SACRAMENTO, Calif. — The death of Grammy-nominated rapper Nipsey Hussle is causing ripples of grief far beyond the artist’s hometown of Los Angeles.
The 33-year-old artist and father was shot and killed Sunday afternoon, outside his clothing store in South Los Angeles, near the Crenshaw neighborhood in which he grew up. Police have arrested the man suspected of killing the rapper.
Sacramento 'Hometown Hero' Anthony Sadler co-organized a local vigil Tuesday evening. Sadler is one of the three Sacramento-area men who helped prevent an armed attack on a French train in 2015.
Nipsey Hussle was one of Sadler's heroes.
"It's not even like a rapper died for me, it's more like a mentor," Sadler said.
It's rare, he said, that rappers have such positive messages in their music, but Nipsey Hussle did.
"For us, it was deeper than the music. He was speaking to the community, and he used his platform in a positive way," Sadler said, "so even in Sacramento, we know that we can affect our community just the same way."
He organized Tuesday's memorial with his friend, Erick Davies, a Sacramento rapper known as King Deezy.
"Rap music, we get a lot of people that are glorifying the wrong stuff, you know, and it makes it a cycle, but with Nip, it was never that," Davies said.
Nipsey Hussle was his role model musically and personally, so the rapper's death is hitting Davies hard.
"I still don't believe-- I wake up the past two days like, 'I know that it ain't true. I hope that it was a dream.' It's wild," Davies said. "I felt like I lost one of my brothers and I ain't even ever met the guy. Music is just -- it can touch you in a different way."
Nipsey Hussle, who grew up in gang culture in South LA, used his success to encourage and give back to his community.
"Don't judge a book by a cover," Davies said. "This dude was covered in tats. He was a gang member and everything, but this man had a pure heart and he had a mind of excellence. He had a mind of success and he was determined."
Nipsey Hussle was shot outside of his clothing store, which was in a strip mall he'd bought -- not far from his childhood roller-skating rink, which he'd also bought and renovated.
"We can't really help the way we were raised, we can't really help where we grow up, but we could try to better it," Davies said. "That's just the biggest goal I'm trying to push upon my people, Nipsey was trying to push upon us."
He hopes the LA rapper's legacy lives on and continues to inspire people.
"Take out the negativity from rap music and keep pushing the positivity," Davies said.
In an Instagram post announcing Tuesday's memorial, Sadler wrote of Nipsey Hussle's death, "I just can’t get over this so if you’re in Sacramento, CA tonight and want to pay some respects to this mans legacy, pour out some drink, laugh, cry, listen to his music this where ima be tonight. No violence, just all positivity so we can keep this legacy alive. Whether 4 ppl, 40 or 400 show up, this where ima be tonight.”
Some mourning his death have likened it to the 1996 murder of rapper Tupac Shakur.
Continue the conversation with Becca on Facebook.
________________________________________________________________
Sacramento community leaders are speaking out following the murder of rapper Nipsey Hussle in Los Angeles over the weekend. Pastor Les Simmons, with Sacramento's Build.Black. Coalition, says Nipsey Hussle's legacy can continue to inspire young people.