Hip Hop News

There’s a reason why Roc-A-Fella is also known as The Dynasty. Their legacy — that of their sound, artists, and projects — endures to this day. A large reason behind that stems from the sonic foundation laid by the power tandem of Just Blaze and Kanye West.

Though both producers had distinctive musical instincts and approaches to production, they managed to co-exist on many of the label’s albums, blessing JAY-Z, Beanie Sigel, Freeway, Cam’ron, and more with hits. 

Just Blaze in 2008. Ray Tamarra/Getty Images

Today, Just Blaze took a moment to showcase a small piece of Roc history, taking to Instagram to share a recent discovery. While searching through his storage room, Blaze actually stumbled upon an old Ensoniq ASR-10 sampler that belonged to none other than Kanye West. As Blaze tells it, West actually used that very ASR-10 to craft some of his early classics. 

Johnny Nunez/WireImage/Getty Images

“Went to storage today,” captions Blaze, alongside a picture of the vintage sampler. “This is the actual ASR-10 Kanye used during the Dynasty, Blueprint, BP2, and Black Album sessions @ Baseline.” As Roc-loving hip-hop heads know, those sessions yielded such Kanye classics as “This Can’t Be Life,” “Takeover,” “Heart Of The City,” “Poppin Tags,” “03 Bonnie & Clyde,” “Encore,” and “Lucifer.”

While we sit on the precipice of Donda, an album that many predict will mark new production territory for the veteran visionary, take a moment to look back on some of his earlier work — when he was still actively sitting behind the sampler and bringing his visions to life. It may seem like a lifetime ago, but it’s fair to say that his pre-College Dropout work remains among his most important, positioning the young Chicago artist among the game’s most promising producers in only a few short years. 

Swizz Beatz, Kanye West, and Just Blaze. Johnny Nunez/WireImage/Getty Images

Shout out to Just Blaze for sharing his findings on Instagram, a treat for hip-hop historians and those who appreciate the art of vintage gear — look no further than the response issued by Jay Electronica, who once called the ASR-10 his favorite machine. 

Check out Just’s post below, and for more Roc-A-Fella history, Memphis Bleek recently received an iced-out chain from JAY-Z; you can read more on that right here. 

If you are a Los Angeles Lakers fan, then you probably know the purple and gold need at least another star player if they want to keep up with the rest of the league. The Los Angeles Clippers are a better team now all while the Utah Jazz, Phoenix Suns, and Denver Nuggets are teams that will be at the top of the Western Conference for years to come. LeBron James and Anthony Davis are phenomenal players, however, they’re going to need help if they want to win another title.

This offseason, the Lakers are expected to make some big moves and some believe that guys like Dennis Schroder and Kyle Kuzma could very well be on their way elsewhere. After all, these players struggled in the postseason and the Lakers need some more veterans that can match the energy of the championship-winning team from 2020.

Steph Chambers/Getty Images

According to reporter Broderick Turner of The Los Angeles Times, the Lakers could very well find that veteran presence in Kyle Lowry and DeMar DeRozan. Both players can go where they want this summer and both former Raptors stars have been linked to the Lakers. After all, these two used to play together and they were best friends while on the Raptors. If these two were to come to the purple and gold, it would be a match-made in heaven.

Jason Miller/Getty Images

Of course, the Lakers would need to clear out some cap space in order to make this work, however, it seems like both Lowry and DeRozan are content with taking a pay cut if it means competing for a championship in the city of Angels.

Stay tuned to HNHH as we will continue to bring you the latest updates from around the NBA.

[Via]

Rapper, former NBA player, and potential NBA coach Master P linked up with LeBron at the their kids’ Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) game yesterday and dropped some wisdom for other parents out there. After the release of the Space Jam sequel and a tumultuous Lakers season, LeBron and P spoke on the struggle of managing a busy schedule and setting aside time for their kids, as well as how to pass on their strong worth ethics to the next generation. 

“[LeBron] and I sit court side at our kids AAU game and talk fatherhood. You can get money back, but you can’t get time back,” read the caption on the Instagram video posted by Master P. “You can get money back, but you can’t get time back” was a consistent theme in their conversation as they juggle high-profile careers and their parental roles.

