Prince was a legendary musician who happened to be very good at basketball, and basically every mention of this now involves Dave Chappelle thanks to Charlie Murphy. So it’s no surprise that a video that circulated of Prince playing basketball made the legendary sketch comedy segment trend once again on Thursday.
Basically, any sight of Prince playing basketball evoked memories of one of the most famous sketches from Chappelle’s Show, in which Charlie Murphy retells a story about Eddie Murphy’s crew playing pickup hoops against Prince after a night at the club. You can watch this sketch below, in case you have not seen it yet.
On Thursday, another clip of Prince with a basketball started circulating on Twitter. The clip came during a concert, with the musician spinning a basketball on his finger and shooting a jumper.
him spinning the ball on his fingers was all you needed to see, but to me the best part is when he stuck his tongue out just before throwing in that j. that’s a real baller there https://t.co/zc2BlVqwRG
— Stay in the car, we’re still going to revolution (@THEEBlackleftie) March 18, 2021
Though many reminisced about the sketch, for some it was the first time they saw it or even knew Prince had a basketball history. Which is why some other photos of Prince in uniform also made the rounds on Thursday as well.
Y’all thought Charlie Murphy was lying about prince playing basketball? real prince fans know prince use to play ball back in his high school days pic.twitter.com/W5mo0bEhja
— They Want Me Dead Like Pac (@KingMosesDaGod) March 18, 2021
The video was enough to get “Charlie Murphy” to trend on Twitter, and give a new group of people online more chances to say “game, blouses.”
Popstar and actress Jennifer Lopez has reportedly broken up with Major League Baseball player Alex Rodriguez, according to Page Six. The gossip site’s sources say that the former couple has canceled their wedding as Rodriguez prepares for spring training and Lopez shoots her next movie — ironically titled Shotgun Wedding. The former couple previously postponed the wedding twice, apparently got things back on track, but ultimately decided that a split was for the best. They originally announced their engagement in 2019, after dating for two years.
J-Lo told Access Hollywood about the postponements in December, telling the show, “We had to cancel the wedding because of COVID, because of the quarantine. And we actually did it twice, which people don’t know.”
At the time, she said the goal was to “wait it out,” insisting “everything’s cool and it’ll happen when the time is right. I feel like it’s not a huge priority to go and have a big wedding right now, that’s not what life is about.” Page Six posits that the breaking point was a rumor of infidelity between Rodriguez and reality-show star Madison LeCroy. LeCroy appears on Bravo’s Southern Charm.
Lopez, meanwhile, has been shooting Shotgun Wedding in the Dominican Republic. The film has undergone some controversy of its own after previous lead Armie Hammer was replaced in the wake of a scandal involving some untoward text messages.
Streaming video is the best thing that’s ever happened to documentaries. People who would never have paid for a ticket to a theatrical nonfiction film are now, thanks to Netflix’s robust selection, scarfing down the stuff by the barrel. But where to start among the masses? Here are 25 of the best documentaries on Netflix right now to get you going, covering a variety of themes and real stories.
Even if you’ve already witnessed the madness of this real-life horror story over on Hulu, you should see it again on Netflix. Hulu’s Fyre Fraud feels like more of a thinkpiece directed at the millennials who were suckered into buying tickets to a luxurious music fest on a secluded island in the Bahamas. Netflix’s Fyre does a better job of placing you in the action, giving you a real feel for the chaos and an understanding of how so many people could’ve been roped into this doomed venture.
Beyoncé’s history-making Coachella performance was enough to temporarily rename the music festival Beychella last year, and now fans who couldn’t afford to see Queen Bee perform live get a backstage pass to the show with this doc. Are there killer performances, musical mash-ups, and dance routines? Sure. But what really makes this music doc stand-out besides the talent of its star is the intimate look fans are given into Beyoncé’s personal life, from her surprise pregnancy to her struggle to get in shape before the event and all the in-between madness and heartbreak.
