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When Nipsey Hussle’s passion for rapping became too serious to overlook, his mother discovered a program at Watts Towers that would give the then-teenager access to a recording studio for free.

Hussle spent four to five hours commuting from Crenshaw to Watts every day. He’d ride his bike to the bus stop that took him to the Metro Blue Line and he’d walk the rest of the way.

It was a long journey for only an hour of studio time, but this was the place where he first felt he could realize his rap ambitions.

“There were teachers, volunteers, who taught the kids how to make beats and how to record themselves. And it was free,” Hussle’s brother Samiel Asghedom, 37, recalled. “That’s something Nip and a lot of people successful in music now went to as children. He took that small opportunity and ran with it.”

Read the full story at LATimes.com.