career

Carmelo Anthony Has No Regret About Retiring Without A Ring

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Carmelo Anthony officially retired from the NBA on May 22, ending a 19-year career as one of the deadliest shooters to ever play in the league. There were many accolades that came alongside Anthony’s career – 10 all-star appearances, and six All-NBA team nominations. However, the one thing that Anthony ends his career without is an NBA ring.

Despite Anthony’s talent, the various teams in his career were never quite in title contention. The closest Melo came was in the 2008-09 season, when the Denver Nuggets reached the Western Conference Finals. However, the Nuggets fell to the eventual champion Lakers in six games.

No Rings, No Regrets for Melo

NEW YORK, NEW YORK – APRIL 25: Carmelo Anthony speaks onstage at the 2023 TIME100 Summit at Jazz at Lincoln Center on April 25, 2023 in New York City. (Photo by Jemal Countess/Getty Images for TIME)

However, Melo has no regrets about retiring without a ring. “I’m at peace,” Melo said to Sports Illustrated, “That doesn’t bother me no more; that idea that you’re a loser if you don’t win a championship. For me, I’ve won. I won back in 2003, the night I shook David Stern’s hand on that [draft] stage,” Anthony said. “I made it out of Red Hook. I’ve won at life. The ring is the only thing I didn’t get. It would’ve been a great accomplishment, but I don’t regret it, because I feel like I did everything I could to get it.”

Now, Anthony turns his attention to his son. Sixteen-year-old Kiyan Anthony currently has 11 collegiate offers, including from Melo’s alma mater Syracuse as well as the likes of Tennessee, Memphis, UMass, and Illinois. However, Melo also revealed that his one season with the Lakers, his last season in the NBA, was because of Kiyan. Despite vowing to retire when Kiyan started high school, his son pushed him for one last season. “Then [as he started high school] the Lakers called, and he told me, ‘Dad, I’ll be O.K., you should go.’ Even with LeBron there, I wouldn’t have done it without Kiyan pushing me. So to be able to spend time with him in the gym, on his work ethic? With school? I can be a father to him every day. It’s perfect timing.”

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Flo Milli Urges Fans To Stop With The Ice Spice Comparisons

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Flo Milli is a fantastic artist who has been putting out some dope tracks and projects as of late. Unfortunately, a lot of women rappers are always being compared to each other. Overall, this is mostly because hip-hop is a space dominated by men. Consequently, people will pit the women against each other to see who the best is, since there aren’t as many to compare. Flo Milli has not been able to escape these comparisons as her career always gets put under the microscope.

This is especially true now that Ice Spice is out on the scene. Fans absolutely adore Ice Spice. However, others feel like the hype is unwarranted. Flo Milli’s art is much more lyrical than Ice Spice’s. This has subsequently led to people taking to social media, saying Flo should be much more popular than Spice. Flo Milli, on the hand, wants this all to stop immediately. While taking to Twitter, she urged her fans to stop with the unnecessary comparisons.

Read More: Latto & Flo Milli Think It’s Important For Women In Rap To Encourage One Another

Flo Milli Speaks Out

“I wish yall would stop with this tired ass narrative yall love to push about my career,” she wrote. “And stop mentioning me while trying to degrade another artist its WEIRDDD. im doing great I went from being broke to traveling the world with my talent and im only 23.. pls RELAX.” Overall, this is a great mentality to have. Flo Milli wants it to be crystal clear that she is not about putting other people down. Moreover, she is objectively correct. She has accomplished more than others could ever dream of. Ice Spice is thriving as well, and they should be able to co-exist without weirdos making it an issue.

In the future, perhaps we could even see a collaboration between these two. And if we don’t, that’s okay too. Fans are too quick to turn things into a competition these days. This is especially true when you factor in social media, which ruins our perception of things. Let us know what you think about Flo Milli and her comments, down below. Additionally, stay tuned to HNHH for all of the latest news and updates from around the music world.

Read More: Flo Milli Drops Off Her New Single “No Face”

Nicki Minaj Says Her Legacy “Can Never Be Undone”

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Nicki Minaj reflected on finding immediate success in the music industry in a post on Twitter, Sunday. The Queen rapper reflected on the impact of her first album, her success in the fashion industry, and more in the post.

“Imagine being a fashion icon b4 your debut album,” she wrote in one post. “Imagine performing w|Ye & Jay in Yankee Stadium, no album out, imagine Drake, Eminem, Rihanna, Ye, WillIAm, & Natasha Bedingfield on your FIRST ALBUM. bwahahaha I have to laugh. Blessings & gratitude to my supporters. NM5 is [pinched fingers emoji].”

