How They Met

What 21st-century love story doesn't start with a slide into the DMs? Nipsey and Lauren initially became acquainted thanks to the power of social media when the actress sought out a copy of Nipsey's rare Crenshaw mixtape as a season wrap gift for her cast mates on The Game. He explained:

"The marketing for the mixtape was that we only made a thousand units and sold them for a hundred dollars apiece. It was a scarcity model. Jay-Z bought a few copies, et cetera."

After having a homeboy act as her wingman, Lauren followed Nipsey on Instagram, who then made an attempt at shooting his shot and was successful. The rest was history.

How They Complement Each Other

In the interview, Lauren joked that she and Nipsey are just like any couple: perfectly imperfect.

"He didn't like the way I made the bed this morning, so he re-did it."

And he did so, politely, which is something that, due to his hard-knock beginnings, Nipsey wasn't used to. He explained:

"I just want to make sure you're happy. I appreciate your work."

He later explained later that kindness wasn't a trait that was valued in the streets and that he's always had to fight to be accepted and understood:

"I grew up in an environment where being polite was taken as a weakness. So I just fought everybody. You're not going to scare me into being somebody I don't want to be. So I'll just fight you."

Lauren clearly served as his kryptonite to this way of thinking.

What Lauren Sacrificed To Live Out Her Modern Story

During the interview, Lauren revealed that after her starring role in ATL, it wasn't easy to book high-paying gigs. The actress shared that she even auditioned for the role of Faith Evans in Notorious.

"I auditioned to be Faith Evans in 'Notorious'. I talked to Faith, Puff, everybody. It just came down that the director didn't believe me as Faith."

Despite her not getting the role, an even bigger opportunity was on the hills. After being handpicked for a role in a major show, Lauren discovered that she was pregnant with Nipsey's child, forcing her to make a tough choice. Nipsey explained:

"Lauren was handpicked by John Singleton to do 'Snowfall'. She read, got the part, shot the pilot...did stunts...this was her dream role. And then she got pregnant with our son. That was a really hard decision for her to make."

The show, which she had already shot the pilot for and would later become a television hit, was the big break Lauren was looking for and she felt conflicted. The ATL star added:

"It was the toughest decision of my career by far."

Nipsey told GQ that he didn't pressure her and encouraged her to make a decision that was best for her at the time. It was at that point, Nipsey shared, that he learned a tremendous amount about Lauren's core values, and that "what she believes in, she really believes in."

Lauren told GQ that although the decision was a hard one to make, there really wasn't much deciding to be done. She knew what she had to do. In a vein reminiscent of Lauryn Hill's "Zion", she shared:

"Do I choose my soul or myself? I went with my soul."