Nipsey Hussle

Ermias Joseph Asghedom spent a decade building the Marathon from the ground up, releasing mixtapes independently and reinvesting every dollar back into the community around Crenshaw and Slauson. The $100 mixtape Crenshaw in 2013 attracted Jay-Z's attention. Victory Lap in 2018 was his major label debut after years of refusing to compromise on his own terms. He was shot and killed outside his Marathon Clothing store on March 31, 2019, at thirty-three years old. Prolific, his collaboration with Bino Rideaux recorded before his death, arrives in 2026 as his final statement.