Suge Knight Says Nipsey Hussle’s Loyalty Put Him at Risk, Shades of Tupac

EXCLUSIVE

Nipsey Hussle was caught between enormous success and love for his neighborhood, like many other rappers, and that ultimately cost him his life — at least, in Suge Knight‘s eyes.

Knight tells TMZ … he fully understands the situation Nipsey was in, “A lot of artists like Nipsey have the same problem that I had. We are too loyal to our neighborhood.” He says, even though you have enough money to move, you want to stay on the block because “when you go around Hollywood it’s all watered down.”

The former Death Row Records mogul — who’s still sitting in L.A. County Jail awaiting trial for murder — says he loved to go back to his hood to “get chili cheese fries and strawberries and talk to my lil homies.” However, he adds, when you do that you need those homies to “help you survive.”

Knight’s insinuation is clear — and controversial — that the people closest to Nipsey could have done more to keep him safe.

As you know, Nip was murdered outside his Marathon Clothing store. Police believe Eric Holder pulled the trigger … allegedly after feeling Nipsey had disrespected him by calling him a snitch.

The tragedy reminds Suge of Tupac Shakur – not only because of the way they died but also how they lived. Knight says, “I feel that Nipsey was trying to follow the same Tupac manual to the community. He came together with YG like Snoop did with Tupac.”

Ultimately, he thinks Nipsey’s legacy can be unity, something that hasn’t happened in L.A. since the early 90s. Referring to the L.A. gangs’ peace march that went down 5 days after the murder … Suge told us, “What’s good is that all the hoods getting together now … we can be stronger considering what happens when we come together.”