On his birthday, Nipsey Hussle gets a true L.A. honor: a star on Hollywood Walk of Fame

On Monday morning, a plane circled above Hollywood Boulevard trailing a banner that wished a happy birthday to Nipsey Hussle.

Below, a huge crowd of fans, artists and family members took over the fabled Los Angeles street to celebrate the late rapper receiving a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on what would have been his 37th birthday.

Tributes to Hussle, who died in 2019, were scattered across Hollywood Boulevard, from custom blue Lakers jerseys sporting the number 60 and “Hussle” to larger-than-life paintings available for sale. Even the refreshments were reflective of Hussle’s brand and motto, as a man weaved his way through the crowd selling “Marathon waters” — a.k.a. your standard bottles of Aquafina.

Lauren London, Nipsey Hussle’s longtime partner, speaks during a Hollywood Walk of Fame star ceremony Monday.

(Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times)

“Nip would have been honored by this moment,” his longtime partner Lauren London said during the star ceremony. “I think he would want everyone to remember that you can’t get to what’s possible unless you commit to moving forward. That doesn’t mean forgetting where you come from, but it requires acknowledging the reality you were born into and the power you have to change that reality for the better.

“So whenever you’re in the City of Angels and you see this star, I hope it encourages you to break away from whatever might be holding you back, and for you to run your marathon until God says that it’s finished,” London added.

Near the end of the ceremony, Councilmember Marqueece Harris-Dawson proclaimed Aug. 15 to be Nipsey Hussle Day in Los Angeles. Harris-Dawson handed the framed proclamation to Hussle’s grandmother, Margaret Boutte, who posed with it alongside Hussle’s sister, Samantha Smith, and his father, Dawit Asghedom.

“Nipsey was the love of my life,” Boutte said. “Always very respectful. I miss him, but I look at his picture and remember all the wonderful times we had together. I thank my daughter for blessing me with Nipsey.”

The Hollywood Chamber of Commerce, which presents the Walk of Fame ceremonies, had initially announced that Monday’s event would take place at 11:30 a.m., but the time was quietly changed to 10 a.m. to keep the crowd from growing too large. James Davis was one of the people who didn’t catch the update, arriving after the five speakers had left the stage.

Davis, who said he had come to the event to honor Hussle’s birthday, still stuck around to take in the celebratory scene. About six months ago, he bought a T-shirt emblazoned with a painting of Hussle’s face but hadn’t worn it until Monday, thinking it was finally the perfect occasion.

“I was trying to find the appropriate reason to wear it, and here we are,” he said. “This is the first day. I don’t know if I’ll wear it again, but I finally popped the tag on this one.”

Fans attend a posthumous Hollywood Walk of Fame ceremony for Nipsey Hussle on Monday.

(Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times)

The Walk of Fame honor is the latest posthumous achievement for Hussle, who was shot and killed in 2019. (His killer, Eric Holder Jr., was convicted in July and will be sentenced on Sept. 15.) Last week, the new Hyde Park Station on the K Line in South Los Angeles was dedicated in his honor. The station is at the Crenshaw and Slauson intersection, where the rapper first sold his early mixtapes and T-shirts and later established the Marathon Clothing store.

“After [Nipsey] caught the vision and he understood what the train would mean to this community and his neighborhood and businesses like his, he got very involved in making sure that this train worked on behalf of our people and helped us express and live out our possibilities and our hopes and our dreams,” Harris-Dawson said at last week’s station ceremony.

Family and friends pose for pictures beside the newly unveiled Hollywood Walk of Fame star for Nipsey Hussle at Monday’s sidewalk ceremony.

(Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times)

The Crenshaw and Slauson intersection was renamed Ermias “Nipsey Hussle” Asghedom Square in 2019. Since then, his flagship store, the Marathon Clothing, announced plans for a second location on Melrose Avenue. The Marathon Collective, the brand’s first cannabis dispensary, opened in June.

Born Aug. 15, 1985, Hussle became one of the most important rappers in Los Angeles — not only because of how beloved his music was, but because he showed the blueprint to make it out of South Los Angeles with his integrity and independence intact. From an early age, it was clear he didn’t just want to rap, he also wanted to have his hands on everything associated with the process — building his first computer at age 12, later teaching himself to record on it.

Hussle founded his All Money In record label in 2010 after an unsatisfying stint with Epic Records. Assembling a roster that included J. Stone, Pacman da Gunman and Cobby Supreme, Hussle set out to take over L.A. without major-label backing, creating innovative ways to sell his music (he sold 1,000 mixtapes for $100 each in less than 24 hours during the Proud 2 Pay campaign for his Crenshaw mixtape).

A fan holds a sign bearing Nipsey Hussle’s likeness and the words “Hussle Day.”

(Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times)

In 2018, his long-awaited debut album, “Victory Lap,” finally arrived, validating the lengthy buildup with his most polished project to date. In a partnership with Atlantic Records, the album debuted at No. 4 on the Billboard 200 (later peaking at No. 2) and was certified platinum in January 2020.

“This is the best runway I’ve ever put one of my products on,” he told The Times in 2018. “Resource-wise, we were able to get better producers, clearer samples, bigger studios. It’s just been a lot less taxing on me as a businessperson, and I’ve been able to get into my artist bag a lot more, so I’m really happy with how things are going so far.”