To understand the enigma that was the Trump campaign, one must first understand the man behind the historic presidential run. Roger Stone is a well-connected lobbyist, a Republican political trickster responsible for the campaigns of former presidents like Richard Nixon and Ronal Reagan. He’s well-versed in navigating morally-murky waters to help his horse win the race, and we see him do just that in this doc, which follows the mogul over a five-year period as he crafts Trump’s winning-campaign.
One of the strangest, most tragic sports stories in history is that of professional wrestler Dave Schulz and his friend, John du Pont. Du Pont was heir to the multi-million dollar Du Pont family fortune and used his inheritance to fund a professional wrestling team with the hopes of competing in the Olympics and other prestigious sports events. Mark Schulz was a wrestler struggling to get out of the shadow of his older brother’s more promising career. The two were roped into du Pont’s scheme, training wrestlers for him, but the partnership quickly soured and led to du Pont murdering Dave Schultz before barricading himself in his family compound to avoid arrest. It’s chilling, bizarre, and all the more riveting because of it.
Another sports doc, this one about a rag-tag group of baseball players in Oregon, feels decidedly more fun than its wrestling counterpart. The doc follows the Portland Mavericks, a defunct minor league baseball owned by actor Bing Russell that played for five seasons in the Class A-Short Season Northwest League. Kurt Russell, Bing’s son, also played on the team and served as its vice president. The film charts the Maverick’s origins, from underdogs to anti-establishment heroes.
Compiled from rare home videos from Christopher “Biggie” Wallace’s best friend, Damion “D-Roc” Butler, this revealing doc gives fans a different look at the iconic rapper. Sean “Diddy” Combs and Biggie’s mom also give interviews, detailing parts of Biggie’s life we didn’t know about, but the most compelling footage comes from D-Roc’s amateur videos. These clips give us an unfiltered look at a man who would become a legend.
This 2016 documentary from Ava DuVernay won an Emmy and was nominated for an Oscar during awards season two years ago. The film chronicles the justice system’s abuses against black people, making a case for institutionalized racism being a problem in America that’s only emboldened by the prison cycle. DuVernay boldly explores how prisons and detention centers are making a profit off of free prison labor, most of it done by black men which begs the question, is slavery really dead?
Let’s be honest, Taylor Swift could’ve delivered a glossy, stylized, superficial doc about her life to promote her latest album, and her rabid fanbase would’ve eaten it up. Instead, the pop star took a risk and gave filmmakers no-holds-barred access to her personal and professional life, offering up intimate interviews with herself and her family, detailing difficult struggles with body dysmorphia and eating disorders, allowing cameras inside her sexual assault trial, revealing her mother’s cancer diagnosis, and unearthing home video footage of her youth to create a fuller picture of herself. It’s a film that reveals the human underneath the icon. It’s bold, brutally honest, and some of Swift’s best work yet.
Few environmental warrior films do more for the cause than Jeff Orlowski’s Chasing Coral. The doc rounds up a team of scientists, photographers, and divers from around the world to draw attention to an environmental crisis we’ve never seen before — the vanishing of the world’s coral reefs. It works on two levels: By giving us an underwater adventure that attempts to shed light on the mysteries of the deep and highlighting a problem we can see with our own eyes. There’s no denying this one, no looking away, and Orlowski’s crew takes full advantage of that.
’90s crime nostalgia is alive and well in this pseudo-doc from director Kitty Green. Everyone knows how tiny pageant queen JonBenet Ramsey died — bludgeoned to death in the basement of her family home — so Green is less interested in rehashing the investigation into the little girl’s death and more interested in reenacting her life and final moments. To do this, she enlists actors from the area where the family lived, all hoping to play JonBenet or her parents in an upcoming production. Over the course of the film, these thespians are forced to confront the reality of the Ramsey family’s situation which in turn helps viewers to take a look under the surface of this tabloid trauma.
