New Hip Hop News

It was a hilarious walk down memory lane today after Nicki Minaj treated fans to a 2014 moment that is still a major moment for her and her dedicated Barbz. Back in 2014, Nicki visited Inside the NBA where the crew of sports analysts held a cypher for the celebrated emcee. Host Shaquille O’Neal has been known to dabble a bit in the Rap industry, so after Nicki delivered her off-the-dome freestyle, O’Neal grabbed the mic to share a few bars.

Almost immediately, one of Shaq’s lines was asking Nicki to marry him, and when she said, “No,” everyone fell out in laughter. Nicki posted a clip of the moment and gave a little behind-the-scenes insight while revealing that she recently purchased Shaq’s chair for her engineer.

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“Y’all who remembers when Shaq proposed to me 7 years ago? [crying laughing emojis],” the rapper wrote. “I kept saying I’ll think of some bars while I was on the plane headed there, but once I got on the plane I was too exhausted to write or even think— I was actually in the dressing room 15 min b4 this segment trying to figure out some lines to spit on air with these GREATS withOUT being able to CURSE.”

“The other stuff was thrown together right b4 I walked out so you can see me thinking,” she added, admitting that she didn’t deliver “the craziest bars” but she thoroughly enjoyed herself. “They made me feel so comfortable & had me cryin laughing.” Nicki also made sure to applaud Shaq’s skills.

“BTW, Shaq off the dome so when I said ‘no’ he had to keep it going & still rhyme smthn with it. LMFAOOOOOOOOOO PS Why did I buy my engineer @bigjuice205 a new chair the other day and had no clue what NAME it said on the back.” Watch the funny moment and read through Nicki Minaj’s post in full below.

This past season was an extremely difficult one for the Los Angeles Lakers. While the team had a tremendous start to the season, things quickly went downhill as both Anthony Davis and LeBron James faced injuries near the playoffs. While the team eventually made it to the playoffs, the Lakers were still forced into the seventh seed in the Western Conference, and the Phoenix Suns proved to be too strong of a first-round matchup.

Since that time, LeBron James and Anthony Davis have been working hard to get healthy, and it seems as though they will be right on track to start the next season. In the meantime, the Lakers are looking to make some big moves, and today, they made their first offer of the offseason.

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According to Michael Corvo of ClutchPoints, Talen Horton-Tucker has just been given his qualifying offer from the Lakers. This means the 20-year-old is now a restricted free agent who can negotiate with other teams. At this juncture, the Lakers can offer him the best deal over the next two years, however, a team can theoretically swoop in and offer him a deal that would be worth more than $10 million per year in years 3 and 4. 

There is no telling whether or not this will happen, however, the Lakers would certainly like to hold onto their young star at a smaller cost. THT is a player with a ton of potential and if he gets more minutes this season, we could very well see him elevate his game.

We’ve all bore witness to the rising reports of rappers being arrested in recent years. Just as an artist is seen receiving their due after working hard to crawl their way out of the trenches, authorities detain them on charges spanning from weapons to assault to fraud to drug possession to racketeering to murder. Right now, there are dozens of rappers facing sentences that can not only end their careers but their freedoms.

Fredo Bang was excited to take to the Rolling Loud Miami stage this weekend, but news broke today (July 22) that the Lousiana star was arrested in Florida. While details regarding Fredo’s arrest are pending, Akademiks took to social media to issue a “warning” to rappers who teeter the fine line of the street and Rapstar lifestyles.

“Just a responsible warning to rappers.. u either gonna be a gangsta or a rapper,” wrote Akademiks. “There ain’t no famous criminal that are free and still doing crime. All the gangsta rappers who actually Still live the life they rap about after they got fame… been arrested and served time in the last 5 years. Pick one, Rapper or gangsta. Nobody is both.”

Roddy Ricch agreed with Akademiks’s take and added, “SMH too many young n*ggas [one hundred emojis] The realest sh*t u gone hear @akademiks.” The blogger reposted Roddy’s note and had a few more things to say about the subject.

“I only speak to ppl who are in the entertainment business who choose to be a rapper,” he said. “The stakes are different you gotta pick what is important to you and what u represent… This culture has given us a lot but it takes a lot too.gotta know how to balance it to make senSe.”

Read through the posts in full below.

Tragic news is coming out of the NFL today as it is being reported by numerous sources that New York Jets assistant coach Greg Knapp has passed away today at the age of 58. Just last weekend, Knapp was struck by a car while riding his bike San Ramon, California and was eventually sent to the hospital where he was battling for his life. Today, it was revealed by Bears tight end coach Clancy Barone that Knapp had succumbed to his injuries.

