DimeMag

J. Cole Was A Walking Bucket During A Recent Black Ops Basketball Session

by
J Cole
Getty Image

J. Cole is a dual-threat. The Dreamville founder has expertly balanced his hoop dreams and rap dominance over the years, but Cole was all ball and commanded the floor in one of Chris Brickley’s Black Ops Basketball sessions during New York Fashion Week earlier this month. Brickley, a sought-after basketball trainer, posted Cole’s highlight reel to Instagram.

“J a bucket,” Indiana Pacers guard Buddy Hield praised in the comments. “In the Kobe’s too!!” added Minnesota Timberwolves big man Eric Paschall. (Cole was crossing dudes up in the Nike Kobe 8 “What The Kobe” sneakers, for reference.)

NBA players aren’t just fans of Cole; they’re peers. The North Carolina-bred icon played professionally for the Rwanda Patriots in the Basketball Africa League for three games in 2021 before suiting up for the Scarborough Shooting Stars of the Canadian Elite Basketball League for a similarly short stint earlier this year. The 37-year-old left the team in early June to go on tour.

To start September, Cole was revealed as the first-ever rapper to grace the cover of NBA 2K, starring on the cover of NBA 2K23‘s “Dreamer Edition.”

“Three and a half years ago, when he dunked during one of the breaks of the All-Star Weekend Saturday Night, J. Cole, said, ‘Ronnie, I’d love to be in MyCareer and help think about the ideation around that,’” 2K digital marking director Ronnie Singh told Complex in an interview published earlier this month, explaining the origin of Cole’s 2K23 involvement. “I worked with our team on bringing this to life, but it was very fitting to work with him. When we put out that tease [of the 2K23 cover], everybody thought it was going to be another basketball player.”

There’s a strong argument to be made that it was a basketball player.

The Memphis Grizzlies Tap Breakout Hometown Star GloRilla To Narrate The Team’s 2022-23 Season Hype Video

by
glorilla memphis grizzlies big
Twitter

They may be operating in two different sports, but the Memphis Grizzlies just put the Atlanta Falcons to shame in the marketing game. Last month, the Falcons were lambasted for their “Rise Up” season promo video, which featured New Jersey native Rotimi singing an generic, off-brand motivational anthem for some reason. While the attempt was a promising step in the NFL’s ongoing efforts to appeal to younger fans (and, well… you know), it also showed how far the league has to go to catch up to the NBA.

Today, though, the Grizzlies showed just how much more in-touch with the zeitgeist the NBA really is with their own 2022-23 season hype video. Instead of a moderately well-known out-of-towner best recognized for his role in Power, the Grizz tapped hometown rising star GloRilla, whose breakout single “F.N.F. (Let’s Go)” began and ended the “song of the summer” debate this year, to narrate their “Big Memphis” promo and show how teams can highlight the connection with their respective cities. Glo’s distinctive voice booms out over a thumping trap track, declaring, “This is our city… everything we do here is big!”

After the success of “F.N.F.,” Memphis godfather Yo Gotti signed GloRilla to his label Collective Music Group, releasing a remix of the track featuring JT of City Girls and Latto (and nixing another remix featuring Saweetie). Since then, her breakout year continued this past weekend as Cardi B joined her on the boisterous “Tomorrow 2” and ASAP Rocky brought her out during his short headlining set at Rolling Loud New York.

Whatever else happens with the Memphis Grizzlies this year, they’ve started off their season with a big win, and GloRilla is already proving herself to be the people’s champ of 2022.

Tobe Nwigwe, Fat Nwigwe, and Dame D.O.L.L.A. Lead A Dance In A Garden In Their New Video For ‘Mini Me’

by

In his latest video, “Mini Me,” Houston rapper Tobe Nwigwe leads a group in dance in a garden, joined by his wife, Fat. While the two have a son in real life, Tobe addresses his “sons” in the rap game.

“Fat just had my son indeed, but a small catch / Is that I’ve had sons, just not out my ballsack / Fall back, I be appalled that / All that I’ve done for my sons don’t get wall plaques / Look, I should walk up in the room and see up on the wall / Greatest father figure of ’em all,” he raps.

Fat raps and adlibs on the chorus, saying, “I’m sick of you bein’ nice to all these boys, they’re our babies.”

The married couple is later joined by Dame D.O.L.L.A., who aims to maintain peace within himself and among others.

“Tell ’em roll out the red carpet, we special people / And we don’t see nobody as lesser equals / Boy, times change, keep the energy / We pray on enemy and never let him take our inner peace,” he raps.

In addition to putting out skillful rhymes, Tobe also stars on the Houston-set Netflix series Mo, on which, he plays the titular character’s childhood best friend.

Check out the video for “Mine Me” above.

Drake Drops $100,000 On Rings Commemorating His Rec League Basketball Championship

by
drake basketball
Getty Image

One of the best things about Drake — or worst, depending on how you look at it — is how he romanticizes practically everything about his life. His son’s finger painting is the next Picasso, he envisions himself as a smooth player from the 1970s complete with a shag cut, and he treats his rec league basketball championships like the NBA. In short, he does what I fully believe most of us would do with his kind of money. The real sticking point is that he chooses to show it all off, which is pretty revolutionary, in its way.

