Source: Allen Berezovsky / Getty
In a little over three months’ time, it will be a year since Nipsey Hussle passed away. To honor him GQ, collected stories from the people who knew him the best, including his brothers, sister, colleagues and most notably, his partner and mother of his son, Lauren London.
As you know, Lauren is still in the grieving process and her comments about Nipsey in the GQ piece reflect that.
Their first meeting
“We met through a mutual friend, like, on the phone. Because we’re both from L.A., we had a lot of friends in common. I had a couple of homegirls that had hung out with him and would come back to me like, “Oh, my God! You would really like Nip! He seems like your type!” I wasn’t dating anybody at the time, or doing any of that. We met because I wanted to pick up a box of clothes he offered me after I bought a couple [copies of] Crenshaw. I pulled up to his shop on Crenshaw and Slauson, and he was like, “You want to hang out?”
Their First Date
So we drove around the city, and to my surprise he knew my aunt, so we pull up to my aunt’s house to eat. He had called her. Later that night we drove down PCH and talked for hours. I would consider that our first date. Before that, we had talked on the phone for like eight hours, but [this] was the first time we were face-to-face. We started kicking it every day for weeks, and then I realized that we never went to dinner and had, like, a proper first date. From there, it was just…easy. It felt so natural for us to be in each other’s lives.
We were both foodies. We would go to Little Ethiopia a lot and eat at Merkato. He introduced me to Eritrean and Ethiopian cuisine. He loved Mexican food and anything really spicy—he would add extra jalapeños. I was always making him tacos. Always.
Fatherhood/Personality
He was a very gentle father. Extremely gentle. Very present.
Nip was very spontaneous. He would be like, “Boog, let’s go out of town.” And I’d go with him and no luggage. He was very fun in that way. He loved having fun. We’d wake up in the morning, and he’d be like, “Bet you won’t get on a roller coaster.” We would literally just wash our faces, brush our teeth, put on sweats, and go to Magic Mountain, randomly, to get on a roller coaster and start the day.
A couple days before he passed, he bought me three books. One was a book about parenting. He loved Power vs. Force. He swore on that book and got a lot of game from it. I mean, between he and I, we damn near had a library.
The GQ shoot
We were in the bathroom putting on our clothes, and all of it was music-video, model-esque clothing. I’m like, “I can’t fit in anything, I’m overweight.” This was the first time I was taking pictures after the baby. And he’s like, “You’re beautiful, I’m gonna make this work. Don’t trip, Boog. Keep your energy up.”
So he comes out and was like, “We gotta get her right.” So they set up another fitting for me, later that day. Me and him stayed in the area, went out to eat, and sat in the car and talked until the fitting. I’m all nervous like, “I hope these clothes fit.” He was so supportive—like making tea for me—and he sat through my whole fitting. Every time I would come out in new clothes, he would clap: “Look at how fly you look. You gonna kill it.”
That street where we took a picture on the horse? That’s my cousin’s block. I remember afterwards, my homegirl who does my hair, Maisha, was crying, and I’m like, “Why are you crying?” And she’s like, “I just feel like I’ve been a part of some history.”
Grieving
I can’t talk about our last day together, and I still have to be strong for my children. I have a three-year-old that’s still asking, “Where is Daddy?” He doesn’t understand the concept of death.
I haven’t gotten to digest the fullness of it, because it’s overwhelming and I’m in the process of healing myself and my family. But I absolutely feel the love of the city.
Legacy
Nip wasn’t just trying to make music to get money or be famous. He understood that through his music, he would be able to get his message across. And he was very big on his purpose with God. He knew who he was with God. He knew the mission that God and the purpose that God had placed on his heart.
He loved his people. He wanted us to be strong and on our own, and he really wanted to put that message in his music and in his interviews. Now when people YouTube him and go back, they’re getting reintroduced to Nip. But Nip was always on that mission.
