Hip Hop News

Over the years, there has been a steady discourse about black head coaches in the NBA and how some candidates are passed up for less qualified white ones. This has been especially true when it comes to executive roles, which are predominantly occupied by white men. Perhaps the most egregious example of these biases occurred this past week as Brad Stevens was promoted from his role as Celtics head coach. Now, he will be replacing Danny Ainge as president of basketball operations, despite a lack of results as head coach.

Stephen A. Smith was angered by the news, and yesterday on First Take, he let his displeasure be known as he delivered a passionate monologue on the matter. In fact, Smith called on black players to voice their concerns about this trend. As Smith explained, he feels as though black players speak up about social issues, however, when it comes to their own teams, they remain quiet. Smith even touched on the George Floyd protests and how the players were so vocal during the summer.

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“We’re supposed to be awake. And we understand the knee on (George) Floyd’s neck wasn’t just about police brutality but the figurative semblance it provided where you’re feeling like constantly people have their knees on our neck since the time you come out of the womb,” Stephen A. said. Smith eventually walked off the set following his comments, as he was frustrated by the Stevens announcement.

As it stands, this is a systemic issue throughout the NBA, and much like the NFL, it is going to take a very long time before things become more equitable. However, to Smith’s point, if the players speak up, that change could very well come sooner rather than later.

This week began with an enormous tragedy, as the Hip-Hop community lost one of its young rising stars. News broke that Lil Loaded had sadly passed away at the age of 20, and the next day, the late rapper’s lawyer alleged that Lil Loaded’s death was the result of suicide. In a statement to TMZ, Ashkan Mehryari said, “Sadly, Mr. Robertson passed away earlier today as a result of a reported suicide,” he wrote in a statement.”

While Cedar Hill Police continues to investigate Lil Loaded’s death, heartbreaking new details have revealed that his mother was the person to discover his body and call the police. According to Complex, Lil Loaded’s mother called the police on Monday to report an attempted suicide after she found her son with a gunshot to the head, and when authorities arrived at the scene, she was reportedly on the porch crying.

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According to Complex, Lil Loaded’s mother noticed that her 20-year-old son was extremely upset while going through a breakup on Sunday night, which echoes the rumor that his suicide was the result of Loaded finding out that his girlfriend had cheated on him. This chilling news also coincides with reports of troubling messages being posted to his Instagram story on the day of his death. 

“Dear most high, please forgive me for my shortcomings and all of the times I’ve fell short of making you proud and being appreciative of all the blessings that have been put in my life,” Lil Loaded wrote in his final Instagram Story post. “Sometimes the lines are blurred between being solid and being heartless I want to thank you for how far I’ve come and the people you’ve put in my life to keep me grounded and humble through everything and I love every single one of those people that are genuinely for me I ask for entrance into your kingdom thru all of my mistakes I know you love all of your children and I’m ready for my heart and soul to Join you.”

Stay tuned as this story continues to develop. Rest in peace, Lil Loaded.

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When rapper and musician Drake launched his own cannabis company back on November 7th, 2019, he also announced the partnership between his More Life Growth Company and Canopy Growth, a fellow cannabis business. On Wednesday June 2nd, Canopy Growth Corporation and the “Fake Love” rapper’s More Life Growth Company decided to part ways. The ending of this joint business venture is costing both parties millions of dollars, reportedly.

Drake had first teased the launch of More Life Growth Company back on November 5th, 2019. Agreements between the two included the details of the “Free Smoke” rapper holding sixty percent of More Life, while Canopy Growth held the other forty percent. In a press release for the More Life and Canopy Growth team up, Drake stated “the idea of being able to build something special in an industry that is ever growing has been inspiring. More Life and More Blessing.”

The two entities have remained in business up until now. Upon the split, Canopy Growth has since removed their investment from the More Life Growth Company and its facility located in Scarborough. Canopy Growth converted More Life’s Scarborough location into an R&D facility for Canopy, as confirmed by their director of communications: “We have indeed divested from More Life and the facility in Scarborough which had been intended to be part of that agreement is now Canopy Growth’s R&D facility, where we will work on plant science and science development projects.”

Canopy also removed royalty assets from More Life that were worth almost C$33.7 million. The termination of this joint business venture follows the financial reports that were filed back in March of this year. The financial reports stated the termination of their sub-licensing contract due to impairments on Canopy’s investment into More Life. Impairments on investments occur when the value of a product does not remain the same, or decreases, when a deal was originally brokered.

Will the More Life Growth Company survive the termination of this business deal? What business venture should Drake pursue next?

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Logan Paul and Floyd Mayweather are officially fighting on Sunday, and fans cannot wait to see how it all goes down. This battle will be taking place in Miami and there is a lot of hype surrounding what’s going to happen and whether or not Paul can hold his own against a legend like Floyd. The internet is going to be a very rowdy place come Sunday night, and we speak for many when we say that the memes are going to be magical.

Today, Mayweather and Paul met up face-to-face where they took part in the face-off/staredown before the fight. This is always a huge part of the fanfare prior to boxing events, and it did not disappoint. Afterward, Paul spoke to TMZ about the fight, and at one point, he claimed that he thought Floyd Mayweather would pay him to throw the match.

