newhiphopnews

Metallica is one of the greatest and most iconic metal bands of all time, and when it comes to their first five albums, they are all classics. Their fifth album saw the band take a more commercial route as they brought thrash metal to the mainstream. The self-titled effort was quickly nicknamed “The Black Album” thanks to the cover’s dark and grim aesthetics. Now, the album is celebrating its 30th anniversary, and to help commemorate this, Metallica is teaming up with Vans for a brand new sneaker collab.

In the images below, you can find a pair of Vans Slip-Ons as well as a pair of Vans Sk8-His. These are two of the most popular Vans models and they fit the Metallica aesthetic quite well. Both pairs feature skulls and shattered glass imagery that aligns well with the band’s look from the past 35 years. The Sk8-His even has “Metallica” written on the midsole, while the Slip-Ons have Metallica branding near the back heel. 

Overall, this is a great collection for all of the metalheads out there and if you are trying to get a pair, you will be able to do just that as of Monday, July 26th on Metallica.com. In the meantime, take a look at our poll down below and let us know what you think of these.

Image via Vans

Image via Vans

Image via Vans

Keith Raniere’s rule as the leader of the NVIXM sex cult was cut short ever since his guilty conviction on racketeering, racketeering conspiracy, wire-fraud conspiracy, forced-labor conspiracy, sex-trafficking conspiracy, and sex trafficking charges over two years ago. However, victims of his coercive sex trafficking cult, whom he ran with Smallville actress Allison Mack, may finally receive a sliver of justice as victims and Raniere himself spoke at the his sentencing.

Raniere was sentenced to 120 years in prison and forced to pay over $3 million in restitution to victims. 

Drew Angerer/Getty Images

“I still hear your and Allison’s words, ‘everything I do for you is for your own good.’ ‘You’re an entitled little princess’ … ‘You’re good at being a slave,’” one victim said as she spoke her truth at the sentencing. Raniere’s NVIXM business, which offered expensive self-help classes, hid a smaller cult-like group called DOS, where women recruited by Allison Mack were trained to be Raniere’s sex slaves. “A significant sentence is not just appropriate, but necessary. Mr. Raniere has acted as though the law does not apply to him,” a judge said as he described the lack of remorse and predatory behavior exhibited by Raniere. 

At his sentencing, Raniere was as cold and emotionless as ever. “I do believe strongly that I’m innocent of the charges. But it is also true that I caused all this pain,” the defendant said as he maintained he’s “not remorseful.” He still took the time to defend co-defendants like Mack, whom he says are “innocent” and “have good souls.”

Raniere will serve his 120 year sentence in an Arizona prison and will pay $3.46 million to the victims.

[via]

After dominating the NFL for 20 years, it’s hard to imagine a league without Tom Brady in it. As a member of the New England Patriots, Brady was a villain of sorts. While paired up with Bill Belichick, it was hard to root for Brady if you were outside of the state of Massachusetts. This is because the Patriots were so dominant that they became unlikeable. Add a bunch of cheating scandals into the mix and you have a franchise that is cartoonishly evil.

When Brady walked away from the Patriots and signed with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, the narrative immediately changed as Brady appeared to be this likable aging veteran who had one last shot at glory. In the end, Brady won his seventh Super Bowl and now, he still has a couple of years left in him.

Julio Aguilar/Getty Images

During a recent interview with the Tampa Bay Times, Brady spoke about his free agency from last year and how numerous teams decided to pass up the opportunity to sign him. As he explains in the quote below, many of the teams in the NFL are simply not all that smart and in the end, they all missed out on a prime opportunity.

“I think what you realize is that there’s not as many smart people as you think. It’s just the reality,” Brady said. “It would be a no-brainer if you said, ‘Hey, you’ve got a chance to get Wayne Gretzky on your team,’ or ‘You get a chance to have Michael Jordan on your team.’”

Cliff Hawkins/Getty Images

Even with seven championships to his name, Brady remains eager to prove his doubters wrong and it is ultimately why he has been successful at every single stage of his storied career.

[Via]

Earlier this week, the unthinkable happened during a public, live-streamed city council meeting in Tarrant, Alabama, which sits on the northern border of Birmingham. John “Tommy” Bryant, one of the Tarrant City Council members, had an outburst during the meeting and called Black councilwoman Veronica Freeman the n-word, and the entire incident was caught on camera.

