The late, great Nipsey Hussle was as well-known for his entrepreneurship and community service as he was for his music. Killer Mike, another outspoken rapper, praised Nipsey’s community work and implored listeners to follow his example at a memorial for the fallen musician at Atlanta’s Morris Brown College on Wednesday. Radio host Charlamagne Tha God was on hand to film the fiery speech and later posted it to his Facebook. You can watch the video below.
Mike implored his audience to become “businessmen and people who care about our communities like Nipsey did.” He decried the stereotypical imagery of Black men as “savages,” saying: “We ain’t gotta be they examples of the wrong way, we ain’t gotta be no thugs.” He urged his listeners to change their frame of mind regarding the substitute familial bonds of gang affiliation, as well, saying: That rag that is over your forehead or out of your left pocket is better served wiping the sweat off your head for the work you were doing on behalf of your community in a way that is not murder of the Africans. You do not have to kill one another to prove your love to your neighborhood. Your enemy don’t give a f*ck what color rag you wear. They will murder you in the streets, they will leave you dead for your momma to find, and I am tired of my enemy looking like me.”
Nipsey shared Mike’s anti violence views; at the time of his death, he was working with the LAPD commissioner on find ways to curb gang violence, and his initiatives like Vector 90 and the plethora of businesses he owned around his neighborhood aimed to provide opportunities for legal employment and entrepreneurship for others who grew up there.
Nipsey was shot and killed in front of his Marathon store on Sunday while helping out a friend in need. While his loss in tragic, the example he set is clear; he lived a life of service to others. We should all strive to do the same.
Nipsey Hussle is a Warner Music artist. .
