Nipsey Hussle death: Rihanna, Drake and LeBron James lead tributes to rapper killed in LA shooting

The entertainment world is reeling after rapper Nipsey Hussle was shot dead outside his clothing store in south Los Angeles.

The 33-year-old, real name Ermias Davidson Asghedom, was pronounced dead at hospital after being shot multiple times by an unknown gunman around 3.20pm on Sunday afternoon.

Rihanna led the tributes to Hussle, who had worked with industry heavyweights including Meek Mill, Kendrick Lamar and Drake.

“This doesn’t make any sense! My spirit is shaken by this!” she told her 90.3million twitter followers. “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.”

Lakers star Lebron James expressed his shock in an Instagram post, revealing one of their final conversations: “Just spoke with you the other day on text bro! Telling you how proud I was of you and how I was gone get you to more Laker games next season," he said. "Been A Stand Up dude from Day 1. May you rest in PARADISE Young King. This One Hurts Big Time!”

John Legend said: “RIP Nipsey. I just spent Thursday with him filming a video for a beautiful new song we created with Khaled. We filmed in Inglewood, close to where he grew up. He was so gifted, so proud of his home, so invested in his community. Utterly stunned that he's gone so soon.”

Issa Rae, creator and star of the HBO series Insecure, said Hussle had inspired her "to invest and own in our communities."

"He was a solid man who loved his woman, his family and his community," she said "This hurts."

Former NFL star Colin Kaepernick expressed his devastation in a tweet that read: “This is so painful! @NipseyHussle was doing great work for the people. Keep his legacy alive by carrying on his work! Sending love to his family. Rest in Power King.”

Hours before his death, the Hussle tweeted: "Having strong enemies is a blessing."

"You were about something... positive and for your community in every chance you had to speak," Pharrell said. Ava DuVernay remembered the rapper as "bright, genuine, forward thinking".

Pusha T, whose album Daytona was nominated alongside Hussle's major label debut Victory Lap at this year's Grammy Awards, said the pair had spoken about how "they let the 'real ones' in the building... the Grammys 'got it right' this time".

Others to pay tribute include J Cole, Questlove, Ghostface Killah, Nas, Drake, Bruno Mars, Mike WiLL Made-It, El-P, Killer Mike, Dr Dre, Snoop Dogg, Offset, De La Soul, Freddie Gibbs and many more.

Hussle opened his Marathon clothing smart store last year after taking an interest in technology.

"I wanted to open up a brick and mortar physical retail in this area and thought, 'What's the trajectory and likelihood of being successful as e-commerce grows?'" he said in an interview with Billboard at the time.

He also invested in community projects in Los Angeles, including a co-working space called Vector90 that hosts entrepreneurs in Crenshaw.

Hussle had been scheduled to meet with LA Police Commissioner Steve Soboroff and LAPD Chief Michael Moore on Monday to discuss ways to stop gang violence.

"We (@LAPDChiefMoore and I ) were meeting, at the request of @NipseyHussle with him and @rocnation tomorrow at 4pm to talk about ways he could help stop gang violence and help us help kids. I'm so very sad," Mr Soboroff tweeted.

Hussle is survived by his children and long-term girlfriend Lauren London.