This timely doc gives us a look at the Larry Nassar sexual abuse scandal that rocked the world of gymnastics just two years ago from the point of view of reporters at the Indianapolis Star in charge of exposing it. A cover-up spanning two decades and involving higher-ups at both US Gymnastics and Michigan State where Nassar served as a physician and professor, this revealing investigation into a sinister culture that’s hidden behind the success of its top female athletes makes you rethink everything you thought about the Olympic dream.
his marks the first documentary to come from Netflix’s high-profile producing deal with Barack and Michelle Obama. The film takes a hard look at what happened to a General Motors plant in Ohio when it was closed down during the 2008 financial crisis, causing 2,000 workers to lose their jobs and destroying the small town of Moraine, Ohio. Things only get more complicated when a Chinese billionaire comes to town to transform the plant into a glass-making facility, promising thousands of new jobs before cultural divides threaten to derail the whole thing. It’s a fascinating view of consumerism, the American workforce, culture clashes, and how people can connect with each other despite seemingly insurmountable obstacles.
In 1992, Sandi Tan, along with her friends, made Singapore’s first indie film. She wrote and starred in it, a project called Shirkers, her two girlfriends produced and edited it, and a man named George Cardona directed. Cardona vanished one day, taking all the film materials with him, and propelling Tan on a decades-long journey to find the truth. It’s an engrossing study in betrayal and the dangers of collaboration, and it works mostly because Tan approaches it from a true-crime mystery angle, stripping it of any nostalgia that might tint her lense.
This gripping documentary confronts some hard truths about religion: its power to unite and its power to divide. Filmmakers Heidi Ewing and Rachel Grady follow three members of New York’s notoriously insular Hasidic community as they try to break free from their religion while holding onto their families and sense of belonging.
Bryan Fogel’s Academy Award-winning documentary Icarus wasn’t supposed to involve Russians and doping scandal and cover-ups. Fortunately for Fogel, when the filmmaker decided to test his mettle by competing in one of the toughest cycling competitions in the world and chose to dope to help his chances, he ended up meeting Russian scientist, Dr. Grigory Rodchenkov, the director of Russia’s national anti-doping laboratory. The result is this nearly 90-minute film that chronicles Russia’s extensive history with doping and Rodchenkov’s fight for his life after he blows the whistle on the country’s bad practices.
It seems as though we’re all now more aware than ever of how utterly screwed any of us can be in an instant if the system places us in its crosshairs for being in the wrong place at the wrong time and not behaving in a way perceived to be “normal” in the immediate aftermath. Recent true crime documentaries like The Staircase, Making a Murderer and Serial have certainly played a part in illuminating this frightening and unfortunate slice of reality. We can now add Rod Blackhurst and Brian McGinn’s Amanda Knox to that list. Prepare to be terrified and infuriated as the filmmakers detail how an overzealous Italian prosecutor and a global tabloid press thirsty for a sensational story joined forces to wreck a young woman’s life, largely for their own benefit. As Daily Mail journalist Nick Pisa freely admits on camera — without any trace of remorse or shame — about his work covering the case, “A murder always gets people going… And we have here this beautiful, picturesque hilltop town in the middle of Italy. It was a particularly gruesome murder; throat slit, semi-naked, blood everywhere. I mean, what more do you want in a story?”
Netflix delivers another worthy installment in the true crime series with this truly bizarre tale of a naive, church-going family and the man who preyed upon them. The Brobergs lived in a small town in Idaho with their three young daughters when they met Robert Berchtold, a seemingly-nice family man who doted on the girls, in particular, a 12-year-old Jan Broberg. Over time, Berchtold began grooming Jan and manipulating her parents, engaging in sexual acts with both her father and mother to cause a rift in the family before kidnapping her and brainwashing her into compliance. This saga went on for years and as strange as it sounds, nothing can prepare you for hearing the first-hand account of how this sociopath destroyed this loving family.
This documentary features never-before-seen footage of Jim Carrey in character as Andy Kaufman on the set of his 1999 film Man on the Moon. Directed by Chris Smith, the film shows Carrey, who was a celebrated comedic actor at the time, going method for his dramatic role as the brilliant on-stage comedian. There’s plenty of behind-the-scenes drama on this one, including Carrey’s backstage antics while shooting the movie, but what’s really interesting about the film is watching the actor’s thorough process and how he’s approached his colorful careers.
