photo from Nipsey Hussle's Instagram account dated December 4, 2018. Instagram
The Los Angeles rapper, who was shot multiple times outside his store in the Hyde Park neighbourhood of Los Angeles, was only 33. The shooting, which injured two others, took place outside the Marathon Clothing Company, which Hussle (real name: Ermias Davidson Ashedom) opened in 2017 with two partners. His album Victory Lap, released last year via Atlantic Records, was nominated for best rap album at the Grammy Awards, losing to Cardi B's Invasion of Privacy.
Among those paying tribute to Hussle were some of the top artists and hitmakers working today, like Sza, Chance the Rapper, Meek Mill, Chuck D, Boi-1da, Doc McKinney and Murda Beatz.
Drake's tribute to Nipsey Hussle. Instagram
Boi-1da's tribute to Nipsey Hussle. Instagram
Soulja Boy's tribute to Nipsey Hussle. Instagram