Nicki Minaj With Drake & Lil Wayne

LAS VEGAS, NV – MAY 21: (L-R) Recording artists Lil Wayne, Nicki Minaj, and Drake attend the 2017 Billboard Music Awards at T-Mobile Arena on May 21, 2017 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Kevin Mazur/BBMA2017/Getty Images for dcp)

Nicki dropped her debut, Pink Friday, back in 2010 with features from Eminem, Rihanna, Drake, will.i.am, Kanye West, and Natasha Bedingfield. The tracklist boasted several iconic singles including “Super Bass,” “Moment 4 Life,” and more. It sold 375,000 copies in its first week, debuting at number two on the US Billboard 200. Kanye West’s My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy happened to release the same week.

After sharing many of her most iconic looks from over the years, Nicki added: “My legacy can never be undone. On the mood boards for the last 14 years. But anyway guys let’s go back to the stats & the show footage. We’re almost there.”

Many fans on social media took the opportunity to join in the praise of Nicki Minaj. On a post of the tweets by The Neighborhood Talk, one fan commented, “Some people like to try and rewrite history & Nicki is just showing that she already made that history.” Another reflected on Nicki’s beef with Cardi B: “I wish she acted her status!! Iconic yes but she should’ve never been bothered by CardiB because she was the Beyoncé of rap. Beyoncé would never come off the throne because Sza had a run. She’s so bothered by Cardi, I guess now she sees how Lil Kim felt.” Check out Nicki Minaj’s recent posts on Twitter below.

Nicki Minaj On Her Legacy

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Lil Wayne Reflects To Missy Elliott How “Tha Carter III” Changed His Career

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Lil Wayne’s Tha Carter III is undoubtedly one of the best hip-hop albums of the 2000s, whether for its quality or its influence. What’s more is that Weezy got the chance to reflect on how the 2008 classic changed his career with his favorite rapper Missy Elliott across the room. Moreover, their conversation will form part of TV One’s upcoming “UNCENSORED” series, which will touch on many different perspectives and careers. Furthermore HipHopDX obtained a clip on Friday (May 5) that provides some insight into the two’s interview. During their talk, he spoke on how the metrics of success have changed, and how Tha Carter III brought him to previously unimaginable heights.

“I think that was the first time for me I started really getting that praise,” Lil Wayne told Missy Elliott. “I started really loving it, embracing it, at that time around that album was when I was seeing people in the street or hearing from other artists, so the confidence was strong.” For those unaware, Tha Carter III became the fourth-ever hip-hop project to sell over a million units in its first week.

Missy Elliot Hears Lil Wayne Reminisce On Tha Carter III

“I come from the days we as in artists — we as in Juvenile and B.G. we checking the Billboard magazine to see where this and that. That don’t exist now,” Lil Wayne continued. “When we dropped Tha Block Is Hot it sold like 114,000 or 95,000 the first week and that was the equivalent or the impact of selling a million and I remember I was like, ‘I can’t do nothing but thank God.’” Overall, it was quite the sweet moment, especially considering how much Missy Elliott and Tunechi admire each other.

“That would be why I was making so many sounds,” he said of her talents. “Missy was into the who- brrrrr- the whole heeheeheeHA. And so when Mannie Fresh would get you in the studio, he gon’ remind you ‘hey, you need to throw that ha ha in there.’ I was like ‘man, he want me to do a sound for every damn line!’ And so the ‘Block Burner’ song was my best favorite song because my favorite artist was Missy Elliott.” On her end, the “Lobby” MC praised the Young Money boss’ impact. “You have Birthed a whole generation after you & Its easy for people to acknowledge Some1’s GREATNESS when their no longer around but I want you to know YOU ARE LEGENDARY no matter who thinks differently,” she tweeted. “YOUR BLUEPRINT is PRESENT! No debate.” For more on Missy Elliott and Lil Wayne, return to HNHH.

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Dave East Details What Motivates Him

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Dave East reflected on his growth as an artist during a recent interview with HipHopDX. He explained to the outlet that his focus is no longer on building the popularity of his brand but instead gaining respect from his peers. The New York rapper will be turning 35 years old later this year.

“I feel like the shit that used to excite me doesn’t anymore, and the things that were my early drive isn’t my drive anymore,” East revealed to the outlet. “My first drive was to get out the projects, and now it’s like what’s pushing me now?” He added: “What’s pushing me is the respect of my peers where they’ll see me and shout out what I’m doing or seeing fans from all backgrounds with a Dave East lyric tatted on them that tells me with the time I been in this shit, I did me enough to the point that someone bought into it and wants to see where else I take this shit.”