We live in a world connected with most of our interactions happening online. It’s great but, as this doc shows, it’s also terrifying. Terrifying because the way our data changes hands so quickly and indiscriminately — as long as companies shell out the cash for it — skirts all kinds of privacy laws and moral boundaries. This doc, told from the perspective of a journalist attempting to get his search data, the enormous fight with big tech to do it, and how his journey connects to the Cambridge Analytica scandal that may have influenced multiple elections in the States and abroad, is full of fascinating information and shocking tell-alls that could bring this whole internet empire down if people finally decide to start listening.
This political doc made its way from Sundance to Netflix and we couldn’t think of a better time to watch it than leading up to the 2020 election. It follows the grassroots campaign of the right’s favorite punching bag, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, showcasing her charisma and approachability while also diving into more intimate parts of her life, like her relationship with her late father. It’s a feel-good story from Capitol Hill and really, we need more of that.
The film that turned the tide of public opinion on Sea World and convinced Pixar to change the ending of Finding Dory, Gabriela Cowperthwaite’s animal rights muckraker is more than just 83 minutes of theme=park shaming. In telling the story of Tillikum, the psychologically damaged orca who spent his life in captivity and was involved in the deaths of three people, the movie is an elegy for the freedoms that marine creatures like him were once able to enjoy. Is there an ethical way to view creatures like Tillikum up close and personal, and if so, should we trust a private company to deliver it to us?
Clocking in at 24 minutes, the Oscar-nominated Extremis really would only work as a short, as its subject matter is almost unbearably heavy. Following terminal patients, their families, and their doctors, the tearjerker zeros in on the decision that many people are forced to make: whether to end a life or keep struggling to hold on. Netflix’s first foray into short documentary, it’s raw insight that can be rough for anyone who has been in similar shoes or spent any time facing dire choices in a hospital.
The alternately revolutionary and dispiriting saga of a combative, unapologetic and astoundingly gifted soul singer, Liz Garbus’s doc is a powerful rendering of the struggles Nina Simone faced throughout her career: the ways she became trapped in downward spirals, first of spousal abuse and then of bipolar disorder; and of her desperate, all-consuming urge to affect change on the country during the Civil Rights era. What happened? Watch for yourself.
We’re not sure why watching human beings dangling thousands of feet in the air with no safety net or cable cord to tether them to Earth is so irresistible, but it is, and this doc about free climber Tommy Caldwell and climbing partner Kevin Jorgeson might be Netflix’s most bingeable adventure flick. The two men attempt to scale the impossible 3000ft Dawn Wall of El Capitan, the Everest for free climbers, and if you can stomach over an hour of near-fatal slips, trips, and falls, this is the doc for you.
Warning: Netflix’s The Bleeding Edge will seriously piss you off. It might also make you swear off doctors for the rest of your life. The film is a deep dive into the medical device industry and the dangers that lurk there for unassuming patients. Like the pharmaceutical industry, there are few laws regulating the creation and implementation of medical devices — think everything from birth control to orthopedic instruments — and the doc shows how this is negatively affecting millions of Americans every year from the women unknowingly sterilized by an IUD device to a doctor whose own ortho-device slowly poisoned him. It’s a frustrating watch, but a necessary one.
Despite its title, D Smoke‘s new theme song for the latest season of Netflix’s Last Chance U is not a remake of the 1984 Kurtis Blow classic “Basketball.” While that’s slightly disappointing, the song itself is a success, thanks largely to the Inglewood native’s natural charisma, deft lyricism, and self-assured musicality. Starting with a basketball court sound effects-riddled intro and building to a lush orchestral crescendo, the new track conveys all the emotion of a championship game in progress, from warm-ups to heart-filling finale (although, the fake-out of not using the court sound as a beat a straight-up, a la Reebok ads from the 2000s, hurts a little too).
