Kid Cudi, Wiz Khalifa, YG & Other Coachella Artists Honor Nipsey Hussle, Mac Miller With Emotional Tributes

Wiz Khalifa with Nipsey Hussle (inset)
David Crotty, Patrick McMullan, Natt Lim/Getty Images

A number of the biggest names at the music festival paid their respects with tearful dedications.

In the wake of Nipsey Hussle's death last month and Mac Miller's death last September, a number of high profile performers used their time on stage at Coachella to pay tribute to the late artists.

On Saturday, Kid Cudi and Donald Glover, performing as Childish Gambino, reflected on the tragedies during separate performances, with Cudi dedicated the last song of his set, "Pursuit of Happiness," to the rappers.

"This next one, I wanna dedicate this to Mac Miller and Nipsey Hussle," Cudi declared, before asking the crowd to sing along "as loud as y'all can."

Meanwhile, Gambino addressed Hussle and Miller's deaths -- as well as his own father's passing -- in a tearful and powerfully charged speech that ruminated on the nature of mortality and the legacy we choose to leave behind.

"I lost my dad this year, we lost Nipsey, we lost Mac," the artist said, holding back tears. "What I'm starting to realize, all we really have is memories at the end of the day, that's all we are. All we are really is data. You pass onto your kids, you can pass it on to your friends, your family… what I'm saying is while you're here, while we're here, feel something and pass it on."

He also dedicated the song following his speech to "everything we've lost and everything we stand to gain in the future."

Hussle and Miller also got love from Wiz Khalifa, who, like a number of other artists, dedicated their performances to the rappers and called on the crowd to pay their respects.

"The Marathon will always continue my brother... make some noise again for Nipsey Hussle," Khalifa said. "Make some noise for a Pittsburgh legend that we lost, his name is Mac Miller."

On Sunday, YG -- one of Hussle's close friends and honorary pallbearer at the rapper's funeral -- got very emotional remembering his friend, and his set served as a powerful memorial to Hussle's life and legacy.

"We lost one of the greats. A legend. Black Jesus -- yeah, I said it," declared YG, rocking a black vest with an image of Hussle. 

The rapper also called for a six-second moment of silence for his slain friend, and the screens on the massive Sahara Tent featured a video tribute to the rapper, including an animation of Hussle ascending to heaven where he was greeted by an angelic Tupac.

Hussle, who was fatally shot outside his Marathon Clothing Company store in Los Angeles on March 31, was honored with a Celebration of Life memorial event at the Staples Center last Thursday, and was laid to rest at Forest Lawn Cemetery in Los Angeles on Friday.

For more on the late rapper's monumental life and legacy, watch the video below.

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