Nipsey Hussle’s mantra, “The marathon continues,” lives on through his older brother, Blacc Sam, who has opened a restaurant near the late rapper’s Marathon Clothing store in Los Angeles, CA.
Blacc Sam — born Samiel Asghedom — is the permanent administrator of his brother’s estate. In an interview with CBS News Los Angeles, he said Marathon Burger, which had its grand opening on March 1, 2025, reflects Nipsey Hussle’s dedication to uplifting the community around him.
“I think [the] Marathon brand, created by Hussle, was kind of like to inspire and to just motivate, and it just means to keep going,” he said. “It’s not a race, it’s a pace, do it on your own. …Anything that we can continue doing in that spirit is always a blessing.”
Marathon Burger, located on Melrose Avenue, serves its famous Wagyu beef burgers and wings. The restaurant also offers vegan-friendly options such as a plant-based burger, a portobello mushroom burger, and a grilled vegetable salad.
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Blacc Sam told CBS he plans to manage the business and assist in the kitchen. He recalls that he and Nipsey Hussle spent time working in a restaurant when they were younger, which sparked their desire to own one.
“We was always like, ‘Man, when we get right, it’s time we get a restaurant, [because] we already know how to run it,” Blacc Sam recalled.
Nipsey Hussle — born Ermias Joseph Asghedom — was killed outside his Marathon Clothing store on March 31, 2019. He opened the brick-and-mortar “smart store” on June 17, 2017, at the corner of Slauson and Crenshaw.
According to Billboard, Hussle marketed the store as a place for customers to buy merchandise and access exclusive content via an app, likening the concept to “urban Sanrio” (the billion-dollar maker of Hello Kitty) with the broader goal of vertical integration.
The rapper intended to take ownership of the retail experience, creating a unique environment that combined physical space with curated content, rather than relying solely on digital distribution.
“I want to go on record to say I want to be the first artist in hip-hop to be vertically integrated,” Nipsey Hussle told Billboard in 2017. “This [smart store] is a part of that long-term vision. We want to be able to deliver our products that we own 100 percent to a retail experience we curate and control in an environment that is strategically designed to create an experience that’s engineered. This is the first step in that.”
In 2024, his legacy was further expanded with The Marathon Lion NFT Collection. As previously reported by AFROTECH™, the collection features limited edition digital collectibles that gives members of the Proud 2 Pay community exclusive access to discounts, special product drops, and branded content through the e-commerce site, The Marathon (Vault).
Within 24 hours of the NFT announcement, the Marathon brand generated over $100,000 in NFT sales, per AFROTECH™.
