Thousands of fans descended on Staples Center Thursday to honor the life of slain rapper Nipsey Hussle, who was gunned down in front of the clothing store he owned in a South Los Angeles community he was dedicated to revitalizing.
The ceremony is the first of its kind at Staples Center since a memorial service for Michael Jackson was held there in 2009.
The memorial began about an hour after its scheduled 10 a.m. start as fans continued to file into the stadium. The program for the memorial remained a mystery before it started, but singer Stevie Wonder is among the performers. Also among the performers are Anthony Hamilton and Jhene Aiko. Snoop Dogg is among those set to speak.
The ceremony began with tracks being played from Hussle’s album “Victory Lap.” A highlight reel of Hussle’s life was also shown, set to the sound of Frank Sinatra’s “My Way.”
The highlight reel was followed by a performance from singer Marsha Ambrosius and words from Minister Louis Farrakhan of the Nation of Islam.
“It is a great honor for me and for us to be here to honor a life that will become more famous in death than in life, and the work that his life will produce will go down in history as something that changed the world,” Farrakhan said.
Social media and marketing personality Karen Civil read a letter to the crowd by former President Barack Obama.
“While most folks look at the Crenshaw neighborhood where he grew up and see only gangs, bullets and despair, Nipsey saw potential. He saw hope,” Obama wrote. “He saw a community that, even through its flaws, taught him to always keep going.”
Security was tight in and around the arena, contributing to the slow pace of people entering the arena. Los Angeles police noted that “a last-minute rush of mourners caused congestion and brief delays at entrances” at the arena.
Tickets for the event were distributed free through an online system on Tuesday, and they were all claimed within minutes.
People unable to attend the ceremony will still have a chance to pay respects to Hussle during a procession — dubbed a Victory Lap — that is expected to move through South Los Angeles following the event. The procession will move south on Vermont Avenue, then east on Century Boulevard, circling through the Watts area before heading back west on Century. The procession will then move through Inglewood and pass by Hussle’s The Marathon Clothing store at Slauson and Crenshaw Boulevard before heading north to the Angelus Funeral Home at Crenshaw and 39th Street.
The 33-year-old rapper — whose real name was Ermias Joseph Asghedom — was fatally shot March 31 in front of The Marathon Clothing store. Last week, 29-year-old Eric Ronald Holder Jr., an aspiring rapper and acquaintance of Hussle, pleaded not guilty to one count each of murder and possession of a firearm by a felon, along with two counts of attempted murder.
Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Teresa Sullivan ordered Holder to be jailed in lieu of $5 million bail while awaiting his next court appearance May 10, when a date is scheduled to be set for a hearing to determine if there is sufficient evidence to allow the case against him to proceed to trial.
Holder could face a potential life prison sentence if convicted as charged, according to the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office.
Los Angeles Police Chief Michel Moore said Holder got into some type of personal dispute with the rapper outside the store, then left and returned with a handgun. Hussle was shot in the head and body and died at a hospital, according to police and the coroner’s office.
The police chief declined to discuss the nature of the disagreement between Holder and Hussle but stressed the shooting appeared to be a result of that dispute, not any type of gang rivalry or feud.
Hussle transformed himself from a South Los Angeles gang member to a rap musician and channeled his success into efforts to help others stay out of gangs. He bought shoes for students, re-paved basketball courts and provided jobs and shelter for the homeless.
Hussle helped renovate a Mid-City roller rink and redeveloped the strip mall that housed his Marathon Clothing shop where he was fatally wounded.
On Friday, the Los Angeles City Council is expected to adjourn its regular meeting in honor of Hussle, according to Councilman Marqueece Harris- Dawson, a friend of Hussle’s. At that same meeting, Harris-Dawson is also expected to introduce a motion to rename the intersection of Slauson Avenue and Crenshaw Boulevard as “Ermias `Nipsey Hussle’ Asghedom Square.”