A Los Angeles hip-hop legend is coming to your LA Metro TAP card.
Nipsey Hussle is being honored to celebrate what would’ve been his 40th birthday.
The transit agency is unveiling two new TAP cards featuring the late Los Angeles native. It’s a part of its Metro x Culture series, which celebrates the “’Real Ones’ of Los Angeles, which includes leaders, artists, and visionaries who have shaped the city’s culture, especially those whose lives have intersected with Metro’s transit system.”
“At its heart, the series recognizes transit as a narrative thread in the stories of iconic Angelenos, including the upcoming Nipsey Hussle card. Many of these figures grew up riding Metro—on buses like the 108 or trains like the Blue Line—and Metro played a pivotal role in their personal journeys,” Metro explained on its website. “Through this series, Metro aims to amplify L.A. culture by showcasing stories of real influence and legacy, boost engagement with TAP by inspiring riders to collect cards that hold personal meaning, and reinforce Metro’s role as a catalyst for everyday life and opportunity in Los Angeles.”
One card features a black and white picture of Hussle, born Ermias Joseph Asghedom, it’s called the “Crenshaw & Slauson” and it’s designed by Jonathan Mannion. The other card is called “Watts,” designed by Anthony Pham, and it’s a colored photo of the activist featured on a Metro Bus.
The limited-edition TAP cards will be available starting on Aug. 15. Only 12,000 will be in circulation, and they’ll be available until all are sold out.
You can get the cards exclusive at Metro’s six customer service centers, when you sign up for the LIFE program, and at ticket vending machines at the following stations:
- Hyde Park Station (K Line)
- Crenshaw Station (C Line)
- Slauson Station (J Line) Compton Station (A Line)
- Hollywood/Vine Station (B Line)
- Expo/Crenshaw Station (E Line)
They will not be available to purchase online.
To further honor the “Grinding All My Life” artist, LA Metro will temporarily rename Hyde Park Station to Nipsey Hussle Station, from Aug. 15 to Aug. 31. It’s located on Slauson Avenue and Crenshaw Boulevard, the intersection was renamed Ermias “Nipsey Hussle” Asghedom Square in 2019.
Hussle was gunned down in March 2019 outside of his Marathon Clothing store inside the Slauson Avenue shopping plaza, which he bought a month earlier. He was 33 years old.
The post LA Metro honors Nipsey Hussle with limited-edition TAP cards appeared first on KTLA.
