Hip Hop News

Former President Barack Obama’s love for basketball is not a secret. The 44th President of the United States routinely played basketball during his two terms in the executive office. A short clip of him draining a silky jump shot while campaigning for now President Joe Biden went viral last fall. He appeared on the ESPN sports documentary The Last Dance to discuss Michael Jordan’s legacy and impact on his hometown of Chicago. Now, he’ll get to take part in official league matters after joining NBA Africa as a strategic partner.

In the video announcement about his new role as a strategic partner, Obama tells a heartfelt story about how much basketball has shaped his life and the lessons he has learned along the way, mentioning how he has met his closest friends on the court and strived to fit in a game whenever possible even when he was busy leading the nation. He cited the energy surrounding the game and the connections it can create around the world as his reasoning for joining NBA Africa, as he wishes to prioritize creating and investing in new opportunities for the young individuals in Africa through NBA Africa and his foundation.

“One of the things I’ve always loved about basketball is the fact that it brings people together and empowers young people everywhere. I’m proud to join the team at @NBA_Africa and look forward to seeing the change we can create across the continent,” Obama tweeted regarding joining NBA Africa.

Obama has also mentioned taking an eye-opening trip with Toronto Raptors president of basketball Operations Masai Ujiri to Kenya in 2019 to visit the village where his father grew up, and help open a new basketball court for the community. Through discussions with Adam Silver and other NBA league executives, Obama will partner his foundation with the league to work on creating new opportunities that will benefit multiple countries throughout Africa. He said he is excited to see what the partnership will accomplish for Africa and the eventual difference it will make across the continent and in the world.

What do you think of the former President’s decision to work with the league branch in Africa? Let us know in the comments below.

Attorney Ben Crump held a press conference on Tuesday morning to announce a new lawsuit against the medical company Johnson & Johnson, for targeting their knowingly-lethal product to Black women. The lawsuit was filed by the Black women’s advocacy group, National Council of Negro Women.

Crump begged Johnson & Johnson to “do the right thing to prevent these deaths, do the right thing to make these women whole,” followed by emotional testimonies from victims and relatives of the victims of the cancer-causing Johnson & Johnson products. One relative whose grandmother had passed away from ovarian cancer spoke about how her grandmother was a loyal customer who passed down the tradition of using Johnson & Johnson products. 

Whether J&J is willing to take responsibility on their own or not, Crump is going to be taking the issue to court. The lawsuit obtained by TMZ is loaded with evidence from studies over the decades that prove, time and time again, that talcum and talcum-like particles were cancer-causing, and that the company used strategic marketing to sell to the Black female market specifically, despite this knowledge. 

The lawsuit includes examples of such targeting, including allegedly considering Aretha Franklin or Patti LaBelle to become J&J spokeswomen along with “stopping in at churches and salons in predominantly Black communities… and handing out free baby powder samples.”

Crump’s suit seeks justice for the women and their families who were affected by this alleged targeting. In the suit, he asks Johnson & Johnson to publicly take responsibility and develop a plan to track who has been affected by their products and reimburse them for the medical needs they developed as a result of frequent use. 

Johnson & Johnson responded by saying all accusations are false, the company would not target a specific group as Crump suggests, and their products do not cause cancer. 

The idea that our company would purposefully and systematically target a community with bad intentions is unreasonable and absurd,” the company said. “Johnson’s Baby Powder is safe, and our campaigns are multicultural and inclusive. We firmly stand behind the safety of our product and the ways in which we communicate with our customers,” the company stated.

We will keep you updated as the story develops.

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It looks like there may be some problems brewing between Kyrie Irving and Nike. Despite having one of the most popular basketball sneaker collections for the corporation, it appears as though the relationship has soured. After photos were leaked of the upcoming Kyrie 8 model, the Brooklyn Nets point guard commented on the pictures and didn’t hold back.

“I have nothing to do with the design or marketing of the upcoming #Kyrie8, IMO these are trash,” savagely said Kyrie, leaving a comment on a fan page dedicated to his sneakers. “I have Absolutely nothing to do with them! Nike plans to release it without my okay regardless of what I say, so I apologize in advance to all of my sneaker heads and true supporters of the #KAI11 brand.”