And when I say he celebrated his back-to-back Sanctuary Basketball League championships as if they were NBA ones, I mean he really went all-out. According to Complex, Drake apparently had championship rings made for his team at $100,000 per ring. He’s shown them off via his Instagram Story, while the jeweler, Jason Arasheben of Beverly Hills, provided the details, as well as a statement:

As someone who wishes I could play ball professionally I respect Drake for making his dream a reality with his own league. We always have a good time when we work together and it has been fun working on these championship rings with him for the last three years. Drake had a clear vision of what he wanted and we worked really well together to make that happen. I enjoy the challenge of telling the story of the season and incorporating everything into the design and onto a ring, while still using as many diamonds as possible.

Drake contracted Jason for his rec league previous championship in 2020, paying $50,000 per ring, as well as one for the Toronto Raptors’ 2019 NBA championship. Check out this year’s rings below.

Drake shows off his championship ring after winning the SBL Rec Basketball League

Drake Hilariously Roasts Nike, New Balance, And The Lakers While Hosting The Nike Maxim Awards Show

by
Drake Nike Maxim Awards Show 2022
Getty Image

At this point, Drake has proven that he’s a capable and entertaining host, whether it’s during one of his multiple Saturday Night Live guest-hosting stints or that time he hosted the ESPYs in 2014. Yesterday, he took his talents to Nike. He visited the company’s Oregon campus yesterday (September 9) and it turns out part of the reason he was there was to host the Nike Maxim Awards Show.

He made it fun, too, by throwing some playful jabs at Nike while on stage. Commenting on the longevity of the brand, Drake quipped, “Nike is 50. Nike’s so old, it’s wearing New Balance.” After taking a sip of water, he continued, “Nike turning 50 means LeBron’s going to get you to try to play for the Lakers this year. This is the year where you’re going to walk into a restaurant and see Nike having red wine with Jared Dudley and Carmelo Anthony.”

Of course, he also said some more sincere things about the successful company and all it has achieved over the years.

While Drake was there to honor Nike, he has his own reasons to celebrate, like the fact that he’s the most-searched artist in Shazam history.

Check out clips of Drake’s hosting gig above and below.

J. Cole’s ‘NBA 2K’ Cover Was Partially Inspired By His Dunk Attempt At All-Star Weekends

by

While J. Cole has always put his pro basketball ambitions at the forefront of his rap career, he’s come way further than perhaps even he could have foreseen. At the start of the month, he was announced as 2K Games’ first-ever non-athlete cover model for the latest iteration of NBA 2K. The rap star-turned-hooper features on the Gamestop-exclusive Dreamer Edition cover of NBA 2K23. He’ll also appear in the game as himself; the player will encounter him and Dreamville associates Bas and Elite in the MyCareer mode, helping the player character achieve their own hoop dreams.

As it happens, though, Cole planted the seeds for this idea even before he’d managed to make it onto a Basketball Africa League roster. In a new interview with Complex, 2K’s digital marketing director Ronnie “Ronnie2K” Singh explains how J. Cole actually approached Singh with the concept for his inclusion after giving the world one of his first public demonstrations of hoop talent at the NBA’s 2019 All-Star Weekend. There, J. Cole allowed himself to be used as a prop in fellow Fayetteville native Dennis Smith Jr.’s dunk attempt before attempting a dunk of his own. Although Cole got blocked by the rim — in his defense, he was wearing street clothes and hadn’t warmed up first — he was able to pitch Ronnie2K about being in a future version of NBA 2K.

According to Singh, “Three and a half years ago, when he dunked during one of the breaks of the All-Star Weekend Saturday Night, J. Cole said, ‘Ronnie, I’d love to be in MyCareer and help think about the ideation around that.’ I worked with our team on bringing this to life but it was very fitting to work with him. When we put out that tease, everybody thought it was going to be another basketball player…it allows us live in fashion, culture, music which 2K has a seat at the table now.”

Ari Melber Uses Jay-Z’s ‘God Did’ Verse To Break Down The War On Drugs And LeBron James Approves

by

MSNBC correspondent Ari Melber is a huge fan of hip-hop who loves quoting rappers like Nicki Minaj and using hip-hop songs to make poignant political commentary. In his latest segment, though, he takes it a step farther, pulling quotes from Jay-Z’s triumphant “God Did” verse to break down the US government’s ongoing — and some would say failed — War On Drugs, which has mostly just led to increased incarceration rates for Black Americans, billions of tax dollars dumped into increasingly militarized police forces, and little measurable reduction in drug use in the US.

Melber references numerous lines from the verse, including one in which Jay calls US laws “draconian,” and another that mentions a 1996 60 Minutes interview between Nation of Islam Minister Louis Farrakhan and Mike Wallace. Melber breaks down these lines and others as he draws parallels to the drug war and points out how the prohibition of alcohol was reversed, allowing numerous former criminals to become legitimate businessmen with huge returns on their investments.

