Lauren London remembers Nipsey Hussle at new memorial dedication

The late rapper Nipsey Hussle used to tell his partner Lauren London that the city would rename the beloved Crenshaw and Slauson intersection in South Los Angeles after him one day. Seven years after his passing, that dream came to reality on the last day of Black History Month, February 28, when the city renamed it Nipsey Hussle Square in a special ceremony.

Thousands gathered on Saturday as the street was blocked off to unveil the new dedication. The ceremony took place next to the very spot where Hussle took his last breath on March 31, 2019. That tragedy shook Los Angeles and the hip-hop community, and since then, the area has been blocked off for years, only recently reopening for a community food and toy drive in 2025.

It will now be home to the Neighborhood Nip Foundation, an organization dedicated to supporting and investing in local youth.

Representation has long been tied to Nipsey’s brand. He sought to remain accessible to the city he grew up in and ensure young people could see someone from their own neighborhood build something meaningful. The foundation will offer tutoring, free studio time, and programming to teach kids how to produce music, along with a barbershop providing free haircuts.

The corner was once home to Nipsey Hussle’s original Marathon Clothing flagship store, which has since relocated to Melrose. Today, it stands not only as a site of many memories but as a forward-facing landmark for the community. “Where everything happened is where everything will grow,” Lauren London’s son, Kameron Carter, said during the ceremony.

Council members, supporters, and loved ones stood beneath the newly installed street sign and cheered. Just before the speeches began, a swarm of bees appeared overhead, briefly drawing the crowd’s attention. An Eritrean woman in attendance mentioned that she had once dreamed of Nipsey as a bee—a sight that felt symbolic for a supporter in the crowd. At the center of it all was his family, who have continued to carry and protect his legacy.

“This is a proud moment for me,” Lauren London told The FADER about the significance of the ceremony. “This is also an important and proud moment for the kids, as they now fully understand their father’s legacy. Nip continues to inspire and motivate his community, which is a true realization of his dreams.”

Nipsey’s brother and business partner, Samiel “Blacc Sam” Asghedom, has remained intentional about how Hussle’s story is told and how his creative work continues to evolve. A brief preview of a documentary about Nipsey’s life was shared on his Instagram four years ago, offering an early glimpse of the project.

According to Asghedom, the film is now taking shape as an eight-to nine-episode series directed by One9, and despite some reports saying the documentary will be streamed on Netflix, Sam made it clear it has no official home yet.

“We had a lot of deals on the table, but we walked away from those deals,” he said, explaining that companies were trying to control the narrative. “Once the project is finished and done right by our standards, we’ll release it — even if we give it away for free. It’s not about money.”

While the documentary looks ahead, it was the music that first introduced many to Hussle’s marathon mindset. Throughout his career, he consistently released a steady run of mixtapes that laid the groundwork for Victory Lap, his only official studio album, which earned a Grammy nomination for Best Rap Album.

It’s been eight years since fans received a full body of work from Hussle. During NBA All-Star Weekend, a new single, “Reckless,” was released, offering the first glimpse of Prolific, the forthcoming joint album with Bino Rideaux, set to arrive this summer.

According to Sam, the project was not assembled after his passing, but rather something Nipsey Hussle put together himself. Although people had urged the family to release new music sooner, Sam stated that the family was not in the right mindset to do so following his passing. “We came together when we were comfortable listening to the music and put a plan together,” he said of the coming album release.

The unveiling of Nipsey Hussle Square was just one moment of a celebratory weekend for his estate. To mark the first anniversary of Marathon Burger, an expansion of the Marathon brand, his family opened a fourth location in Long Beach in partnership with Snoop Dogg, Cordell Broadus, and the Broadus family.

Of the expansion, Cordell Broadus said that it’s another example of a value Hussle held dear: reinvesting in one’s community. “It’s important for the kids to understand that it’s possible and within reach to make it. If Snoop did it, Nip did it, Cordell did it — you can buy the block and invest in your communities as well.”

Blacc Sam stood at the entrance, shaking hands before stepping into the kitchen to help push out orders for the massive line that wrapped down the street. The opening also drew support from artists such as YG, who stopped by and paid for meals, and the musical icon Stevie Wonder.

In the midst of an event meant to uplift the community, a shooting occurred in a nearby parking structure, resulting in three victims, one of them fatally wounded. In the wake of this tragedy, the need for investing in neighborhoods and breaking cycles of violence is clearer than ever, as Nipsey’s transformation of his own life and those around him serves as a reminder that this effort must continue.

Though Nipsey Hussle will always be revered as a gifted artist and West Coast legend, he took just as much pride, if not more, in being a father. His children, Emani and Kross, now move through a city that carries constant reminders of who their father was. Murals of his face can be seen stretched across LA, his music woven into the city’s culture, and now there’s Nipsey Hussle Square.