The Legacy of Nipsey Hussle & Black Business Culture in Los Angeles: Opening of ‘Marathon Burger’

At the end of Black History Month in Los Angeles, California, Blacc Sam, the late Nipsey Hussle’s brother and business partner, inaugurated The Marathon Burger. In the heart of the Fairfax District, Blacc Sam, Jorge Peniche and the loyal Marathon team had a fairly calm roll out to their grand opening but social media shared the news weeks before the official announcement from The Marathon team. 

As featured in the mini documentary, ‘The Making of ‘Marathon Burger’, Blacc Sam and JP go into details of their building process as well as the collaborations they experienced with local business owners in the community. Los Angeles business culture have a long history of creativity, community oriented, expansive cuisines and generational succession plans. Family businesses have always played a large role in Black communities around the U.S. which laid the foundation of Black wall street societies and generational wealth. 

During a time where the political climate is full of discomfort and anti-unification in the U.S., the restaurant and hospitality businesses are heavily affected by negative energy swirling the nation. Despite the propaganda of political messaging, Black business culture in Los Angeles have always thrived in the midst of discrimination and maintained as a beacon to Black businesses since its inception in 1781. South Central Los Angeles’ history of Black celebrity business culture range from Magic Johnson Movie Theatre & TGIF Fridays, Bayou Grille and “other examples of locations”. With Hollywood in the vicinity, celebrity culture illuminates a subculture society for creative businesses that can serve a profitable niche community and the excitement of seeing a celebrity in the neighborhood is a very ‘LA’ thing to witness. 

Nipsey Hussle’s legacy posthumously cannot replace his physical presence and the energy he shared with his family, but his fans constantly show gratitude of support when the Marathon Brand drops any products throughout the years. Since 2019, Nipsey’s shopping center has been closed down with anticipation of a monumental housing development, however, the clothing brand is just as popular today as it was during Hussle’s reign before his untimely death. Blacc Sam discusses in the documentary the intricacies of developing a sustainable recipe, affordability, environment while maintaining the Marathon brand in every design of the business that he attributed to the mastermind of Nipsey’s goals. The support of Blacc Sam and the Marathon team play an important role in the storytelling of Hussle’s legacy and they have excellently maintained a positive voice in uplifting prosperous Black/Brown businesses.