Sports

Kawhi Leonard Had A Cameo In The Video For Drake’s ‘Way 2 Sexy,’ And Basketball Fans Lost It

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Drake

NBA players are extremely into Drake’s Certified Lover Boy. The album, his first since 2018, has been in the works for years, and the early returns from people in the Association could not be more positive.

One player managed to get a little closer to the project than anyone else. Kawhi Leonard, who famously brought an NBA championship to Drake’s beloved Toronto Raptors before heading to Los Angeles to play for the Clippers, had a cameo in the video for Way 2 Sexy alongside Future and Young Thug, who both have have features on the track.

Leonard loves music, as evidenced by his recent Culture Jam project, but it was still a surprise to see him pop up in a music video where he dances alongside Drake, Future, and Young Thug in all-white outfits. Between that and the fact that he just stood there, vibes absolutely immaculate, and seemed to have a terrific time, basketball fans took to Twitter and had some fun.

While this is his only appearance on anything related to the album, it’s not the only time he’s mentioned. Drake name drops Leonard on The Remorse, making 100 percent clear that he (like every Raptors fan, really) wouldn’t hate it if Leonard ever decided to leave L.A. and come back to the 6.

Leonard just signed a max extension with the Clippers, but hey, maybe the time will be right for a reunion in a few years.

NBA Players Couldn’t Get Enough Of Drake’s ‘Certified Lover Boy’

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Drake dropped his first full-length album since Scorpion in the early hours of Friday morning. Despite being in the works since 2019 and an original release date of January 2021 that had to get pushed back, Certified Lover Boy hit streaming services at 2 a.m., and in the hours after its release, NBA players made clear that they loves the latest project from the world’s most famous Toronto Raptors fan.

Some players were actually a bit annoyed about the timing of the release, with Donovan Mitchell and Mikal Bridges making clear they were expecting it to drop right at midnight.

While this was a pretty common sentiment among those who wanted to listen to the record right when the calendar turned to Sept. 3, there was plenty of excitement over Certified Lover Boy, and once people got to listen, NBA players were unified in thinking Drake released one of the albums of the year.

One player seemed to enjoy it so much that he stirred up a little controversy, as Trae Young antagonized the city of New York for the first time since the 2021 playoffs by asking the Twitterverse whether or not Drake has passed Jay-Z.

Young eventually made clear he was just asking as someone whose all-time favorite rapper is Hov.

Big Boi, Like All Of Us, Was Captivated By The ‘Malice At The Palace’ Documentary

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LOS ANGELES – Just like the Hawks or the Falcons, Big Boi is a staple of Atlanta. The Outkast member, aka Daddy Fat Sax, aka Sir Lucious Left Foot, aka Billy Ocean, is often spotted wearing local sports gear, in attendance at big games, and reps the city proudly. Without Atlanta there is no Big Boi, but without Big Boi, there really is no Atlanta, at least not the Atlanta we’ve come to know and love.

So it’s no surprise he continues to be around in big sports moments. That led him to Exposition Park on Tuesday, just outside the Coliseum, as he and Sleepy Brown performed the MLS All-Star Concert presented by Heineken following the Skills Challenge. Sporting an Atlanta United hat and an All-Star jersey, Big Boi took a masked and raucous crowd through a medley of hits from his Outkast days and his solo career.

Big Boi and Sleepy Brown took a couple minutes to run through Dime’s “Seven Questions Or Less” series, as they showed love for Michael Jordan, pondered their favorite NBA villains, and more.

1. What is your favorite basketball memory?

Sleepy Brown: Favorite basketball memory? Shiiiit. Jordan.

Big Boi: Dominique Wilkins. Spud Webb in the Dunk Contest. Malice At The Palace. I just watched that on Netflix, when they were knocking motherfuckers out. How about that?

2. Favorite player growing up and why?

Sleepy Brown: Michael Jordan.

Big Boi: Michael Jordan.

Sleepy Brown: Period.

3. Most memorable game y’all have been to?

Big Boi: When we performed at the All-Star Game.

Sleepy Brown: Yes. That was amazing. With Kobe, and everything.

Big Boi: “Speakerboxxx/The Love Below” was out. So, ’04. We killed that bitch.

4. What do you think about the Hawks heading into this season?

Sleepy Brown: The Hawks showed their ass last season. Very proud of them. I’m so excited for next season.

Big Boi: I’m glad they paid that money to our boy to stay. We’re building. We’ve got some good rookies coming in, so we’re looking good. Yessir.

5. Who was your villain growing up?

Big Boi: Shit, goddamned Dennis Rodman.

Sleepy Brown: But I used to like Dennis Rodman too.