Phillip Faraone/Getty Images for REVOLT

Master P has remained a busy man as well, receiving a Doctorate degree from Lincoln University and pursuing a job as an NBA coach. Still, the fathers emphasized the importance of presence, “presence and time, that’s all it is. When they see you around they know you care,” LeBron offered. 

While their schedules sometimes get away, the fathers still value the hard work they put in to their careers and try to instil that same work ethic into their children. “We know all the stuff we had to go through to get to where we at. It’s not gonna be easy… I’m gonna keep pushing ’em, keep showing ’em work ethic. Show them they gotta work hard for this,” Master P shared. “There it is, Amen,” LeBron replied.

Both Bronny Jr. and Master P.’s son Mercy Miller are seeking careers in the NBA with the help of their fathers. 

Hopefully parents out their tune in to the message the fathers are sending.

Check out the clip below.

Although they may not seem to have anything in common on paper, Hip-Hop and anime regularly intersect. Prominent rappers like Megan Thee Stallion have professed their love for their favorite animes, and Big Sean recently fulfilled a childhood dream after meeting the Goku voice actor in person. It has even been heavily documented that Kanye West is also a fan of the genre, with 1988’s Akira being his anime of choice.

Back in 2018, the controversial artist — who has still yet to release DONDA— went on a Twitter spree and praised the Katsuhiro Otomo-directed anime, calling it the “greatest animation achievement in history” and revealing that it has inspired “every stage show [he’s] ever worked on.” Now, it appears that Akira may have once again influenced Mr. West, as many fans are pointing out the similarity between his outfit at Thursday night’s DONDA listening event in Atlanta to Akira‘s main character Shotaro Kaneda.

Paras Griffin/Getty Images

The character from Akira famously sports a multi-tone all-red outfit, and it definitely favors what Yeezy recently wore to the listening event. Beyond the outfit, it appears that even the stage design (or lack thereof) was also inspired by a scene in Akira in which Shotaro Kaneda stood on a sparse, chalky landscape.

Check out the side-by-side comparisons below. Do you think Ye was pulling outfit inspiration from Akira? Or do you think the similarity is just a coincidence and Kanye was actually going for something else entirely?

Directly following his internet-breaking DONDA listening event at the Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta, Kanye West was honored with his own day in the city. He also received a special award from Dr. Kevin James, the President of Morris Brown College, which is the HBCU that Kanye’s mother Donda West taught at for nearly two decades.

After he left the center of the arena and reunited with his family and team backstage, Kanye earned two major awards. He accepted a certification that his own day was instated in Atlanta, making July 22 “Kanye West Day.” Perhaps more importantly to ‘Ye, he was presented with a resolution of meritorious service for his mother Donda.

Donda began her career teaching at Morris Brown College, staying there for nearly two decades. Kanye was reportedly emotional while accepting the award on his mother’s behalf as he was surrounded by family, including Kim and Khloe Kardashian, who were both spotted backstage. 

As the world waits for DONDA to officially arrive on streaming services (any day now, ‘Ye!), watch the video below to see Kanye being granted his own day in Atlanta. Congrats!

Kanye’s DONDA event was the most popular thing on Twitter last night, sparking multiple trends throughout the night. Read our review of the event here.

[via]

With the NFL season just a few weeks away, the league is looking to tighten up its COVID-19 protocols. Last year saw numerous games get canceled and rescheduled which proved to be an absolute nightmare for the league, the teams, and the players. Now, however, the league is going with a zero-tolerance policy when it comes to the vaccine. For instance, if a team experiences an outbreak amongst unvaccinated players, they will have to forfeit the game and no one will get paid.

This new rule has created a testy discourse across the league as players like Deandre Hopkins and Leonard Fournette have tweeted their disapproval. They feel as though their future in the league is being tested, and there are various other players who aren’t happy about this new reality.

Doug Pensinger/Getty Images

Now, coaches are being affected by the rule as well. According to ESPN, all staff members on each team must be vaccinated and if they refuse, they can be fired. Today, such measures became necessary as Minnesota Vikings offensive line and run-game coordinator Rick Dennison was fired after refusing to accept the vaccine. Dennison is 63 years old and has been a staple of the league for 27 years. Regardless, rules are rules and he is now out of a job.

As the offseason moves forward, this is a reality that could hit various other coaches in similar positions and it will be interesting to see how it all plays out in the end. Be sure to keep it locked to HNHH as we will continue to bring you updates from around the NBA.

Getty Images

[Via]