TRIBUTES HAVE BEEN paid after Grammy-nominated rapper Nipsey Hussle was shot dead in Los Angeles yesterday.

Hussle (33) was shot in front of his own clothing store yesterday afternoon at close range, by a man who fled in a getaway car, according to local media reports.

The shooter remains at large, a police spokesperson told AFP.

The Los Angeles Times has reported the shooting was “likely planned and gang-related”.

This year, Hussle’s Victory Lap scored a Grammy nomination for Best Rap Album.

It was his first formal album, which dropped after six years of teasing. He ultimately lost the Grammy award to Cardi B.

The rapper was highly revered among his peers, and his death triggered an outpouring of tributes from celebrities and fans.

Rihanna led tributes, writing that his death “doesn’t make any sense”. 

“My spirit is shaken by this! Dear God may His spirit Rest In Peace and May You grant divine comfort to all his loved ones! I’m so sorry this happened to you @nipseyhussle,” she wrote.

Snoop Dogg posted on Instagram: “Gone 2 soon. I’m so sad right now I’ll just reflect on the good times we had.”

Outside his clothing store, a crowd gathered behind yellow police tape following the shooting.

Meanwhile, Drake also posted his condolences, saying: “My whole energy is just at a low right now hearing this.”

“You were a real one to your people and the rest of us. Rest easy my g.”

Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti paid tribute to Hussle, touching on the issue of gun violence. 

“Our hearts are with the loved ones of Nipsey Hussle and everyone touched by this awful tragedy,” he wrote.

“LA is hurt deeply each time a young life is lost to senseless gun violence,” he said.

City councilman Marqueece Harris-Dawson also paid tribute. 

“Hussle had a vision of a neighborhood built for and by the sons and daughters of South LA,” he said.

“During his life, he moved from shadows into the bright hope of freedom and community revitalization.”

Over the years, Hussle had been open about his early years in the notorious Crips gang, telling the Los Angeles Times newspaper in 2018 that “we dealt with death, with murder”.

“It was like living in a war zone, where people die on these blocks and everybody is a little bit immune to it,” he said.

“I guess they call it post-traumatic stress, when you have people that have been at war for such a long time.”

Includes reporting by - © AFP 2019