New Hip Hop News

Back in 2020, Nike released the Air Max 2090 to the world as an homage to the then 30-year-old Air Max 90. The shoe proved to be an immediate hit after being teased by the likes of LeBron James, and over the past year, we have seen a plethora of new colorways make their way to the market. This is a shoe that is versatile for numerous situations and with the Olympics just a few weeks away, we will get to see the Air Max 2090 in action thanks to a “USA” offering.

In the official images below, you can see that this new model has some bold blue as the base, all while red is found on the heel tab and the tongue. USA is written in white near the back heel, and we also get 2020 written out in roman numerals on the white midsole. With the Air Max unit poking out of the back, this is a phenomenal colorway and we’re sure there are plenty of patriotic sneakerheads out there who will want a pair for themselves.

You will be able to cop these shoes this month for a price of $150 USD. Let us know what you think of the pair, in the comments section below.

Image via Nike

Image via Nike

Image via Nike

Image via Nike

Image via Nike

J. Cole got to live out his dream just a couple of months ago as he flew to Africa to play in the BAL and the Rwanda Patriots. While Cole didn’t exactly put up the best stats, he got to make the most of his time overseas and came away with the experience as a professional basketball player. Cole was an ace in college although, in the end, he chose rap over ball. Throughout the years, Cole has continued to work on his game, and while his time in Africa might be over, he is still determined to improve.

In fact, Cole recently met up with Lakers assistant coach Phil Handy and Lakers player Talen Horton-Tucker, where he engaged in an intense workout that tested every single part of his game. Many of the drills Cole had to go through were skills-based, and by the end of it, Handy seemed impressed with what he saw.

“The #passion is real, the #work is real, the love for the #game is real and @JColeNC is a real student of the game. Pulled up for a couple of days and got some work in with @Thortontucker… got out of his comfort zone and got better,” Handy wrote.

It remains to be seen if Cole will have another shot at playing professional basketball although it’s admirable that he is still making a huge effort on the court.

Tabatha Fireman/Getty Images

One of the best shoes of all time is the Air Jordan 1, which has quite a bit of lore behind it. When Michael Jordan first entered the league, he was told he couldn’t wear a pair of shoes that were black and red. At the time, the ban extended to the Nike Air Ship, which was the shoe Jordan wore prior to the Jordan 1. Regardless, Nike ran with the “banned” concept and used it as a marketing ploy for the Air Jordan 1, thus making it one of the most hyped-up shoes on the market.

Over the years, we have seen various black and red “Banned” 1s make it to the market, although according to @zsneakerheadz, 2022 will see a new “Banned” sneaker dubbed “Rebellionaire.” In the photoshop rendering below you can see that the shoe has a black base with a grey toe box and Nike swoosh, almost like the “Shadow” model. The difference here is that the phrase “They Can’t Stop You From Wearing Them” is found throughout the upper. Not to mention, there are red Xs on the back heel to further the whole “Banned” motif.

If you’re looking to cop these, there are supposed to drop in March of next year for $170 USD although Jumpman has yet to confirm this. Keep it locked to HNHH over the coming months as we will be sure to bring you the latest updates.

Michael Rubin invited some of the biggest names in Hollywood to his Hamptons mansion for a massive Fourth of July party. The guest list included rappers such as Jay-Z, Lil Baby, Bobby Shmurda, Quavo, and more.

“#BarelySurvived,” Rubin captioned the batch of star-studded photos he posted to Instagram.

Sources tell PageSix that invitations to the “white party” came with custom white bottles of Jay-Z’s Ace of Spades champagne, and instructions that the party has an all-white dress code.

Other celebs to accept the invite included Yo Gotti, New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft, Meek Mill, Bon Jovi, Lil Uzi Vert, JT of the City Girls, James Harden, and more.

Jay-Z has been vacationing in the Hamptons since last week, when he was spotted taking a stroll with Beyoncé and Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey. The trio likely was discussing the news that Dorsey is currently in the process of purchasing a majority stake in Jay-Z’s music streaming platform, TIDAL, for $300 million.