The placement is another victory for D Smoke, who launched his career as the winner of Netflix’s Rhythm + Flow contest show and is currently up for a Best Rap Album Grammy at this year’s Awards ceremony later this month. Although his debut album, Black Habits, flew a bit under the radar for folks who didn’t catch his heartfelt performances on Netflix, the intervening year certainly helped him make a mark on the rap game as he performed a virtuoso Tiny Desk Concert, lit up the BET Hip-Hop Awards alongside his family, and linked up with well-respected peers throughout the year, including Rexx Life Raj, Rapsody, and Tobe Nwigwe. Coming back to Netflix with “Basketball” is a full-circle moment for him, but it’s also only a waypoint on his journey to even bigger things.
Last year, Nick Jonas pointed out that while Drake has the “Drake curse,” which apparently causes teams and athletes that associate with him to do poorly, Jonas has an opposite sort of thing going on. He noticed what he dubbed the “Jonas blessing,” a trend of athletes — Patrick Mahomes, Cody Bellinger, and Lewis Hamilton — going on to have great success after having some sort of involvement with him and the Jonas Brothers.
He spoke about that on The Tonight Show yesterday, joking with Jimmy Fallon that he’s thinking about charging athletes to get blessed:
“It’s quite simple, you know? In reality, what happened is when the brothers back together — we went on tour, the Happiness Begins tour, back in 2019 — we had a number of athletes, high-performing athletes, come out to some shows. So the first was Cody Bellinger, who then went on to win the World Series with the Dodgers, right? We had Patrick Mahomes, who in the 2020 Super Bowl won the Super Bowl with the Kansas City Chiefs. He came to a show in KC. And then Lewis Hamilton, who surpassed the all-time record, he went on to, after he came to a show, to do that. So basically, we established, and I think it was really me more than the brothers that… I saw the trend, I was saying, ‘We’re going to have to start charging these athletes.’ If they want the ‘Jonas blessing,’ to come to a show and then go on to win a championship, they’re going to have to pay up, you know?”
He then added, “Little-known fact, too, Jimmy, is that Tom Brady, we actually did a private COVID-safe show for Tom Brady before the Super Bowl and that’s why [he won].”
Every now and again, Soulja Boy makes headlines for one reason or another, although in recent years, those reasons haven’t been related to music. He’s sold controversial video game consoles, had a thriving soap business during the pandemic, and now he’s making wrestlers, a famously muscular and confrontational group of people, mad at him.
Towards the end of February, Soulja tweeted, “Rap game faker than WWE,” which served as a rallying cry for wrestlers to express their discontent. Raw wrestler T-Bar fired back, “Does the rap game take years off your life and leave you with countless injuries and debilitating pain? Oh well maybe just stick to super soaking hoes or whatever it is you did 15 years ago.”
That prompted Randy Orton to chime in, “Fake? Dare this prick to step up. He dont like movies? Consider us actors that do stunts, without pads 200 days a year and don’t b*tch when we get surgically repaired and come right back. Consider us 100 times tougher then anyone you’ve come across. Aint nuthin but a bitch ass…” He then added, “Ps [Bad Bunny] would beat the f*ck outta you. Why? How? Because he’s seen our world. Respects it and knows what it takes and finds himself lucky to be a part of it. You wanna talk fake? Pawn that cheap ass chain and come work for it you one hit wonder ass mutha f*cka.”
Soulja didn’t back down, responding, “Do u know who the f*ck I am. I’ll bring the REAL to wrestling don’t play with me. Randy Ortonnnnnnnn??????????” Orton responded, “‘Crank that’ came out in ’07 you had a hell of a year. Serious $. Hats off to ya my dude. Here’s the thing tho… I like rap. I bump that sh*t all day whether it’s tunechi, meek, JZ…but you call what I do to survive, fake? F*ck that. Come to my world and say that. Dare ya.”
