Former rap producer Suge Knight, who has been incarcerated at the RJ Donovan Correctional Facility in San Diego since 2018, believes that Nipsey Hussle’s loyalty to his neighborhood was one of the reasons the late rapper was shot to death. He expressed his belief in a recent TMZ interview, per Page Six .
“A lot of artists like Nipsey have the same problem that I had. We are too loyal to our neighborhood,” Knight said.
He went on to say that many rappers are hesitant to leave their hometowns, claiming that “when you go around Hollywood it’s all watered down.”
When Knight made it big, he left his Compton neighborhood, although he still visited to get his favorite local foods and talk to his friends.
Hussle was gunned down on March 31 outside of his clothing store in Crenshaw, which is close to Knight’s old neighborhood. The 33-year-old was reportedly murdered by Eric Holder — who pleaded not guilty to the charge — due to a personal beef.
Knight compared the Hussle killing to the murder of Tupac Shakur, who was gunned down in 1996.
“I feel that Nipsey was trying to follow the same Tupac manual to the community.”
He also praised the ceasefire between Los Angeles gangs in response to the killing.
“What’s good is that all the hoods getting together now … we can be stronger considering what happens when we come together.”
Suge Knight Says Nipsey Hussle’s Loyalty Put Him at Risk, Shades of Tupac https://t.co/ppONc8gJf6
— TMZ (@TMZ) April 13, 2019
According to Hot New Hip Hop , Knight is currently incarcerated for running over two men — filmmaker Cle Sloan and Terry Carter, co-founder of Heavyweight Records — and fleeing the scene. Carter died from the injuries he sustained, although Knight said that his actions were in self-defense. But eventually, he pleaded no contest to voluntary manslaughter and was sentenced to 28 years in prison.
As The Inquisitr reported, one person was murdered and three were injured at a memorial procession for Hussle in L.A. on Friday. A crowd was reportedly walking through the streets of the city as a tribute to the late rapper when the suspects fired rounds into it from a gray Hyundai. The four victims were between the ages of 30 and 50 and were described as three black men and one woman.
Numerous celebrities attended the memorial service, including Beyonce, Jay-Z, Snoop Dogg, Meek Mill, and Diddy.
Former U.S. President Barack Obama was one of many people who wrote a letter in tribute to the rapper, in which he praised “his choice to invest in that community rather than ignore it.”