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Similarly, Vanessa Bryant recently called out Nike for producing unauthorized pairs of the “MAMBACITA” Kobe 6 Protro, claiming that she did not approve of their production or sale. “This is a shoe I worked on in honor of my daughter Gianna,” she said in June of this year. “The MAMBACITA shoes are NOT approved for sale. I wanted it to be sold to honor my daughter with ALL of the proceeds benefitting our @mbamabacitasports foundation but I did not re-sign the Nike contract and decided not to sell these shoes. (The MAMBACITA shoes were not approved to be made in the first place).”

Sounds to me like Nike needs to be more transparent with their athletes and sponsors. Take a look at Kyrie’s response below.

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Will Smith has a few major projects under his belt right now which shouldn’t be much of a surprise. In the past two years, he’s starred in major Blockbuster films like Bad Boys 4 Life, Aladdin, and Spies In Disguise. Plus, there’s been recent conversation about whether Will Smith would return for Suicide Squad that probably won’t come into fruition.

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Another film that Smith has been working on has been secured by streaming giant Netflix. Fast & Loose, an action-thriller starring Will Smith, was acquired by Netflix, according to Deadline. The film, which apparently was in a massive bidding war among major film companies, centers around Smith’s character John Riley who wake up in Tijuana with no recollection of being attacked. Later on, the plot twist reveals that he was living life as both an undercover agent and a major criminal kingpin. 

Smith also has another project in the work for Netflix. Emancipation, directed by Antoine Fuqua, is headed to the streaming platform, along with the sequel to Bright where Smith will reprise his role as Daryl Ward.

In related news, the trailer for King Richard emerged today. It’s the first look at Will Smith as the father of Serena and Venus Williams. That film is expected to hit theatres on Nov. 19th and HBO Max for 31 days after the film’s release in cinemas.

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You’d think that after facing backlash over transphobic comments, Boosie Badazz would likely try and stay out of any business that doesn’t pertain to him. Unfortunately, that’s not the case and today, he chimed in on the recent controversy surrounding DaBaby. The North Carolina rapper made some incredibly insensitive remarks to people with HIV and to the LGBTQ+ community which recently prompted BooHoo to cut their relationship with the rapper.

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People like T.I. have expressed their support for DaBaby while others, like Dua Lipa, have condemned the rapper’s comments at Rolling Loud. Boosie Badazz took to Instagram Live where he shared his unwarranted thoughts defending DaBaby. “Everybody ain’t with their nephew sucking dick. Not everybody with that shit. You just can’t put that shit on everybody and expect it to be cool,” he explained before dragging Lil Nas X — who wasn’t even at Rolling Loud — to use as an example.

“Lil Nas X said he wanna perform naked on stage for charity. You don’t fuck with him like you fuck with DaBaby,” he continued. “Be even-sided. You don’t feel that’s disrespect? Going dance naked. You don’t think that’s disrespect in front of boys who tryna be straight? It’s totally disrespect.” 

While DaBaby still is at the center of controversy surrounding comments he actually said, Boosie Badazz was still stuck on hypothetical situations. “If I’m at an awards and he go up there naked, I’m gonna drag his ass off stage and beat his ass,” he continued. “You let a n***a dance naked in front your children, you a mothafuckin’ crazy mothafucka. Or you like dick, too.” 

Check out Boosie’s rant below. 

Lil Uzi Vert might be trolling again but the rapper allegedly just found out that he’s not actually the age he thought he was. On Twitter, he said that his mother just found his birth certificate and, apparently, they’ve thought that he was a year older than he actually was for his entire life.

“Wait wtf I’m turning 26??? My mom found my birth certificate,” tweeted Lil Uzi.

The rapper has had a strange fixation with “the 27 club” for years, addressing a theory last year that he planned to die at that age. Perhaps this is simply his way of bypassing the “27 club”?

“Damn bro so you was 18 but really 17,” asked one fan. “Yes WTFFF!!!” responded Uzi.

When someone tried to fact-check him and ask how he got his license if he never knew his correct age, Uzi replied and said that he doesn’t have his license. “So you drive your Really expensive anime Sport cars without a license?” they asked. “Yes,” he responded, with a smiley face. 

For what it’s worth, last week, Lil Uzi (and Grimes) tried to convince his fans that he was in the process of purchasing a new exoplanet. Experts later deemed that his claims were “bogus.” Maybe he’s lying about his real age too?

Lil Uzi Vert’s birthday has already been updated on Wikipedia, stating that he was born on July 31, 1995 instead of 1994. With his birthday coming up in a few days, it looks like we’ll be reliving the rapper’s twenty-sixth year all over again.

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