Dave East Performing In 2021

NEW YORK, NEW YORK – OCTOBER 28: Dave East performs during Rolling Loud NY at Citi Field on October 28, 2021 in New York City. (Photo by Astrida Valigorsky/Getty Images)

East added that he’s also working to sustain the success that he’s been able to find through this point in his career. Additionally, he wants to expand outside of advancing only himself. “Now I’m really trying to boss up a little more. I did me as Dave East, and I’m putting my hands in different things, shit I’m not even familiar with but always wanted to tap into,” he explained. “I’m trying to stay out the way and expand because now there’s others coming after me that’s family and little bros that have a vision, and I have a platform to help them with that.”

While best known for his work in music, East has been working on an acting career for years by this point. He appeared in BET’s Being Mary Jane and VH1’s The Breaks as well as Hulu’s Wu-Tang: An American Saga. In that series, he portrays the rapper, Method Man.

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Nas Speaks On Impact Of Jay-Z Beef On His Career In GQ Interview

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During his recent GQ interview, Nas reflected on how his beef with Jay-Z impacted his career, and perhaps the hip-hop landscape as a whole. While they squashed said issues eventually, their spat is the stuff of legend in the rap community. Elsewhere in the interview, he spoke on a few other topics, including his Madison Square Garden show, his run with Hit-Boy, and his idea of success. However, his reflections on his Hov battles led to some interesting reflections on collaborations in the game. At the time of that beef, he remarked, hip-hop still existed on a coastal binary for many.

“That’s just being reminded of what rap is, being shocked, taking it places you didn’t think you were going to go with it as an artist,” he explained about the shock behind the Jay feud and how it marked a second phase of his career in the early 2000s. “[Like] me on ‘One Mic,’ making a song slow, low-key, raising an octave higher. ‘Got Yourself A Gun’ was a Dr. Dre-sounding track, and I had worked with Dre on music before that.

Nas Speaks On Beef With Jay-Z To GQ

INDIO, CA – APRIL 12: Rappers Nas (L) and Jay-Z perform onstage during day 2 of the 2014 Coachella Valley Music & Arts Festival at the Empire Polo Club on April 12, 2014 in Indio, California. (Photo by Frazer Harrison/Getty Images for Coachella)

“So I kind of had a pass to do a Dre-kind of sound because Dre cosigned our friendship and our collabs,” he continued. “I feel like that collab [with Dre] brought in the idea, maybe, for things like Bone Thugs-N-Harmony and Biggie together. I didn’t invent it, but it made it more of a thing, like, ‘Hey guys, we’re always so standoffish. You come into my market, I come into your market, and let’s have fun. It’s all a family thing.’”

Meanwhile, the hip-hop legend chases a very different idea of success to what many might believe or expect from one of the game’s greatest. “All records sell,” the 49-year-old stated. “If they don’t sell at all, then get out of the music business. Or if you love your art, don’t let that determine anything. If you need them to sell too quickly, you gotta watch that. lllmatic wasn’t the huge seller the first week, but now you look at how well it did. You just have to worry about the music.” Check out the full interview in the link below and stick around on HNHH for the latest greatness from Nas.

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50 Cent Reflects On His Early Career And Divulges On Why Kids Fell In Love With Him

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When 50 Cent first started his rap career in 1996, he led a dangerous life. The lyrics he expressed in the music that followed his troubled childhood were raw and heavy, but truthful. In an interview with MSNBC’s Ari Melber, the rap mogul shared his reflection on his early career. “The stuff that they see that I’ve learned, it kinda kept me out of trouble at points,” 50 told Melber. “The stuff I was saying in the music in the very beginning, I was crazy to tell you the truth, Ari. I was absolutely crazy at that point.”

One of 50’s most celebrated works from his early career was his debut album Get Rich or Die Tryin’. This best-selling rap album was charged with explicit lyrics and references to the rapper’s “crazy” beginnings. In “What Up Gangsta,” for example, 50 alludes to his gang relations. He describes, “nah, that’s a semi-auto and a vest on my chest, I try not to say nothin’ the DA might wanna play in court.” He continues these themes, rapping in “In da Hood,” “get robbed, get shot, shit is poppin’ in the hood.”

50 Explains His “Crazy” Youth

While “Get Rich or Die Tryin’” became instrumental to 50’s success, he notes how his fan base didn’t connect with him for the right reasons. He tells Melber, “Kids fell absolutely in love with me and they were in love with the wrong part of me. The part that won’t actually continue to be successful. The part that people won’t continue to be something that people celebrate.” Even today, 50 sees other hip-hop artists following in a similar suit. Specifically, he mentions rappers like 21 Savage, DaBaby, and Lil Durk. “They have to turn into something bigger and better as they go with the new information and new opportunities that come because they’re really street,” he says.

Nearly 25 years after the start of 50’s legacy, the rapper has fully changed his life around. The interview follows 50’s new development deal with Fox, which was also announced in his interview with Melber. With 24 shows across 10 different networks, this non-exclusive deal will open more doors for the 47-year-old to continue his work in television.

