While reminiscing on memories of Nipsey Hussle, Rihanna revealed that she and Nipsey would have eventually worked on a song together produced by Hitmaka (aka Young Berg) which the Chicago producer says would have gone No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. The singer posted a screenshot to Instagram of a text conversation between the producer and the rapper which included the rough song file, labeled “On My Mind,” telling Nipsey, “If this was U and Rihanna. Hot 100 #1.” Nipsey replied, simply, “We gotta get Rihanna then.” Rihanna’s photo was a repost of Hitmaka’s that went up the day of Nipsey’s death.
Rihanna also posted a video montage of photos of NIpsey with his longtime girlfriend Lauren London, captioned, “I’m so sorry @laurenlondon ????.” The Fenty Beauty businesswoman had previously posted a remembrance of the late, great rapper immediately after the news broke that he’d been shot to death in front of his Marathon store in LA. “This doesn’t make any sense,” she wrote at the time. “My spirit is shaken by this! Dear God may His spirit Rest In Peace and May You grant divine comfort to all his loved ones! ??? I’m so sorry this happened to you.”
While Nipsey had a very meticulous recording process, Hitmaka’s assertion that the duo of Nipsey and Rihanna would be a hit record may very well have proved accurate had the two actually entered the studio together. Hitmaka’s production resume over the past few years includes hits like Big Sean’s “Bounce Back,” Meek Mill’s “Dangerous,” and 2 Chainz’s Ariana Grande collaboration “Rule The World,” which is likely the best indicator of how the rugged gangster’s style would have contrasted with the posh singer’s. It’s a shame that the collaboration will never happen now, because if anyone deserved the chart success such an unexpected pairing would bring, it was Nipsey, who was just beginning to break out as a mainstream artist after a decade of independent success.
