The Game’s final conversation with Nipsey Hussle
The hip-hop community was hit hard following Nipsey Hussle’s murder in late March 2019. Aged just 33, he was shot ten times outside of his own clothing store in LA and, within the hour, he was pronounced dead. An outpouring of grief duly followed.
Nipsey’s native LA was covered with murals dedicated to the rapper within months of his death, while he would be awarded with a posthumous star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2022. Rival gang leaders were sufficiently moved by Nipsey’s death that they agreed to enter peace talks, while even former president Barack Obama publicly commented on the rapper’s death and legacy.
“While most folks look at the Crenshaw neighborhood where he grew up and see only gangs, bullets, and despair,” Obama said, “Nipsey saw potential.”
In the years that followed, Ice-T, Snoop Dogg, Big Sean and Kendrick Lamar were among numerous artists to release music in Nipsey’s memory, a plain illustration of the breadth of his influence. The Game, too, was deeply moved by Nipsey’s death, having looked upon him as something of a protege while Nip was starting out.
During a conversation on Big Boy TV in November 2019, not at all long after Nipsey’s death, The Game reflected on how he first came to know him in the first place. Apparently, Nip had spotted The Game sitting in his car one day, so he approached the vehicle to hand over a demo CD. “Nip would never let me forget that, man,” The Game said.
The Game had been very keen to keep Nipsey’s legacy alive in the weeks and months following his death, regularly taking to his social media to post about him. In one such post, initially uploaded during the September of 2019, he reflected on the last time that he and Nip had actually met with each other.
“My last few times spent in his presence, it was all smiles, laughs and jokes,” The Game wrote. “He stayed trying to get me to read books and strengthen my knowledge in all areas of life.”
The Game then elaborated, mentioning that Nipsey had recommended a book called Slave Narratives, which Game admitted to struggling with. When Nipsey asked him if he’d read it yet, Game apparently replied, “Aye, I tried… but next time gimme the one wit pictures in it.”
That was the last time he would ever see Nipsey alive. After The Game had cracked his picture book joke, Nip apparently said, “Aite big blood.” Game replied back, “Aite Loc,” and that was that. It was their last ever interaction.