A man touches a mural depicting slain rapper Nipsey Hussle, Tuesday, April 2, 2019, in Los Angeles. Hussle was shot and killed Sunday, March 31, outside of his clothing store in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)
The Associated Press
LOS ANGELES (AP) - The city of Los Angeles is no stranger to epic street gatherings for everything from sports victory parades to televised car chases.
On Thursday it will host a much more somber - although perhaps equally large - affair when it lays to rest one of its native sons, slain rapper Nipsey Hussle.
Following a "Celebration of Life" at the same 21,000-seat arena where pop superstar Michael Jackson was memorialized, Hussle's body will be taken on a 25-mile funeral procession through Los Angeles.
Authorities are urging people who didn't score free tickets to the memorial to stay away and instead gather along the route.
The procession will wind through South LA, near the flashpoint of the city's 1992 riots and past Hussle's Marathon Clothing store, where he was killed last month.
Haitian-French actor Jimmy Jean-Louis and his daughter Jasmin, 16, gather around candles set up across from the clothing store of rapper Nipsey Hussle in Los Angeles, on Sunday, March 31, 2019. Hussle, the skilled and respected West Coast rapper who had a decade-long success with mixtapes but hit new heights with his Grammy-nominated major-label debut album in 2018, was killed at the age of 33. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)
The Associated Press
FILE - This March 29, 2018 file photo shows rapper Nipsey Hussle at an NBA basketball game between the Golden State Warriors and the Milwaukee Bucks in Oakland, Calif. Hussle was shot and killed Sunday, March 31, 2019 outside of his clothing store in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez, File)
The Associated Press
Fans of rapper Nipsey Hussle gather at a makeshift memorial in the parking lot of the Marathon Clothing store in Los Angeles, Monday, April 1, 2019. Hussle was killed in a shooting outside his clothing store on Sunday. (AP Photo/Ringo H.W. Chiu)
The Associated Press
Candles appear at a makeshift memorial for rapper Nipsey Hussle in the parking lot of his Marathon Clothing store in Los Angeles, Monday, April 1, 2019. Hussle was killed in a shooting outside the store on Sunday. (AP Photo/Ringo H.W. Chiu)
The Associated Press