This leads to a note that while so-called “street drugs” continue to be criminalized and associated with minorities, the biggest drug dealers are, in fact, the pharmaceutical companies that legally manufacture ultra-addictive drugs like Oxycontin and Fentanyl despite being caught unethically using their power and reach to pressure doctors to overprescribe them.

One of the four billionaires that Jay claims responsibility for mentoring in the song, LeBron James, agreed that more people should check it out, sharing the report on Twitter. “Listen!” he implored his followers. “Then listen again to make sure you got the point. HOV DID!!!! And so did the reporter! 🐐 TALK.” His post prompted two replies, one from Melber, who quoted Jay’s line from “God Did” mentioning LeBron, and Jay-Z himself, who made a rare Twitter appearance to cosign James’ tweet with another quote from the verse.

The report is fascinating and enlightening through and through, and you should really check it out, which you can do up top.

LeBron James Had The Time Of His Life At A Kendrick Lamar Show In Vancouver

by
lebron james
Getty Image

It has been an eventful summer for LeBron James as he gets ready for his 20th season in the NBA. After some vacation time, James has been busy on the pro-am circuit, popping up at the Drew League and The CrawsOver in L.A. and Seattle, while also showing up at various gyms to work with trainers throughout the summer.

He’s also had plenty to deal with regarding his team and their future, as he signed a two-year extension earlier this month and has been pushing behind the scenes for the Lakers front office to make more moves to turn the roster into a real contender. While the Lakers continue trying to appease those desires, most recently trading for Patrick Beverley and there still being the expectation Russell Westbrook is moved, James made a trip up to Vancouver with his wife, Savannah, for a little R&R.

On that trip, the James popped in to Kendrick Lamar’s stop on the Big Steppers Tour and other fans took some videos of LeBron and Savannah having the time of their lives dancing and singing along.

Kendrick appreciated the love from the James family and gave the couple a shoutout during the performance, ensuring the entire crowd knew the King was in the building.

During a break, the crowd broke into full on MVP chants for LeBron.

LeBron’s love of music is well known and he had such a good time at the show that he had to tweet some special appreciation to the city of Vancouver for all the love in his first visit to British Columbia and to Kendrick for putting on a great show.

Boosie Insists The Brittney Griner Situation Would Be Much Different If It Was Taylor Swift In Prison

by
Boosie Badazz 2021
Getty Image

Yesterday’s (August 4) news was not good for Brittney Griner: The WNBA star was found guilty on drug charges in Russia and sentenced to nine years in prison. Ever since the basketball player was first detained in March, there has been outrage about the situation, with a new wave of it coming after yesterday’s ruling. Boosie Badazz in particular had a passionate reaction, in which he pointed fingers.

In a video shared after the news broke, Boosie implies race is an issue when it comes to the United States’ efforts to free Griner, using a Taylor Swift comparison to make his point. He says, “How the hell this girl get nine years for a weed pen… and the USA ain’t doing nothing about it? You tell me that! If that was Taylor Swift, it’d be a peace treaty right now! They’d be drafting to go to war!”

He then set his sights on Vice President Kamala Harris, continuing, “What that show for Black women in the United States?! And the Vice President: as a Black woman, you supposed to be on the front line! You supposed to be on the front line to get that Black woman out of jail! Nine damn years! Y’all f*cked up in this world!”

Check out the video above.

Lamar Odom And Fake Drake Are Squaring Off In A Celebrity Boxing Match

by
Lamar odom Fake drake
Getty Image/Ralph Ordaz

While Instagram banned Fake Drake — aka Izzy Drake — for impersonating the rapper on his feed (despite an apparent co-sign from Drizzy himself) that’s not stopping the impersonator from continuing to capitalize on his, err… likeness. Celebrity Boxing just announced via TMZ Hip Hop that Fake Drake will be duking it out in the ring with none other than former LA Lakers champ and former Khloé Kardashian beau Lamar Odom.

Izzy would be wise to be careful, assuming he watched Odom totally pound America’s tormented little brother, Aaron Carter in a Celebrity Boxing match last year. Fake Drake has been running his mouth, challenging the real Drake to a $1 million boxing match (which was the likely straw that broke the camel’s back on Izzy’s Instagram account) and apparently Odom did not find this sideshow amusing.

“Man, whassup? I hear this news that this fake lookalike wanna fight my man Drake… Swagger jacker dude,” Odom said in a pre-fight hype video while wearing a Nipsey Hussle shirt. “But my man don’t really get his hands dirty. So what I’m gonna do is I’m just gonna step in the way and take that fight. Get the contract, bring it right to you. Lay you right down. Odom out.”

Meanwhile, Fake Drake’s hype video consisted of him mostly dodging tennis balls. This fight might be over before it even begins. But if anything, Fake Drake will have some extra scratch to bet on a fake roulette table.

The Celebrity Boxing match is scheduled to take place on October 15th in either Atlantic City or Miami.