Big Boi: Yeah, I don’t know if he’s “bad.” Isaiah Thomas though … Yeah, yeah.

6. Most surreal moment that you’ve had, either meeting a player or around a player?

Sleepy Brown: That All-Star Game, we was in the tunnel, and next thing you know everybody came out, Kobe, AI, it was everybody. We were standing there like ….

Big Boi: What about smoking cigars in Japan with Michael Jordan in the skybox?

Sleepy Brown: Oh yeahhhhhhh.

Big Boi: That was the coolest shit ever.

Lil Nas X Uses Tony Hawk’s Blood Skateboards To Make A Point About His Infamous Sneakers

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YouTube

Back in March, when Lil Nas X was at the peak of his Satan phase, he released his Satan Shoes, which enjoyed a controversial reception, partially because the sneakers were made with real human blood. The whole thing was so contentious, in fact, that the rapper actually ended up getting sued by Nike. Now, Tony Hawk is doing something similar: He’s selling limited edition skateboards (that are already sold out) that are made with paint that contains his own blood. This prompted Lil Nas X to draw a comparison between the two stunts and ask some questions.

On Twitter today, the rapper pointed out how there hasn’t been any “public outrage” in response to the boards and compared that to his own blood-infused merch experience, tweeting, “now that tony hawk has released skateboards with his blood painted on them, and there was no public outrage, are y’all ready to admit y’all were never actually upset over the blood in the shoes? and maybe u were mad for some other reason?”

Meanwhile, Nas has moved on to bigger, more culinary things: The rapper, who once worked at Taco Bell a few years back, has teamed up with the restaurant to become its Chief Impact Officer.

‘Tetris Beat’ Is Combining Music And ‘Tetris’ In A Very Cool Way

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Tetris Beat/Ralph Ordaz

Arguably the most perfect piece of media ever created, Tetris is one of those games where it can be handed to anyone and they’ll immediately understand what’s going on. Different shaped blocks fall down. Line them up and erase blocks. Erase a lot at once for a high score. If it reaches the top then you lose. Boom, it’s that simple.

It’s what makes the game one of the most important titles in history. Of course, with simplicity comes an opportunity to create something new and that’s what the team working on Tetris Beat is attempting to do.

“One of the jumping off points for sure was a quote from Alexey [Pajitnov] who stated ‘playing Tetris is a very specific rhythmic visual pleasure for me. Tetris is a song, which you sing and sing inside yourself, and can’t stop.” Lawrence Clark of N3TWORK told UPROXX. “And this, this was definitely directional for music, visuals, gameplay, the marriage of everything, that makes the iconic Tetris gameplay so wonderful and fresh to this day”

Tetris Beat is taking that quote from Pajitnov, the creator of Tetris, and bringing it to its natural next step: A rhythm game. Some might argue that Tetris has always been a game about rhythm, but Tetris Beat is taking that a step beyond. Everything from placement, to rotations, to when the matches occur is meant to be matched to the rhythm of each song. Think something like Crypt of the NecroDancer, but instead, it’s Tetris. Of course, players will be able to see that rhythmic style throughout the game as they play it. Not only in how the game plays, but in the overall art style.

Flashing lights, bright colors, and reverberations along to the beat can all be physically seen as players are dropping and matching. These fit a theme that also happens to match perfectly with the EDM/Hip Hop scene. Something about those genres of music lends itself to a game like Tetris Beat perfectly and it’s no surprise that the soundtrack is expected to follow that path. Even better, it’s going to be more than the typical Top 40.

“We definitely reached out to our current Tetris community and looked at players that play on mobile devices and we asked them if they wanted to play Tetris to the beat of the music and it was a resounding yes.” Kathee Chimowitz of N3TWORK told UPROXX. “We then asked what genres would you like to play to or listen to the most? And the top three were pop, hip-hop, and EDM.

“Today women and non-binary producers in dance music is severely underrepresented. And so we have the pleasure to bring artists with incredible diverse talent to Tetris Beat and to Tetris,” Chimowitz continued. “So with our music supervisor David Stephenson Fisher’s hand, we were able to have Alison Wonderland, Cinthie, Octo Octa, Eris Drew, and Dru Flecha, in the game and cover genres from Scandinavian Pop to Latin American hip-hop.”

As the team behind Tetris Beat searched the world for artists to contribute to the soundtrack, one of the names they landed on was Rob “GARZA” Garza. The EDM producer said the opportunity to be a part of a game with so much history was too intriguing to pass up.

“As a kid, I loved playing Tetris and it’s something… I have a ten-year-old son, and we played it as well.” Rob GARZA told UPROXX. “And [they] were telling me about the project and you know, I’m always up for doing a lot of different types of work. So I was kind of excited to jump in and do something.”