In a video taken by JT from Rubin’s party, Lil Uzi Vert can be seen giving his best attempt at break dancing. JT also tweeted that she ran into Beyonce at one point, who told her that she was beautiful.

Check out more pics from Rubin’s event below.

[Via]

Backyard barbecues, fireworks, and having a good time is what this summer holiday is all about. After missing out on large gatherings with last year’s fourth of July in the thick of the pandemic, this holiday was bound to be one to remember.

Check out our round-up to see what the hip-hop community and beyond we’re up to during yesterday’s festivities. 

Jay-Z & Beyonce

Jay and Bey attended an extravagant affair on Sunday, although it was first reported to be a bash in lieu of their annual Roc Nation brunch, Page Six reports that it was actually Michael Rubin’s party; a house-warming celebration for his new Hamptons mansion. Whatever the case, the biggest names and music came to the Hamptons for this event, dressed in all-white outfits, for a night with waterfront views and fireworks. Meek Mill, Travis Scott, Lil Baby, and Kid Cudi and were among those in attendance. The star who stole the show was Lil Uzi Vert, who decided to light up the dance floor on his own. The rapper brought out his unexpected impressive break dancing moves while being hyped up by his girl, City Girl’s JT, who herself had quite the special night, thanks to Queen Bey.

Michael Rubin also shared a photo gallery from the all-white event, which you can click through below. Attendees reportedly included Kid Cudi, Megan Thee Stallion, Tinashe, Lil Baby, Travis Scott, Meek Mill, James Harden and more.

 

Diddy

On the opposite coast, Diddy threw a star-studded bash at his house in L.A. His Instagram story rolls like one long ad for Ciroc and DeLeon, starting with professionally-shot footage highlighting his new summer watermelon Ciroc flavor. Drake, London on da Track, French Montana, Teyana Taylor, Keke Palmer, all danced the night away at the “Summer of Love” party.

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The Game

The Game’s annual pool party was a full affair, with the top caterers in Calabasas and even masseuses on deck. LA’s Power 106’s famous DJ Carisma had everyone lit — and the number of twerk videos on the rapper’s IG story serves to prove it. We’re sure more content from his backyard extravaganza will spill out through out the day.

@losangelesconfidential / Instagram Story 

Lori Harvey & Michael B. Jordan

Lori and Michael preferred to dip out of the celebrity party scene for the holiday weekend. Lori shared small snippets of her vacation with friends on her Instagram story yesterday. Possibly intentional, it is unclear exactly where they are in the videos, but the crystal clear water and waving palm trees are certainly in full view.

Cardi B

Some stars chose to keep it more low-key, such as Cardi B who proclaimed, “California, I’m coming to one of yall barbecues today, I ain’t stay home today. I’m not with them vegan burgers…” in a fit-check video posted to her ‘Gram. The mom-to-be opted out of the red, white, and blue dress code for head-to-toe glam in a sheer cheetah print dress. 

Saweetie

Saweetie was partying again after her Freaknik themed birthday event on Saturday, with an intimate cookout with friends at her home. But before all that, you know she had to snap a bomb pic for the ‘Gram showing off her ice and brand new Rolls Royce truck in a bikini matching her car’s interior (and her nails).

 

Kevin Hart

Kevin Hart shared a photo of where he looked how many of us felt at the end of yesterday — ready for bed. The comedian posed cutely cuddled up with his son on the couch captioning the picture, “Good night ….hope u all had a blessed and beautiful 4th of July!!!! #Harts.”

DaBaby

Unfortunately, it looks like DaBaby fielded the police during his day-off. Nonetheless he kept it cruising, and it seems there was zero incident.

There was once a time where XXL Freshman Class members used their opportunities in the spotlight to spit bars, though we’re beginning to see that less as time goes on. In reality, many of today’s most popular rising artists tend to use a more melodic flow, having shifted into new stylistic territory altogether.

It’s reached the point where some of the inductees can hardly be classified as rappers at all. While that isn’t inherently problematic, it’s certainly curious to see XXL uphold the cypher and freestyle traditions for such artists, who are often forced to perform well outside of their comfort zones as a result. Luckily, many of the selected artists are adaptable in the face of a challenge, as today’s new XXL Freestyle from Coi Leray has indicated.