Soulja then fired back, “If you mad because I spit facts just say that. What you do is FAKE and I stand on that. What I do is REAL. Come to your world? Lol welcome to Soulja World.” Orton responded, “U spittin facts? Seems like all you spittin is the same mess you rap about. Nut. Clear your throat my dawg, and be there. Enough talk. Back it up.” Soulja then said, “Cap wrestler [laughing emoji] If u really want big draco to pull up say less.”
While WWE may not be a competitive sport, there’s no denying that its wrestlers are uncommonly strong, athletic people. So, to state the obvious, if Orton and Soulja ever did get in the ring, it wouldn’t be the biggest surprise to see the 20-plus-year wrestling veteran make light work of the “Crank That” rapper.
Does the rap game take years off your life and leave you with countless injuries and debilitating pain? Oh well maybe just stick to super soaking hoes or whatever it is you did 15 years ago. https://t.co/iYIrSpN01t
Fake? Dare this prick to step up. He dont like movies? Consider us actors that do stunts, without pads 200 days a year and don’t bitch when we get surgically repaired and come right back. Consider us 100 times tougher then anyone you’ve come across. Aint nuthin but a bitch ass… https://t.co/D3CQb9IxEO
Ps @sanbenito would beat the fuck outta you. Why? How? Because he’s seen our world. Respects it and knows what it takes and finds himself lucky to be a part of it. You wanna talk fake? Pawn that cheap ass chain and come work for it you one hit wonder ass mutha fucka https://t.co/zJPMmuqskr
‘Crank that’ came out in ‘07 you had a hell of a year. Serious $. Hats off to ya my dude. Here’s the thing tho… I like rap. I bump that shit all day whether it’s tunechi, meek, JZ…but you call what I do to survive, fake? Fuck that. Come to my world and say that. Dare ya https://t.co/P3qx5bu6ks
If you mad because I spit facts just say that. What you do is FAKE and I stand on that. What I do is REAL. Come to your world? Lol welcome to Soulja World https://t.co/KofrYkD95J
U spittin facts? Seems like all you spittin is the same mess you rap about. Nut. Clear your throat my dawg, and be there. Enough talk. Back it up. https://t.co/rN8JY5AX3q
February has officially come to an end, meaning the annual March Madness tournament is just a few weeks away. But it seems as though ESPN may have been a little too eager for it to begin as they confused two very different rappers in a social media post.
It’s true that Future and 2 Chainz both have braided hair and released albums in 2020, but otherwise they’re two very different talents. But that didn’t stop the ESPN social media team from mixing up the two. ESPN shared a since-deleted photo on Instagram where they attempted to compare Wilt Chamberlain’s impressive 1960s stats to Future’s 2015 performance of his track “March Madness.” But rather than adding a photo of Future to the set, they instead confused him with a picture of 2 Chainz. ESPN’s page even went so far as to tag Future in 2 Chainz’s photo.
The post was up for only a few hours but that was plenty of time for it to be seen by thousands of people. Screenshots of the post flooded Twitter, and people began dragging ESPN over the confusion.
I just know ESPN aint put 2 Chainz face and tag Future talkin bout March Madness pic.twitter.com/KdAfzbl1tW
Last summer, I wrote a piece about rappers who moonlight as amateur basketball players based on their Instagram posts showcasing their workouts. When I interview Louisville, Kentucky upstart Jack Harlow about his upcoming B/R Open Run showdown with fellow rap ballers 2 Chainz, Lil Baby, and Quavo, I blame Jack’s absence from that list on the dearth of hoops-related content on his Instagram page.
Save for a post promoting the song celebrating his fellow cultural outsider, “Tyler Herro,” Jack doesn’t like to advertise his roundball prowess, despite hailing from one of the sport’s legendary basketball loci. In fact, one of the few posts depicting Harlow actually playing basketball is the oldest one on his page, a grainy photo from spring 2014 of Jack defending a brawny player in what looks to be a local gym. Despite his opponent’s choice of athletic apparel — it looks very much like he’s playing basketball in jeans — Jack is the one who looks out of place, with his curly hair, baggy gym clothes, glasses, and yes, because of that glaringly obvious difference between the two men. It’s one Jack isn’t shy about pointing out, either in his music or his interviews — again, see “Tyler Herro.”