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G Herbo Reflects On How Leaving The Streets Helped His Career

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Chicago MC G Herbo cemented himself as one of the 2010s’ most pivotal rappers from the city. Moreover, his come-up from a hardened background fueled much of his most resonant and definitive artistry. In a new interview with XXL, G Herbo reflected on how leaving the streets behind ultimately helped his career move forward.

ATLANTA, GEORGIA – SEPTEMBER 30: G Herbo attends the BET Hip Hop Awards 2022 at The Cobb Theater on September 30, 2022 in Atlanta, Georgia. (Photo by Paras Griffin/Getty Images for BET)

Furthermore, the interview broke down specific lyrics from the 27-year-old’s track “Outside Looking In.” It’s featured on his 2022 album, Survivor’s Remorse: A Side. In a particular moment in the interview, XXL asked Herbo when he made this realization.

“I always knew I was special,” the rapper said. “It was just my environment. The circumstances that I was up against that made me make certain decisions. It was always hope for me. I knew that I was gon’ make something of myself.

“When I used to go visit my aunt house, all they really did was gangbang and sell drugs and s**t,” he continued. “Don’t get me wrong, it was family vibes, but that’s what I was exposed to. At my grandmother house, she liked to gamble. Her crib was like a party spot, a gambling spot. They played cards all night. But when you a kid, they not really paying attention to us observing everything that’s going on around. Referring to the birds and bees, I never had those conversations with my parents growing up. It just happened naturally. I was exposed to that type of stuff early.”

Meanwhile, the “PTSD” artist recently looked back on his personal past, as well. After he admitted to cheating on Yung Miami’s Caresha Please podcast, Ari Fletcher believed that he owed her an apology. Even though it’s in a very different context, recent interviews and discussions opened Herbo up to some very interesting conversations. Hearing him speak on how he relates art to family is a fascinating account.

“I was ahead of my time,” the drill artist stated. “I was smart and people in my life that I looked up to, they looked at me as like, ‘That’s just lil Herbie, my lil cousin.’ They didn’t take me serious when I would bring up rap. When I was going to my first studio sessions and stuff like that, I never used to let my family hear my music or nothing. I never really spoke of my dreams and aspirations ’cause I learned early on, if people don’t see it for themselves, they’ll never really see it for you. All these years later, I’m still trying to like build that connection with my family.”

When asked how he changed his focused mindset to hip-hop rather than the streets, Herbo elaborated on the extent of that focus.

“I disassociated myself with the streets and with the outside world, I wasn’t engaged with nothing other than chasing my dreams. I believe in God, so when I have those moments where I feel chills or I have those deep thoughts. My calling, my destiny. I believe in that type of stuff, I wanted to focus on solely being a rapper. I took a flying leap of faith and I really did it.”

What do you think on G Herbo’s reflections on the streets and his career? Whatever the case, let us know in the comments down below. Also, as always, come back to HNHH for more insights from hip-hop’s most talented minds.

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50 Cent Says He Wishes Tony Yayo Blew Up Instead Of Him

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50 Cent says that he wishes Tony Yayo‘s career had taken off instead of his own. 50 discussed how his career took off during a recent interview with Big Boy’s Neighborhood.

The legendary New York rapper says that after the release of his 2003 album Get Rich or Die Tryin’, he wanted to bring all of G-Unit with him to the top.

“My solo album took off so big that I just brought them with me,” 50 said. “So it was clear that it was me creating opportunity for everybody else in the crew, but we was all together. I wish it would have been Yayo, because then I coulda did all of the business. If he woulda did what 50 Cent did, then I would have been running the whole thing.”

MANCHESTER, ENGLAND – JUNE 11: (EDITORIAL USE ONLY) 50 Cent performs on day 1 of Parklife Festival at Heaton Park on June 11, 2022 in Manchester, England. (Photo by Burak Cingi/Redferns)

He continued: “It would still be two of us. He’d still be 50 Cent as the artist and I’d be the largest asset to us.”

Despite dropping many mixtapes and appearing on collaborative projects, Yayo has only released one studio album. Thoughts of a Predicate Felon debuted at No. 2 on the Billboard 200 back in 2005.

Yayo recently discussed 50’s impact on his career during an interview with the Only Way Out Podcast. He admitted that 50 helped him “survive a lot of shit.”

Elsewhere in his discussion on Big Boy’s Neighborhood, 50 revealed that he’s working on an 8 Mile TV series with Eminem.

“It’s gonna be big. I’m working. I ain’t got no duds,” he said. “I’m batting 100 … I think it should be there for [Eminem’s] legacy because it’s important to me that they understand it.”

Check out 50 Cent’s full comments on Big Boy’s Neighborhood below.

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