 Rich Fury/Getty Images

Bathed in mood-setting blue light, Coi opts to keep true to her established style, delivering an acapella and largely melodic verse. Based on the structure and various cadential shifts, it sounds as if Leray is drawing from a yet-to-be-released song for this one. “Parasitic, these n***as want to eat off me,” she sing-raps. “I don’t really trust n***as, shout out to Lil Reese.” 

Be sure to check out Coi Leray’s full XXL Freshman Freestyle below, and sound off in the comments if you’re feeling what she brought to the table with this one. Look for more of these to drop in the coming days. 

WATCH: Coi Leray’s XXL Freshman Freestyle

In the middle of the regular season, the Atlanta Hawks looked like a team that had no realistic shot at making it far in the postseason. They fired their head coach and with players like Trae Young struggling, it was looking like another year of despair for the Hawks. However, once the team elevated Nate McMillan to interim head coach, the team started to play inspired basketball and they even made it to the fifth seed in the Eastern Conference.

After knocking off the New York Knicks in five games, the Hawks were able to upset the Philadelphia 76ers en route to the Eastern Conference Finals. While the Milwaukee Bucks eventually beat them in six games, it was clear to everyone that a new era in Hawks basketball had arrived, and much of the success was due in part thanks to McMillan. Now, McMillan has been rewarded for his efforts with a new deal that makes him the official head coach of the team.

This is a huge deal for the Hawks as they will now have some stability on the bench for the next few years. Making the ECF again will prove to be a tough task although with this young core, anything is possible.

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

Todd Kirkland/Getty Images

Coming off former rapper Joe Budden’s distaste for Andrew Schulz in regards to working with political commentator Alex Jones, the (latter) podcast host had about as much to complain about as always. 

Rehashing a quote from Jones slamming Budden, he said, “Just because you are this black person paid by the corporate media to spew racism to divide this country in the world. I didn’t do anything to you. I don’t owe you anything. And you are despicable lying about me.” On top of all that, he starts everything off by saying, “You don’t even know who the hell I am!” when, in all reality, there’s not much more we need to know to judge the man’s character. 

In response to the very strange collection of people involved, Twitter reacted as they usually do in situations like these: sharing their distaste for Alex Jones.

Twitter’s disdain for the beyond-conservative talk-show host has been apparent for years now, and every time a new spat like this pops up, the app’s majority is more than happy to hypothetically spit on whatever he has to say. Hell, he was already banned from a handful of platforms like YouTube and FaceBook over three years ago. Joe Budden is yet to respond to Jones’s rant, though it seems that saving his breath is preferable to debating with this brick wall of a human.

Rachel Nichols of ESPN is in the news for all of the wrong reasons right now as a video of her disparaging fellow host Maria Taylor made its way to the internet. In the clip, Nichols speaks about Taylor and how she feels like ESPN only hired her for certain shows because they needed to add diversity to the network. These comments angered many fans as they felt like Nichols was making racially charged comments that show she isn’t a real ally.

In the aftermath of this, former NBA player Stephen Jackson took to Instagram where he defended Nichols against the attacks. In fact, Jackson believes Taylor was given a “sympathy job” and that everyone needs to leave Rachel alone. 

“We all ramble and we say things when we’re frustrated, and Rachel did deserve that job, it’s just plain and simple, I’ve talked to Rachel and I know a lot of things she was saying out of frustrations because ESPN put her in a bad position and they even put Maria in a bad position by trying to give Maria a sympathy job, they were trying to make themselves look good because of the Black lives Matt and the George Floyd stuff was going on,” Jackson said.

These comments from Jackson were met with vitriol on social media as some felt like he shouldn’t be rushing to the defense of a white woman, especially considering the fact that he is an activist. In typical Twitter fashion, the criticism of Jackson ended up snowballing into memes, and for now, Jackson isn’t in good standing with the rest of NBA Twitter.

You can see what people had to say about the ordeal, below.