When Grammy-nominated West Coast hip-hop titan Nipsey Hussle and his scene-stealing-actress girlfriend, Lauren London, appeared in the middle of Slauson Avenue with a white stallion, TMZ assumed they were taking engagement photos. But it was just your run-of-the-mill magazine photo shoot in the Crenshaw neighborhood of Los Angeles, where Nipsey has lived and worked his whole life and is pretty much royalty. (Everyone in Crenshaw has a story about Nipsey.) Before you get mad at Harvey and co., though, we can all admit that sometimes facts get a little murky, right? For example: how Nipsey and Lauren started dating.
“Our stories are very different,” Lauren blurted out. Her sinkhole-deep dimples and her pearly teeth flashed when she laughed, pushing Nipsey aside. “I did not slide into his DMs. My homeboy did....”
In 2013, while filming BET's The Game, Lauren wanted to buy Nipsey's new mixtape as a wrap present for her co-stars. You might be thinking that's kind of a cheap gift, but at the time, Nipsey, who was massive among hip-hop fans from L.A., was selling each copy for $100.
“The marketing for the mixtape was that we only made a thousand units and sold them for a hundred dollars apiece,” Nipsey explained. “It was a scarcity model. Jay-Z bought a few copies, et cetera.”
If, like most people, you consider “a few” to mean three, then Jay-Z actually bought 97 copies plus “a few.” After Lauren got the mixtapes, she started following Nipsey on Instagram. “You know what that means, right?!” Nipsey said. So he followed her back and then, yes, slid into her DMs. Fast-forward to today, and they've been together for five years—raising their adorable little boy, Kross, fighting off TMZ engagement rumors together, and “building,” as Nipsey puts it. A modern-day love story, if ever there was one.
Nipsey Hussle is alarmingly upright. “He didn't like the way I made the bed this morning, so he re-did it,” Lauren said. And he's polite. Like really, really polite. “I just want to make sure you're happy. I appreciate your work,” he said during the fitting in a cramped Hollywood hotel room. He elaborated at dinner: “I grew up in an environment where being polite was taken as a weakness. So I just fought everybody.” Lauren and I laughed. Nipsey didn't. His eyes are permanently squinted, his demeanor buzzed into a cool that's normally reserved for 1950s-era jazz musicians. His braids are so perfectly in place, it looks like he's able to hold each strand accountable for its actions. “You're not going to scare me into being somebody I don't want to be,” he continued, “so I'll just fight you.”
Lauren, used to hearing Nipsey issue profound and ironic salvos like that, focused on Nipsey finally getting his message out to the world. “He's gotten more of a platform to be really clear about his message, because before he was just making rap gang-bang music. But I think he has a purpose in all the raps, and that's coming to light,” she said.
Career-wise, Nipsey Hussle and Lauren London occupy the same branch on the pop-culture tree. I call this branch: The Branch White America Hasn't Exploited Yet. It has its pros and cons. Nipsey, for his part, has had mixed recognition over the years. Some people know him solely by his investments. A quick but not complete list includes a crypto-currency business, a co-working space, a STEM program for inner-city kids, a fish shop, a barbershop, and a clothing store—The Marathon—located on Slauson that's always full of locals and visiting fans. But the audience for his music continues to grow as well. After more than ten mixtapes over a decade, his first studio album was just nominated for a Grammy. “The artist part of me always wants to be appreciated,” he said. “I read every review. But I never wanted to seek validation by awards or anything controlled by politics.” The people who know, know.
The same could be said for Lauren. For example, if you ask the right people, Lauren's first film, ATL, is a cult classic. And Lauren's performance as New New, by far the most electric part of the film, should have given her the same career jolt that, say, Margot Robbie got from The Wolf of Wall Street.
But it didn't. That's the con, of course. Still, that doesn't mean she hasn't been successful. In fact, Lauren London has proved that she can not only act but also boost ratings. While The Game was on air, it was one of the most watched, least celebrated shows on TV. In certain categories, it came in second only to Duck Dynasty. Yeah, really. Lauren stole the show each episode, just like New New did, but still never got that mainstream opportunity.
“I auditioned to be Faith Evans in Notorious,” Lauren recalled. “I talked to Faith, Puff, everybody. It just came down that the director didn't believe me as Faith.” Riding the ups and downs together, they seem to be having fun. But it was one single decision that made them more than just another celebrity couple in Nipsey's eyes. “Lauren was handpicked by John Singleton to do Snowfall. She read, got the part, shot the pilot...did stunts...this was her dream role,” Nipsey said. “And then she got pregnant with our son. That was a really hard decision for her to make.”
“It was the toughest decision of my career by far,” Lauren said. She had to pass on the role, and the show became a big hit.
“I didn't put any pressure on her for whatever decision she wanted to make,” Nipsey said. “I learned then that what she believes in, she really believes in.”
“Do I choose my soul or myself?” Lauren said. “I went with my soul.”
Mark Anthony Green is GQ's special projects editor.
A version of this story originally appeared in the March 2019 issue with the title "California Love."
PRODUCTION CREDITS:
Photographs by Awol Erizku
Styled by Madeline Weeks
Hair, for Hussle, by Tatum Herman
Grooming, for Hussle, by Hee Soo Kwon using Malin+Goetz
Hair, on London, by Maisha Oliver
Makeup, on London, by AJ Crimson using AJCRIMSONBeauty
Produced by Jeff Vespa and Michelle Woo
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