New Hip Hop News

Besides basketball returning to save us from the couple months of NBA-less despair we face every summer following the NBA Finals, arguably the best part of every opening night is the championship ring ceremony. 

As is customary for every NBA champion, the 2021 NBA champion Milwaukee Bucks were presented with their championship rings last night, ahead of their matchup with the Brooklyn Nets. Before the game, the Bucks held a ceremony at center court to raise their championship banner into the rafters and receive a little bling for their efforts. 

However, unlike most championship rings across all major sports, the Bucks went high-tech with their rings. By scanning a QR code engraved in the ring, players can watch a highlight reel of their championship season. And with an extra, diamond encrusted loop included on the ring, players can easily wear the ring as a pendant. 

Jason of Beverly Hills, the jeweler responsible for Milwaukee’s championship rings, said he wanted to create an impressive, but practical, piece to celebrate the monumental occasion. 

“A lot of players were not able to wear their rings; they weren’t practical. You might take it out on Christmas Eve to show the family, but other than that, they can’t wear it. I wanted to create a ring that had more versatility, where a player could wear it and let it be comfortable. This one is just as big as these massive rings, but we developed a technology that allows the ring top to be taken off with a push button system, and the ring top can be converted into a pendant,” the jeweler told reporters. 

And according to the Journal Sentinel, each precious stone included within the ring carries its own, special meaning. 

“The 360 diamonds on the ring’s top represent the number of victories since the current ownership group took over. The 16 emerald-shaped diamonds on one side represent the number of playoff wins, while the 16 on the other side to represent the franchise’s total of division titles. The 4.14 karat of emeralds represent the 414 area code of Milwaukee. The 50 round stones on the “inner bezel” represent 50 years since the team’s last championship (no, not the number of points Giannis scored in the clincher or the number of Chick-fil-A chicken minis he famously ordered the next morning, but nobody gets karats with Chick-fil-A anyway). Part of the ring’s design along the sides is meant to mimic the portion of Fiserv Forum facing the plaza that became the initial home base of the “Deer District.” Two trophies on the inside shank represent the franchise’s two titles. The Larry O’Brien Trophy on the face of the ring includes yellow gold at 65.3% purity — mirroring the season’s winning percentage (including playoffs). The approximate three karats of stone on the shank represent the franchise’s three conference crowns. The approximate 0.53 karats on the “World Champions” wording on the ring represents the total number of years the Bucks have been in existence.”

Check out the Milwaukee Bucks’ new championship rings below and let us know what you think in the comments. 

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It looked like things were looking up for former NBA player Delonte West, who has had a rough go at things for the last few years. The 38-year-old allegedly was homeless before entering a rehab facility, where his situation looked to be improving. At the beginning of this year, it was reported that after receiving help from Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban, West was back on the basketball court and had accepted a job at the rehab center.

Unfortunately, it looks like his recovery was derailed this week as TMZ reports that West was arrested following an alleged drunken altercation with police in Florida.

Michael Mulvey for The Washington Post via Getty Images — Delonte West with his wife Caressa and son Cash

The former hooper was booked on Tuesday night in a Palm Beach County jail. He was released early on Wednesday morning. According to the incident report, West was yelling and banging on the glass doors of a police station in Boynton Beach. He was found with open bottles of beer and vodka, and he reportedly reeked of alcohol. West complied when he was asked to put down his drinks, but at one point, he put his hands inside his pants, causing one cop to point a taser at him. West ultimately responded to verbal commands and was arrested and charged with obstruction/resisting without violence, open container, and disorderly intoxication.

West is reportedly due in court next month.

Hopefully, this isn’t the start of a downward spiral for West, who has been doing so much better lately. We’re sending out positive energy to him and his loved ones as he goes through this hard time.

Michael Mulvey for The Washington Post via Getty Images

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If anyone knows how to take fashion risks and pull them off, it’s Kid Cudi. Last night, the 37-year-old was spotted sitting courtside at the Los Angeles Lakers game, rocking the famous Tune Squad jersey from Space Jam.

The rapper layered his tank over a white t-shirt, threw on plenty of flashy chains and a watch to accessorize, and even coordinated his nails and hair to match his outfit. Earlier this fall, Cudi also made headlines when he rocked bright blue hair and a skirt during New York Fashion Week.

The “Mr. Rager” hitmaker also turned heads at the Met Gala, when he turned up with vibrant green hair, bold black makeup, a Louis Vuitton skirt, and an unmissable KAW chain. If his outfit choices are any indication, Cudi obviously doesn’t mind receiving stares while out in public.

According to TMZ, last night’s Lakers game was a star-studded event – Rich Paul, Adele, Usher, Justin Bieber, Kevin Hart, James Corden, and Lilly Collins were also all in attendance. Former fanatic Jack Nicholson also stepped out for the evening; he used to regularly attend games, but more recently his face has been seen less frequently.

Lebron James and Anthony Davis scored 34 and 33 points against the Golden State Warriors respectively, but that still wasn’t enough to keep them from losing 121-114.

While at the game, Cudi took a selfie with his pal, Dennis L. Cummings, and threw it up on Instagram. “Lakers gave courtside w/ Dennis,” he wrote. See the snap for yourself below.

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Facebook may have just experienced their worst outage in years, but they’re not letting that stop their growth. According to The Verge, Mark Zuckerberg has plans to turn his social media space into a “metaverse.”