The song GARZA created for Tetris Beat is a really fun EDM beat that will have most players bopping their head along to it as they drop in tiles. The exact feeling that the Tetris Beat team wanted to create with their soundtrack. It’s exciting and vibrant but nothing too overwhelming, which is important in a rhythm game.

“My creative process is just, you know, just sit down with a bunch of instruments and synthesizers that I love and just kind of start ripping and coming up with ideas,” GARZA said. “And, you know, I want to just make something that was very mystical sounding kind of, you know, had this idea of like flying saucers and mushrooms and things happening and they sort of gave me a creative way to play around. So I wanted something that also sounds a bit otherworldly, but also, you know, has some cultural context is from a lot of different places.”

It would have been really easy for Tetris Beat to be a game where players just played rhythm-based Tetris to whatever song is in their Apple Music library. But that wouldn’t have fit what makes Tetris cool. The style of Tetris Beat, alongside the pop, hip-hop, and EDM music they’ve chosen meshes far better together. With artists like GARZA understanding this, and making music that matched that theming, the team of Tetris Beat has created a truly unique soundtrack. One that is diverse, inclusive, and fitting of the Tetris name. Tetris should be cool and Tetris Beat looks cool.

Want a sample of the kind of music that will be in Tetris Beat? Get an exclusive look at GARZA’s Mystification right here on Uproxx! You can of course find the full song on Apple Music or within Tetris Beat itself.

A New Podcast, ‘The King Of Crenshaw,’ Will Explore Nipsey Hussle’s Legacy In The Sports World

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There’s a new podcast coming that offers a new angle on the life of late Los Angeles rapper Nipsey Hussle and sports. Presented by 30 For 30 Podcasts and The Undefeated, the four-part “The King Of Crenshaw” will “focus on how the late Nipsey Hussle’s life, death, and legacy deeply impacted the sports world” and “examine how that overlap of Black male creativity, talent and ambition will forever live on in Nipsey’s responsibility to his neighborhood. And how NBA players are vowing to continue his marathon moving forward.”

The pod will also feature interviews with NBA All-Stars Isaiah Thomas, DeMar DeRozan, DeMarcus Cousins, plus Nipsey’s brother Blacc Sam. “Everyone knows I’m a huge Nipsey fan,” Cousins, who plays for the LA Clippers, said. “He’s more to me than just a rapper. He’s an icon.”

On March 31, 2019, Nipsey Hussle was tragically shot and killed at his Marathon Clothing store in South Los Angeles. His death shook the music world, leaving many to grieve a loss that came at the height of his career. On the two-year anniversary, his longtime girlfriend, Lauren London, took to Instagram to honor him. “The Day Of Ermias’ transition changed the course of my life forever,” she wrote. “2 years, and it feels like yesterday and eternity all at the same time. Grief and Healing have been constant companions on this journey.” She added, “In Honor of His life and demonstration… May all of Heaven exalt Your name for all You did on Earth and beyond. Brave and Beloved Soul, Ermias. You are missed deeply. You are loved immensely. You will forever be. I love you eternally.”

Look out for a full season drop of “The King Of Crenshaw” on 8/23.

Nipsey Hussle is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

‘Wom/n Worldwide’ Breaks Down The Fem Superheroes That Ruled The Summer

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Who ran the world this summer? Women, that’s who.

In Uproxx’s latest video series, Wom/n Worldwide, we’re giving a much-deserved shout-out to the fem superheroes that are filling up our timelines with some much-needed good news. And women? They’ve been BUSY this year. Host Drew Dorsey breaks it all down in this, shining a light on the athletes, activists, actors, and all-around badasses affecting positive change in their respective fields. From decorated Olympians like Simone Biles putting a spotlight on mental health — and inspiring us all to take self-care more seriously — to the hip-hop queens ruling the charts, and the women revolutionizing the film industry from behind the camera — we’re hyped for it all.

The Olympics are still on everyone’s mind so now’s a good time to remind fans of how superstars like Biles, Katie Ledecky, and Naomi Osaka changed the game when it comes to how we view excellence in sport, and a couple of 13-year-old skateboarding phenoms blew our minds in Tokyo too. Speaking of empowerment, plenty of female artists have been delivering body-positive bangers this summer — we see you Cardi B — as icons like Billie Eilish, Lorde, and Halsey get ready to drop new music this Fall. (Our playlists needed updating anyway.)

We’re also ready for the world to update its beauty standards so naturally, we had to applaud Nikkie Tutorials for leading the way, and if you didn’t have enough to watch already, we’ve got a couple more female-helmed films to add to your binge-watching queue. All that and an update on the historic Generation Equality Forum that took place in Paris this summer pops up in our inaugural episode.

