Grinding All My Life: Nipsey Hussle, Community Health, and Care Ethics

Authors

Pyar J. Seth, Johns Hopkins UniversityFollow
Carlton K. Harrison, University of Central FloridaFollow
Jasmyn Mackell, University of Central FloridaFollow

Abstract

As John Legend said, “Nipsey was so gifted, so proud of his home, so invested in his community” (Martin, 2019). Though Nipsey Hussle certainly had a lyrical gift, the discourse after his murder remained largely focused on his work as a humanitarian and community activist. Hussle was a staunch advocate for gun control, police abolition, and education equity in Los Angeles and the State of California. Academic research has often neglected the very clear relationship between Hip Hop and health, particularly the underlying theme of improving community health. To our knowledge, Hussle never identified as a community health organizer. Still, community mobilization, outreach, and health promotion all figured centrally in his political philosophy. And so, in our paper, through an examination of the life and legacy of Nipsey Hussle, namely vis-à-vis digital media content, we reflect on Hip Hop not only as a musical genre but as a form of care and community health knowledge acquisition. Ultimately, we assert that Nipsey and his “Hip Hop capital” formed new solidarities around health justice, ushering in a wave of Black politics that positioned health as living longer and better, without fear of state and safety deprivation.

DOI

doi.org/10.34718/0fs4-zx86

Volume

9

Issue

1

Recommended Citation

Seth, Pyar J.; Harrison, Carlton K.; and Mackell, Jasmyn (2022) "Grinding All My Life: Nipsey Hussle, Community Health, and Care Ethics," Journal of Hip Hop Studies: Vol. 9: Iss. 1, Article 6.
Available at: https://scholarscompass.vcu.edu/jhhs/vol9/iss1/6