“I think over the next five years or so, in this next chapter of our company, I think we will effectively transition from people seeing us as primarily being a social media company to being a metaverse company,” the company’s CEO said back in July.

Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images

If you’re not familiar with the out-of-this-world term, it was coined by Neal Stephenson in 1992’s Snow Crash, as pointed out by Complex. In September, Facebook revealed what their metaverse might look like – “a set of virtual spaces where you can create and explore with other people who aren’t in the same physical space as you,” VP‘s Andrew Bosworth and Nick Clegg wrote.

This new space will allow users “to hang out with friends, work, play, learn, shop, create and more,” the Facebook employees shared.

Along with a rebrand comes a new name, which is reportedly being kept very tightly under wraps. Zuckerberg is expected to discuss the change during next week’s Facebook Connect conference, on October 28th.

On October 4th, the 37-year-old sent out a message apologizing for his website’s worldwide technical difficulties. “Sorry for the disruption today—I know how much you rely on our services to stay connected with the people you care about.” It’s been reported that Zuckerberg’s net worth dropped by billions during the outage.

What do you think Facebook should change their name to? Share your best idea below.

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The YNW Melly double murder case has been one of the more shocking things to happen in hip-hop in recent memory. Unfortunately, while the rap game is no stranger to violence, the details of Melly’s case were hard to digest. 

Melly, who allegedly murdered two of his close friends before attempting to make it look like the two had died in a drive-by shooting, has been in prison since February 2019 and despite reportedly being in good spirits and even dropping a new album, Just A Matter Of Slime, back in August, prosecutors are still working tirelessly to prove that Melly was behind the double murder. (Melly’s co-defendant in the case, YNW Bortlen, was released and placed house arrest two months ago.)

According to a new TMZ report, prosecutors in have requested that the judge presiding over Melly’s case force the 22-year-old rapper to submit a DNA sample via oral swab. In requesting a DNA sample, prosecutors are trying to match Melly’s DNA profile with one of three potential DNA profiles found on a yellow jacket which was collected as evidence. DNA from Anthony Williams, one of the men Melly allegedly murdered, was already found on the jacket and prosecutors want to know if Melly’s DNA profile matches either of the three potential profiles also found on the jacket. 

The Broward County judge has yet to grant or deny prosecutors’ requests, but this piece of evidence could prove to be monumental in the case against YNW Melly. 

In a situation like this, there is no room for speculation, so until the judge makes a decision, keep it locked to HNHH for any new updates on YNW Melly and his double murder case. 

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The Los Angeles Lakers fell short during their first test against the Golden State Warriors on Tuesday night, losing 121-114. While LeBron James and Anthony Davis both had great games, their newest teammate Russell Westbrook had trouble getting started, finishing the game with a team-worst plus/minus of minus-23, and scoring only eight points with four turnovers. 

Lakers fans aren’t particularly worried about Westbrook’s output this season. He always seems to get his groove going during the season, and LeBron and AD both encouraged Westbrook to keep going and not beat himself up over the loss. Despite Lakers fans looking forward to the next game, the rest of the NBA’s fans seem set on tearing down the point guard, trending “Westbrick” on Tuesday night and Wednesday morning on Twitter.

Jevone Moore/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images

Basketball fans are reacting to the Lakers’ loss last night, commenting especially on Westbrook’s poor performance. Considering LeBron and Davis both scored over thirty points, many expected the purple and gold to walk away with their first win of the season. Westbrook is being blamed by fans, who think that if he would have even had an average scoring night, the Lakers would have walked away victorious. 

Check out what people are saying below, and here’s hoping that Westbrook doesn’t open Twitter today.

Netflix and Dave Chappelle knew that the former’s comedy special, The Closer, would earn them a lot of attention, but it’s doubtful that they could’ve even begun to imagine the backlash that it would also create. The 48-year-old stand-up comedian is currently under fire for making jokes that have been dubbed homophobic, transphobic, and “harmful” by some.

Just over a week ago, the streamer’s CEO, Ted Sarandos, spoke out in defence of Chappelle and his jokes, saying, “several of you have also asked where we draw the line on hate. We don’t allow titles Netflix that are designed to incite hate or violence, and we don’t believe The Closer crosses that line.”

Handout/Getty Images

These words from the company’s head, along with some unempathetic internal messaging (the 57-year-old wrote an email to his staff members saying that “we have a strong belief that content on screen doesn’t directly translate to real-world harm”) have prompted several Netflix staff members to stage a walkout, scheduled for today, October 20th.

On Tuesday evening, interviews that Sarandos had recently given were all published, allowing him to pick up the pieces that have been scattered all over since the release of The Closer.

“First, right upfront, I screwed up the internal communication — and I don’t mean just mechanically,” he told Deadline. “I feel I should’ve made sure to recognize that a group of our employees was hurting very badly from the decision made, and I should’ve recognized upfront before going into a rationalization of anything the pain they were going through.”

Sarandos then shared he respects his staff members deeply, and loves the contributions they all bring to Netflix, however, he told The Hollywood Reporter that he still has no plans to remove the comedy special from the app‘s content library.

Elsewhere, Joe Rogan has spoken out in defence of Chappelle on his podcast, saying, “It’s just making jokes. That doesn’t mean hate. This is the problem with today: if you don’t have an enemy, you make an enemy. And this is a real problem with people. We look for things.”

If you haven‘t watched The Closer yet, do you still have plans to? Or has all the drama turned you off of the idea? Let us know below.

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