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“I was waiting for the guy in the black suit to approach me and be like ‘Yo, we’ll pay you $50 million dollars to throw this fight. We can’t afford Floyd losing’ … but it never happened,” Logan said. “I don’t even care about the money. I just wanna beat Floyd Mayweather.”

At this point, it’s clear that both men want to win and while Floyd might be the heavy favorite, Logan is still eager to get in the ring and give it everything he has.

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Diddy has made it past the struggle and now, he can enjoy everything that he has built for himself. The music mogul is one of the most powerful men in the business, pivoting into more of an executive role in recent years. As he continues to build new platforms to promote hip-hop culture, focusing mainly on his Revolt network, Brother Love has amassed millions upon millions of dollars in his bank account. Ahead of his arrival at the Black Tie Affair in Atlanta, Georgia last night, where he made headlines by holding hands with Yung Miami, Diddy took fans on a behind-the-scenes look at his luxurious life, showing off his private jet.

Giving a glimpse of the cars he pulled up to the private airport in, Diddy walked past the luxury whips to ascend the steps to his plane. The rapper made it a point to mention that he only uses Black pilots, supporting his community with every move he makes. At the foot of the stairs, a welcome mat saying “Combs Air” sits on the ground. 

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Once he was onboard, Diddy showed off the amazing fruit platters that were organized for him, as well as a candy bar if he had a sweet tooth that evening. 

Diddy’s plane doesn’t look like it’s on Drake’s plane’s level but it’s still a much smoother ride than anything we can afford. Have a look below to see how the mogul flies.

It appears that SZA has been taking a trip down memory lane as of late. Days after admitting that she burst out into tears while rehearsing “20 Something,” the TDE singer-songwriter has shared another nostalgic sentiment about the CTRL era of her career. In a recent tweet, the “Good Days” artist publicly reached out to Travis Scott in hopes that she could convince him to perform “Love Galore” with her once more.

Apparently, SZA and Travis haven’t been communicating much recently because the “Hit Different” artist reveals that she no longer has La Flame’s phone number.

“Can somebody ask Travis to perform love galore w me one last time for old times sake,” SZA says in the sentimental tweet. “Ion got his number lol .”

While most of her followers have responded to her tweet with a passive-aggressive demand for new music instead, several of her fans seem absolutely stoked at the possibility of seeing the two artists reunite on stage.

While we all wait to see what happens, check out the music video for SZA and Travis Scott‘s “Love Galore” below. Are you more interested in a crazy throwback performance from the two artists or a new album from SZA?

Chicago rapper Polo G is releasing his third studio album Hall Of Fame next week. While he hasn’t historically included a ton of guest appearances on his last two albums, this time around, the 22-year-old budding superstar wanted to bring out the big dogs, collaborating with a dozen artists that could very well join him in the Hall-of-Fame when it’s all said and done.

Polo G is setting out to prove himself as one of the best rappers of all time with this next album. While that will be a tough task for him to complete, given the fact that this is only his third album, he’s starting off strong by unveiling the star-studded tracklist for Hall Of Fame.

“I usually Don’t Even Tap in For Features But This Time around I’m like fuck it I went & Gat sum hard ass records W All of my personal Favorite Artist & Future Hall Of Famers in my book,” wrote Capalot on Instagram. 

The new album will feature songs with The Kid LAROI, Lil Durk, Lil Wayne, up-and-coming artist Scorey, G Herbo, Rod Wave, DaBaby, Young Thug, Roddy Ricch, Nicki Minaj, the late Pop Smoke, and Fivio Foreign. 

“June 11th We Gone Turn Up & Take Ova Fasho,” he added to conclude his caption, reminding fans of his release date.

Do you think Polo G could have one of the best albums of the entire year? Take a look at the tracklist below.

As DJ Vlad and Boosie Badazz’s latest interview continues to roll out little by little, the tenth and most recent segment finds Boosie and Vlad discussing how embarrassing it can be when people bring their private issues with family members and love interests to the public’s attention. At the beginning of the clip, Vlad talks about how the culture both loves and criticizes the Kardashian family. He then asks Boosie how he would feel if his family was constantly being recorded.

“I know if I had cameras over here, Lord Jesus,” Boosie says. “I would be ashamed.”

Vlad then brings up an instance when one of Boosie’s baby mothers shared a recording of one of their heated arguments, which prompted a good deal of laughter from the “Wipe Me Down” rapper. In an effort to keep the theme of blasting one’s exes alive, Vlad then brings up Lori Harvey, who is someone that Boosie has plenty of hot takes about. 

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Upon Vlad asking him if he’s heard Future’s verse on 42 Dugg’s “Maybach,” Boosie can only get out a “Yeah” before immediately bursting out into laughter. After calming down a bit, the first thing he says is, “Man, Future. You know Future gon’ drop them lines. Future a dog.” For those who have not listened to 42 Dugg and Future’s latest collaboration, Future drops the following lines mid-verse: “Magic City, I’m the owner/Tell Steve Harvey I don’t want her.”

Vlad then lets Boosie know that people online have been bashing Future for his remarks about his ex-girlfriend, and the Baton Rouge-born artist quickly comes to Future’s defense.

“They mad cause Future slid,” Boosie says. “And they mad cause Future made Lori Harvey one of the ones in the crayon box. That’s what I call it: a crayon box. You been in my crayon box, you just got took out and colored.”

Check out the full exchange below. The Lori Harvey talk begins near the 2:40-mark. 

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