Check it out above!

Lil Durk Nearly Pulled A 50 Cent With His First Pitch At White Sox-Cubs

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Being invited to throw out the first pitch before an MLB game is a cool honor, but it also can be a nerve-wracking experience if you don’t have a lot of baseball experience. It seems simple enough: throw the ball 55 or so feet from in front of the mound and get it over the plate, but those that haven’t thrown a ball in awhile come to learn the hard way that it’s very different from their few warmup tosses in the tunnel before going out there.

Really bad first pitches aren’t just embarrassing, but can become a lasting part of someone’s legacy. 50 Cent is the best example of that and still has the first pitch to which all bad first pitches are compared to, as he fired a ball a good 20 feet wide of the plate. He’s far from the only star of the sports or entertainment world to have a dreadful first pitch experience, but his is the lasting example of a disaster.

On Sunday, we got another entry into the bad first pitch category from a rapper, as Lil Durk threw out the first pitch at Wrigley Field before Cubs-White Sox and had the poor Cubs mascot diving in vain for a ball that bounced outside the batter’s box.

The good news for Lil Durk is that he’s focusing on the positives of the love he got, not the jokes from Twitter.

It’s not quite 50 Cent, who barely threw it into the dirt area around home plate, but it is a pretty terrible effort. I’m sure Lil Durk hasn’t exactly spent a lot of time throwing baseballs recently, but it should serve as a reminder to managers everywhere that if your client isn’t someone that throws a ball often, there’s no shame in turning down a first pitch opp to keep them from going viral.

Hear Kanye West, Dr. Dre, And Snoop Dogg’s New Song ‘Glory’ In An Ad With Sha’Carri Richardson

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Kanye West may be notorious for failing to drop albums when he promises, but this time around may be different. Fans are waiting to hear the rapper’s latest album Donda, named after his late mother, which he is hosting a listening party for tonight on Apple Music. Though fans will still have to wait a few more hours the LP, a new Beats commercial offers a snippet of new music to hold his listeners over.

Beats debuted a lively ad for their earbuds starring track and field sprinter Sha’Carri Richardson. The commercial features a one-minute preview of Kanye’s new track “Glory,” which was produced by Dr. Dre and features Snoop Dogg. Press material state the song will not appear on Kanye’s Donda album, but it does give fans an idea of the style of music the rapper has been working on lately. As of now, “Glory” has yet to receive an official release date but does drum up anticipation for his Donda LP.

This isn’t the first time Kanye has shared a new song for a Beats commercial. Back in July, Richardson starred in another ad for Beats’ earbuds that featured Kanye’s unreleased song “No Child Left Behind.”

Hear a snippet of Kanye, Dre, and Snoop Dogg’s “Glory” in the Beat commercial above.

‘NBA 2K22’ Will Have Seasonal Soundtrack Updates To Introduce New Artists To Players

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2K

The 2K franchise has always made it a point to deliver a unique music experience. From LeBron James and Jay-Z creating their own soundtracks to 2K21 having more than 100 songs, the series likes to do something different every year. With NBA 2K22 the folks at 2K will once again try something new.

2K22 will not only feature a consistently evolving soundtrack with seasonal updates, but it will have a greater focus on putting rising artists in the spotlight for fans. While there will still be stars like Travis Scott, Megan Thee Stallion, and Freddie Gibbs, it will also feature a variety of new names with the hope of making NBA 2K a venue to discover new music. Some of the artists include:

  • Boldy James
  • Griselda (Westside Gunn, Conway the Machine, Benny the Butcher)
  • Louis Cole
  • Yves Tumor
  • Blxst
  • Smino
  • ACADEMY
  • Thundercat
  • Princess Nokia
  • Megan Thee Stallion
  • Night Lovell
  • Bartees Strange
  • Park Hye Jin
  • Nosaj Thing
  • Insightful
  • Jordan Lyles
  • Lion Babe
  • A.B. Original
  • Masego

“We brought in United Masters as a partner and really wanted to shift the focus to being a platform for music discovery,” David Kelley, Senior Manager, Partnerships & Licensing at 2K told Dime. “I think over the last, you know, 20 or so years that the game has been out and has been published, it’s been really important to have those prestige artists. Of course, we’ll always have them.”

The soundtrack will receive new updates on the first Friday of every new season, which will not only give fans something to look forward to, but will help keep the soundtrack fresh so it never gets too repetitive.

With how many people play the NBA 2K franchise worldwide, this is a great opportunity for people to discover new music they may have not gotten the opportunity to hear beforehand. We’ll be able to listen to the entire soundtrack when the game releases on Sept. 1, 2021.