The community named that corner years ago. On Saturday, the city of Los Angeles will finally make it official.
The intersection of Crenshaw Boulevard and Slauson Avenue will be formally renamed Nipsey Hussle Square during a ceremony scheduled for 10 a.m. on February 28, according to ABC7 Los Angeles. L.A. City Council President Marqueece Harris-Dawson, Councilmember Heather Hutt, and California State Assemblymember Isaac Bryan will all be present for the unveiling. Nipsey’s brother and business partner Blacc Sam, who serves as CEO of The Marathon brand, will join them.
More Than a Street Sign
This is not just a ceremonial gesture. The intersection sits just blocks from the plaza Nipsey purchased shortly before his death in 2019, the same property that now houses The Marathon store and the Neighborhood Nip Foundation, both still family-owned and operated. The corner was already sacred ground. The sign just makes it legible to people who need paperwork to understand what a neighborhood already knows.
Nipsey referenced the intersection throughout his catalog. His 2013 track “Crenshaw and Slauson (True Story)” turned the location into a cultural landmark long before any city council vote. That is the part worth paying attention to: the politics followed the culture, not the other way around.
A Pattern of Recognition
This is not L.A.’s first move to honor Nipsey in the public landscape. Last summer, the Hyde Park Metro station (located directly across from the intersection) was temporarily renamed to celebrate what would have been his 40th birthday. Saturday’s ceremony makes the recognition permanent.
Meanwhile, Nipsey’s musical legacy continues to grow. A posthumous collaborative album with Bino Rideaux titled Prolific is scheduled for a summer 2026 release, with the lead single “Reckless” already generating buzz, HipHopDX reports.
Why This Matters
When a city renames a street for an artist, it is a political act. It requires council votes, bureaucratic sign-off, and elected officials willing to attach their names to it. Harris-Dawson, Hutt, and Bryan are not just showing up for a photo op. They are co-signing a statement: hip-hop entrepreneurship, community reinvestment, and Black ownership deserve institutional recognition.
Nipsey was killed outside his Marathon Clothing store in South L.A. in March 2019 at age 33. His killer, Eric Holder, is currently serving a 60-year sentence for first-degree murder. In the years since, Nipsey’s legacy has only grown, not as a martyr, but as a model. He bought the block. He hired from the block. He invested in the block. And now the block carries his name.
That is the blueprint hip-hop has been talking about for decades. Crenshaw and Slauson is proof it works.