This has come as devastating news to the football community as Knapp was a beloved coach and coordinator. Throughout his career, Knapp worked with the San Francisco 49ers, Atlanta Falcons, Oakland Raiders, Seattle Seahawks, and Houston Texans as an offensive coordinator before going to the Jets.

In the aftermath of the news, the Jets posted a tribute to Knapp on their website. In this article, Jets head coach Robert Saleh spoke about how much Knapp meant to the franchise in the short time he spent there.

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“Greg had such an inner peace about him that people always seemed to gravitate towards,” Saleh said. “He lived life in a loving way that helped him connect with people from all walks of life in a unique way. In his short time here, I believe the people in this organization had a chance to experience that connection.”

The news hit home for many NFL teams as their social media accounts sent condolences to Knapp’s family. He is a man who made an impact during all of his coaching stints, and it is clear he will be missed.

Our thoughts go out to his family during this difficult time.

This may as well be labeled “Kanye West Week” in music history books because the takeover is real. The Chicago icon will finally release his long-anticipated album DONDA this evening following his listening party in Atlanta. It has been reported that West has set aside thousands of seats for the event for students at nearby Historically Black Colleges and Universities, including Morehouse, Spelman, and Morris Brown.

The latter higher learning institution was where Kanye’s late mother, Donda West, was once an educator, and today (July 22), the school’s president, Dr. Kevin E. James, tweeted the rapper.

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“@kanyewest My name is Kevin James, President of HBCU Morris Brown College here in Atl,” he wrote. “Your mother taught at our college for 20 years and was Chair of the English Department. I will be at your concert tonight and wanted to present you a resolution on behalf of your mother.” Dr. James also tagged Ye’s estranged wife Kim Kardashian to make sure the message was delivered.

Later, he followed up to thank the public for reposting the message because he was able to secure a meeting with West’s team. Donda West passed away in 2007 following reported complications stemming from cosmetic surgery. Over the years, Kanye has spoken openly, as well as lyrically, about the devastating effects caused by losing his mother so unexpectedly.

Check out Dr. James’s posts below. Also, make sure to read our article: Kanye West’s Album Rollout Has Become An Experience.

Giannis Antetokounmpo is now an NBA Champion and if you’re a basketball fan, you can’t help but be excited for him. Giannis is one of the hardest-working players in the entire league and his story is one of triumph and perseverance. Throughout the NBA Finals, Giannis proved himself to be one of the most dominant players in the history of the NBA, and moving forward, it is going to be very difficult to argue against Giannis’ legacy.

The morning after his big win, Giannis could be seen on Instagram Live, where he was in the car with his fiancee. Throughout the ride, Giannis was posted up with his two trophies where he theorized about whether or not this was all just a dream. 

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Eventually, he ended up at the Chic-Fil-A drive-thru where he went viral for ordering 50 nuggets to commemorate his 50-point game. The video was shared numerous times throughout social media and it was yet another example of just how funny and entertaining Giannis can be.

Now, it is being reported that the clips of Giannis received tens of millions of impressions throughout all social media platforms, which ultimately led to $300K in value for the Chic-Fil-A brand. As a result, Giannis decided to take to Twitter, where he asked Chic-Fil-A if they could hook him up for life.

It remains to be seen whether or not Chic-Fil-A decides to go through with such a sponsorship, however, it seems like a pretty good idea at this point.

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Throughout the NBA Finals, Giannis Antetokounmpo was simply sensational. In Game 6, Giannis scored 50 points in a closeout game that ultimately won his team the championship. This performance was good enough to win him Finals MVP and moving forward, Giannis’ legacy will forever be cemented in NBA history.

Unfortunately, these performances all came at the expense of Phoenix Suns breakout star Deandre Ayton, who visibly struggled to guard Giannis throughout the series. Despite the struggles, Ayton recently told reporters that he learned a lot throughout the series and that guarding Giannis was something that will help develop his game for years to come. In fact, the Suns player even described the matchup as fun.

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“I mean, it was fun. Just like any other matchup that I faced. I think I seen—this is the most time I’ve ever seen Giannis, but, yeah, man, it was fun. I love competing, I love the challenges, man, but I just wish I could win. But at the same time, it was fun, I learned a lot. Just with consistency when it comes to this thing called competing, you can’t really have any mishaps at this high level,” Ayton said. “I tip my hat off to Milwaukee, because everybody that checked in, even if they didn’t check in, they wanted to die on that court. And that’s what I felt. That’s what it takes. Everybody got to give it their all when it comes to this, especially when it’s last game.”

While Ayton struggled to start his career, he has truly come into his own over the past year, and as of next season, he will be one of the best big men to watch out for. This Suns roster is still extremely young and they have plenty of time to figure things out.

[Via]