Nipsey Hussle has been shot and killed at the age of 33, TMZ is reporting. The rapper, born Ermias Asghedom, was born and raised in Los Angeles, where he was reportedly gunned down this Sunday afternoon in the neighborhood of Hyde Park, along with two other people currently in critical condition.

Growing up in Crenshaw, a neighborhood of South Los Angeles often associated with gang violence, deeply influenced both his music and inspired his philanthropic efforts. Nipsey's first mixtape was released in 2005, and he remained a prominent presence in West Coast rap across twelve mixtapes, his debut album Victory Lapfinally debuting in February of 2018. The effort earned him a Grammy nomination for Best Rap Album.

While he was outspoken about his experiences growing up around gang culture and coping with violence and death, Nipsey was a known philanthropist working to improve the community he grew up in. Last March, he worked to open a STEM center in Crenshaw, to help kids in the neighborhood gain access to STEM education, the pillars of which — science, technology, engineering and mathematics — are often fields that lack diversity.

"In our culture, there's a narrative that says, 'Follow the athletes, follow the entertainers,'" he told the Los Angeles Times at the center's opening. "And that's cool but there should be something that says, 'Follow Elon Musk, follow [Mark] Zuckerberg.’ I think that with me being influential as an artist and young and coming from the inner city, it makes sense for me to be one of the people that's waving that flag."

The story is developing...