He tells me the story behind the photo as we discuss his next upcoming hoops project. The Bleacher Report event will take place during TNT’s NBA All-Star pregame coverage airing Sunday, March 7 at 5 pm ET. Harlow and fellow rap-hooper Quavo will play a game of 2-on-2 against 2 Chainz and Lil Baby — first to 21 wins. The winners will choose an HBCU to receive a donation, while the broadcast will be hosted by Taylor Rooks and DJed by LVRN DJ Kitty Cash.
During our interview, Harlow accuses me of being biased for the other team, but like everyone watching Sunday, I’m just rooting for a good game. I also find out he’s never seen White Men Can’t Jump, what he brings to the court, and whether he and Quavo have a strategy for beating the 6’7 2 Chainz.
How did this partnership come about? Why did you want to participate in this two-on-two with Quavo, 2 Chainz, Lil Baby, and Bleacher Report?
You know I’m a basketball guy, so anything involving basketball I at least keep an ear open to, and I heard there was some money involved and I like money. So there’s a few incentives.
As far as how the teams are broken up, what made you want Quavo as opposed to one of the other guys?
Well, I didn’t choose my teammate, but I got to say, I’m very happy with who I got [Ed. note: Quavo has been NBA Celebrity Game MVP]. Out of the three other players, that would be my number one choice because he brings something to the game, based on everything I’ve seen on YouTube, that I don’t bring to the game. He’s a shooter, he seemed like a ball handler. I like his confidence on the court and I think I’m going to be complimenting him perfectly with my game and some of my grit. And I’m going to let him cut.
What would you say you bring to the team?
Grit, determination, anger, passion.
I feel like these are all euphemisms for you’re going to play hard and try to D-Up. Is that what’s happening?
They’re euphemisms for we’re going to win.
I don’t know if you’re an Uproxx reader, but last summer I did a listicle about rappers who play ball, but I based them off entirely on Instagram.
I noticed I was left out of that.
When I was researching, I kicked myself because I was like, “Oh Jack Harlow’s not on here.” Then I realized you don’t have anything on your Instagram about hoops, except for one thing. I scrolled all the way back to the very beginning, the very first picture is you and some guy, he’s playing in jeans. I need to know this story. I feel like the world needs to know this story.
That’s a classic image. Yeah, I think that might be my first picture on my IG. I used to go up to this community center where I’m from called Douglas Community Center. It’s in the highlands of Louisville, Kentucky. And it was kind of a place where everyone would meet after school, people from all over the city. It was just a good place to play because it was a gym that was open every day. You can’t get that everywhere. And this dude that was in the picture with me, started showing up and I think he had six, seven, eight years on all of us; we were all in high school, sophomores, juniors. And he would just come and destroy high schoolers, myself included. But he made me better because of it. I can’t even remember his name, but he was dominant.
He played in jeans, he had to be. You are not necessarily the typical person that you would look and be like, “Oh, he plays ball and he raps,” which is obviously something you reference on “Tyler Herro.” How often do you get called Billy Hoyle?
Literally not one time in my life.
Never?
I’d never heard that name.
I am so upset. I get called every light-skinned basketball player in the world, and you don’t get Billy Hoyle. Have you seen White Men Can’t Jump?
No. That’s one of the movies that the entire culture grills me for not having seen. And I’m doing my best man, I’ve seen Boyz N The Hood, I’ve watched all these movies, man. I can’t see them all.
You can, we’re in a pandemic. You have nothing better to do.
I need to see White Men Can’t Jump, just for the title alone.
Is that the name of the white guy in the movie?
His name is Billy Hoyle. It was Woody Harrelson. He’s actually a killer. He’s a sharpshooter from beyond the line. I think he might actually be part of where that “white boys are shooters” stereotype comes from. Have you ever played with any of these guys before?
