When Los Angeles hip hop mogul Nipsey Hussle (born Ermias Joseph Asghedom) was fatally shot in front of his Marathon Clothing store in 2019, the world lamented the loss of what would have been a towering luminary. For the Crenshaw community, he was a neighborhood hero and for hip hop at-large, he was a guiding light to an elevated consciousness. But his long-time partner Lauren London knew him as the love of her life and now she is sharing her renewed pursuit for peace and purpose after his death.
In a recent interview with the Los Angeles Times, London reveals how the gravity of Hussle’s passing taught her to seek out the light as she navigates grief. “I think when really hard things happen to people it’s just hard to think that life will ever be sweet again,” the ATL actor said. “So that’s something that I’m learning again, is how to do that.” London and Hussle, both born and raised Angelenos, met in 2013 when Hussle famously sold 1000 copies of his “Crenshaw” mixtape for $100 each. After an exchange of direct messages on Instagram, the rest was history for the often-idolized couple, who would later become parents to their now-4-year-old son Kross. London continued, “I felt that material-wise, I had kind of just lost everything. I lost what I would say is the love of my life.” Although she has long found spirituality to be paramount in her life, her yearning to uncover herself in a new light intensified when sorrow blindsided her. She added: “I was so in a dark space and it was just like, ‘What is this? Who am I? God, please show me.’ … When you’re facing God face-on, you’re asking real questions and you want real answers. It wasn’t for play. I really wanted to know what was going on. So, I think it just has expanded because of my quest for peace.”
After Hussle’s death, London reshuffled her priorities, placing acting to the side to focus on parenting. In her recent return to the silver screen, she starred opposite Michael B. Jordan in Without Remorse as Jordan’s wife, Pam Kelly, who is killed by Russian agents. The role was a venture from her typical supa’ fly girl-next-door persona, but also one she felt familiar with. London said, “I really related with [Jordan], his character, his pain and his sadness. I was like, ‘Wow, here I am in the depths of my grief, and there’s a project that I can actually give something to. Maybe I can give him insight on what that really feels like.’”
