Breaking News Emails
Get breaking news alerts and special reports. The news and stories that matter, delivered weekday mornings.
By Janelle Griffith
Rapper Kodak Black is facing backlash — and some fallout — from comments he made over the weekend about Lauren London, the longtime girlfriend of slain rapper Nipsey Hussle.
During a live broadcast on Instagram on Saturday, Kodak announced his intentions to romantically pursue London, with whom Hussle had a young son.
“I’ll be the best man I can be for her,” Kodak said. “I’ll give her a whole year. She might need a whole year to be crying and s— for him.”
He continued: “I ain’t trying to shoot [my shot] at her. I’m saying, listen. She can do two, three years. I’ll try to be like the friend if you need to holla or a shoulder to lean on. She can call my line.”
The comments were met with swift backlash, including from rapper T.I. and Justin Credible, a disc jockey at Power 106 in Los Angeles, California, who pledged to no longer play Kodak’s music.
“We stand with the family of Nipsey Hussle and are appalled by the disrespectful and poor comments made by Kodak Black,” Justin Credible said Saturday. “With that, Power 106 will not support Kodak Black’s music.”
Later Saturday, Kodak issued a half-hearted apology in a live broadcast on Instagram.
“If I disrespected you, Lauren London, in any shape or form, I’m sorry, even though I didn’t,” he said.
Hussle was fatally shot outside his clothing store in Los Angeles’ Hyde Park neighborhood last Sunday afternoon. He was 33.
The Grammy-nominated rapper, born Ermias Asghedom, was shot multiple times in the parking lot of The Marathon Clothing, a store he opened in 2017. Hussle was a beloved figure both in his native South Los Angeles and the hip-hop community. His store has been transformed into a makeshift memorial by mourners.
On Thursday, prosecutors charged Eric R. Holder Jr., 29, with Hussle’s murder. He pleaded not guilty.
London, an actress and model, paid tribute to Hussle on Tuesday in an Instagram post that featured images of the rapper and their family.
“I am completely lost,” she wrote. “I’ve lost my best friend, my sanctuary my protector my soul … I’m lost without you. We are lost without you babe. I have no words.”
London has not responded to Kodak’s comments.