The four we’re playing with? No, I’ve just studied their game.
Do you have a strategy?
I’ve watched the film. You strike me as a 2 Chainz fan, man.
I strike you as a 2 Chainz fan?
Yeah. You don’t have to tell me, brother. I just tried to figure out why you’re going for 2 Chainz and Lil Baby.
I’m not going for 2 Chainz and Lil Baby. I’m asking you if you have a strategy. I got to do my journalistic due diligence. What would you say is the most surprising thing about the leap that you’ve made over that period of time from Confetti to That’s What They All Say?
I haven’t been surprised yet.
Okay, I like that. That’s confidence right there.
I wish I could give you an answer, bro. I wish I could give you an answer.
What’s next for you, man? You’ve got your all-star thing. You’re doing basketball. What’s next on the music front?
I’m about to take over this whole sh*t, man. I got a lot of good music in the can, but I’m going to let my album cook for awhile. We got some videos to drop. We just going to keep doing this. The next time we talk, there’s going to be great things that have happened.
The next time we talk I’m going to ask you one question. It’s going to be, “Have you seen it yet?” And I better hear a yes.
Next time we talk, what you need to do is ask me how that million felt.
Watch B/R Open Run on Sunday, March 7 at 5 pm ET on TNT.
Jack Harlow is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.
J. Balvin made an appearance tonight to walk boxer Canelo Alvarez into the ring for his fight against Avni Yildrim at the Hard Rock Stadium in Miami. And what better walkout music for Alvarez than a brand new song from the Latin pop superstar? Balvin performed his new single “Ma G” before the fight for the first time, and a video to accompany the new song dropped shortly after, check that out above.
It’s good to see the Latin legend in good spirits and good health again, as last summer he contracted a bad case of Coronavirus and had to spend some time in recovery. Though he bounced back in time for a partnership with McDonald’s last fall, and has apparently been busy in the studio based on the new music tonight. This is the first thing the Colombian star has released since his 2020 collaboration “Un Dia (One Day)” with Dua Lipa, Bad Bunny and Tainy.
Along with the new music, Balvin also announced a merch collection that’s a collaboration with 747 and La Plaga Invade, including a varsity jacket, mask, cap, hoodie, sweatpants, and music bundles. Shop that collection here and look out for more info on Balvin’s fifth album coming very soon.
Back in October, City Girls’ JT and Yung Miami joined DaBaby for a sizzling remix of Moneybagg Yo’s “Said Sum” remix. The song would birth one of JT’s most popular verses, as well as one of the most popular verses of 2020. Kash Doll is definitely a fan of the verse as she recently tweeted a lyric from the line with a slight change, writing, “All these n****s wanna f*ck KD.”
While it’s clear Kash was referring to herself as “KD,” there’s already a celebrity who goes by KD, and that would be Brooklyn Nets forward Kevin Durant. As a result, one fan replied with a meme of what Durant’s reaction to the tweet might be.
Kash held her ground and responded to them saying, “We argue all the time…. he know I’m the REAL KD.” Durant eventually caught wind of the tweet and issued a light-hearted warning to the rapper.
“You did not have to use those initials to get this tweet off,” he said. “U have to relax with the KD talk, your name is KASHDOLL.” The Detroit rapper seemed uninterested in Durant’s complaints as she replied, “I’m the real KD…. your name Kevin Durant act accordingly (red heart).”
Fans of both Kash and Durant caught wind of the exchange and shared a bunch of hilarious responses to it. You can read some of them below.
pic.twitter.com/iyvAdgj4XM
(@freezep0p) March 18, 2021
https://t.co/20rQ6oWTvX
pic.twitter.com/X3SnaKMFtF
Priest
https://t.co/RT5sabnMEg
real prince fans know prince use to play ball back in his high school days pic.twitter.com/W5mo0bEhja
If u really want big draco to pull up say less. 
(@Creamox6) 
(@TheDonCoogi) 
(@Biggirlslay) 
(@jewelsxt) 
(@Tyari_Jenkins)