“Do we have a house n***er in here? Do we? Do we? Would she please stand up?” Bryant stands up and yells mid-meeting.

Freeman was so hurt by the councilman’s words that she reportedly left the meeting in tears. Watch the unbelievable video for yourself down below.

Following the incident, it was clear that the people in attendance for the meeting were disgusted by Bryant’s display of racism, with one person audibly exclaiming, “What the f*ck,” and the person at the podium telling Bryant, “Yeah, you.” In light of the situation, the Alabama Democrats have formally come forward to condemn John Bryant’s actions and call for his immediate resignation.

“Alabama still has a long way to go when it comes to race, but cozying up to the KKK and using the N word should make you unfit to serve,” Wade F. Perry, the Executive Director of the Alabama Democrats said in the statement. “These racists belong in the history books with Bull Connor and George Wallace, not on the taxpayer’s payroll.”

According to Complex, Bryant has since claimed he was only repeating what Tarrant Mayor Wayman Newton, the city’s first Black mayor, had allegedly called Freeman during a previous private meeting. “I did what needed to be done. It needed to be brought to light what kind of a person the mayor is,” Byrant explained unapologetically.

Are you surprised by the Alabama councilman’s use of the racial epithet during the city council meeting? Do you think he should be forced to resign? 

[via]

When it comes to the likes of LeBron James, Skip Bayless has always been an avid hater. From his early days on Cold Pizza at ESPN to his breakout success with First Take, Bayless has always found new ways to hate on one of the greatest NBA players of all-time. Simply put, Bayless is a huge Michael Jordan stan and at the end of the day, Bayless doesn’t like the fact that LeBron poses a threat to MJ’s legacy. As a result, Bayless has led a campaign to suppress James’ accomplishments, all in the name of good television ratings.

When LeBron announced that he would be starring in a new Space Jam film, Bayless’ eyes must have lit up because it was yet another opportunity to hate on one of the best players we’ve ever seen. The film was officially released last Friday and while the reviews have been pretty bad, there are still fans who have praised LeBron for his performance. Meanwhile, Bayless made sure to roast LeBron about it all as he went on Undisputed today and took LeBron to task for trying to upstage MJ.

Christian Petersen/Getty Images

“LeBron’s whole career has been an obsession with convincing the masses that he’s beyond Jordan. There’s never going to be another Michael Jordan,” Bayless said. This was in response to a comment from the original Space Jam director who said that LeBron will simply never be as good as Jordan. Needless to say, Bayless was excited to speak on this topic.

These comments shouldn’t be all that surprising especially when you consider who they are coming from. Bayless will never give LeBron his credit, and as basketball fans, we should expect this to continue for a very long time.

In the early-to-mid nineties, 2Pac Shakur found himself at odds with an emerging rapper from Queensbridge New York by the name of Nas. Fresh off the release of his sophomore album It Was Written, Pac believed that Nas was disrespecting him on “The Message,” prompting Pac to fire a few shots on his Makaveli track “Against All Odds.”

“This little n**ga named Nas think he live like me,” rapped Pac. “Talkin’ bout he left the hospital, took five like me / You live in fantasies, n**ga, I reject your deposit.” Though the pair were ultimately able to settle their differences prior to Pac’s death, it turns out that Nas had actually lined up a response to Pac’s “Against All Odds,” though he never ended up releasing it.

Anna Webber/FilmMagic/Getty Images 

Today, nearly twenty-five years later, the unreleased Nas freestyle “Real N***as” has surfaced. The track, which finds Nas spitting over a soulful sample, will likely be an exciting find for longtime fans. Around the halfway point, Esco actually takes a few shots at Pac, addressing the west coast titan by name. 

“From tube-socks in Timbs to blue rocks and Benz / Who got the ends, the type of n**ga 2Pac pretends,” he raps. “To all n**gas who shine, guess who got revenge / I won’t showboat, my flow choke you — and if it don’t the fo-fo will smoke you.”

While it’s not exactly a “Hit Em Up” insofar as intensity goes, it’s still noteworthy that Nas stepped up to defend his honor against such a formidable foe — not that he’s balked from a challenge before. True, he never released this one, but considering how much animosity stemmed from some of these lyrical feuds, it’s probably a blessing that Nas never fully immersed himself in the war. 

Should you be interested in checking out the newly surfaced Nas freestyle “Real N***as,” you can do so below.

LISTEN: Nas – Real N***as Freestyle (Unreleased)