SOUTH LOS ANGELES, Calif. - Tiffany Dean is walking through the neighborhood where she and Nipsey Hussle both grew up. She's used to seeing his face around here, but now she can only see it in a mural on a wall.

She runs her hand across the 10-foot tall profile of Nipsey's face on the freshly painted mural and bows her head.

"I just can't believe he's gone. I just can't believe someone did this to him," she said.

A she strolls down Slauson Avenue in the Crenshaw District, she recalls being the fashion stylist on Hussle's first music video, which was shot on these very streets.

"He calls me up and he's like, 'Tif I want you to do this t-shirt. But I want you to do a 6-0 Crip n the front of it, but I don't want to just say six and zero. I wanted to say Six O-W-E and Crip underneath,'" recalled Dean. " And I just started laughing like, 'What?' And as you know, that is now the iconic shot of Nipsey that has been muralized all over the world. And it's something that was done right here on 60th Street right under this sign."

"We had so much fun on his first music video Hussle In the House. Being his stylist really meant a lot to me," said Dean. "You know, we used my car as his dressing room. Snoop Dogg came by. Nipsey really believed in his neighborhood, loved his neighborhood and wanted to really show the world his neighborhood and where he came from."

Dean and Hussle didn't just come from the same neighborhood. They also both went to Hamilton High School. She was a senior when he was a freshman. 

"What a lot of people don't realize is at Hamilton High School, Nipsey when he was a ninth grader, he was kind of quiet. But getting into music brought him out of his shell and he just flourished," said Dean.

The school held a vigil for a few days after his death and there are still many people who work there who knew him when he was a student, including a security guard in the school's entry.

"I was a coach when he was here. He was a good guy. I respected him," said the security guard.

Candles left by fans still fill the parking lot in front of Hussle's The Marathon clothing store. Dean, who worked on videos that were filmed right here, pauses to marvel at them. Tears begin to roll down her face.

"We're all trying to stay so positive, but when you know him from before this, that's when it really hurts because you know his spirit," she said.

For Dean, Nipsey Hussle's spirit will live on here in the neighborhood that first brought them together.