New Hip Hop News

Sneakers these days are incredibly expensive, especially if you’re a young kid who doesn’t have all that much disposable income. If you’re trying to impress your friends with your drip, you’re going to need a lot of money, or you’re going to need to have some sort of fate on your side. Well, for some lucky kids browsing the shelves at Swish Studios in Los Angeles this past week, fate struck them in the best way possible.

As you can see in the Instagram post below, Chicago Bulls star Zach LaVine pulled up to the store and ended up copping shoes for every single kid who was looking around. Each kid had big smiles on their faces and it seems as though many of them came away with some Air Jordan 4s.

“S/O @zachlavine8 for stopping by and buying every kid in the store a pair of kicks,” Swish Studios wrote. “Looking forward to seeing you do some damage for Team USA.”

LaVine has been nothing short of phenomenal for the Bulls although unfortunately, we haven’t seen him surrounded by a great team yet. Either way, this was a great gesture and we’re sure those kids will be proudly rocking their new kicks throughout the summer.

Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images

Earlier this week, Bill Cosby’s sexual assault conviction was overturned when the Pennsylvania Supreme Court was presented with proof that a statute of limitations was violated in order to arrest and charge the disgraced comedian. Cosby was quickly released, and everyone has had something to say — whether it be good or bad — about his newfound freedom.

As previously reported, Cosby is reportedly meeting with his legal team to discuss suing Montgomery County after having to serve two years in prison. While that has yet to be confirmed, a new report from Vlad TV does suggest that Cosby has very strong feelings about wrongful imprisonment in regards to himself and others. 

Michael Abbott/Getty Images

According to Vlad TV, Cosby spent his first day out of prison by calling a local Philadelphia radio station and speaking with host Frankie Darcell to speak about the technicality that was at the root of his sexual assault case.

“This is not just a Black thing,” Cosby can be heard saying while calling into WDAS 105.3 FM. “This is for all the people who have been imprisoned wrongfully regardless of race, color or creed. Because I met them in there — people who talked about what happened and what they did. And I know there are many liars out there, but hese people can’t get lawyers.”

Check out the news coverage of how Bill Cosby is adjusting to life outside of prison below. An audio clip from his recent radio interview starts at the 1:20-mark of the video.

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Though the benchmark of Jay-Z’s discography has recently turned 25, Reasonable Doubt is currently worth far more than it ever has been.

At Sotheby’s Auction House, a non-fungible token in the form of a portrait created by Derrick Adams was inspired by the iconic, damn-near-perfect 90s record and ultimately sold for $138,600. Bidding began at $1,000 on June 24th. Hov personally contacted Adams in order to see what could be done in order to try and commemorate such a seminal piece of his artistry. 

While the piece’s full title, “Heir to the Throne: An NFT in Celebration of JAY-Z’s Reasonable Doubt 25th Anniversary by Derrick Adams,” is a goddamn mouthful, it genuinely is quite a sight to look at. If not for the fact that people were willing to pay a child’s tuition for a digital image of Jay-Z smoking a cigar accompanied by literally no music, it’d be hard to not consider tossing a bid on it. Then, you remember, it actually sold for over one hundred thousand fucking dollars. The NFT is fully inspired by the classic cover, with the Brooklyn rapper puffing a cigar with a top hat in hand. 

Nothing, and we mean absolutely nothing, could diminish the vitality of Reasonable Doubt to the hip-hop community, except maybe this. But, hey, the guy is an entrepreneur at heart. Let’s just let the legend do what he wants: pretend he’s young by dropping NFTs and donning ripped jeans. This is Hov we’re talking about.

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Giannis Antetokounmpo is the most important player on the Milwaukee Bucks and his two MVP trophies prove that. Throughout the playoffs, Giannis has put up some truly incredible performances and he is the main reason why the Bucks are in the Eastern Conference Finals. Unfortunately, in Game 4 of the series against the Atlanta Hawks, Giannis hyperextended his knee in what appeared to be a pretty brutal injury. 

After missing Game 5, there have been questions about whether or not Giannis can come back at all in the playoffs. Now, according to reporter Justin Wills, sources surrounding the team are in agreement that Giannis should be able to return sometime during or before the NBA Finals. However, when it comes to the Eastern Conference Finals, it seems like Giannis might be done for good.

This isn’t great news for the Bucks as it means they will have to close out the Hawks without Giannis in the lineup. In Game 5, players like Bobby Portis and Brook Lopez led the team to victory, however, if Trae Young returns for the Hawks, we could see a Game 7 as soon as Monday night.

Either way, Giannis’ injury has proven to be a turning point for the Bucks in these playoffs, and it will be interesting to see how they make do over the coming games.

Stacy Revere/Getty Images

9lokkNine is back in legal trouble, though this time it’s rival Hotboii and almost three dozen other members of rival Florida gangs accompanying him. The Metropolitan Bureau of Investigation sent out the announcement yesterday that 33 members of the gangs were arrested or wanted for racketeering or drug trafficking as part of a 9 month long investigation donned Operation “X-Force”. Many are tying this case to the June 21st arrest of 9lokkNine who was charged with similar counts of racketeering. 

Those charged include members of the “All Family No Friends” and rival “438” gangs, both located in South Florida. Last October, 9lokkNine was shot at and arrested at the Mall at Millenia in Orlando following a scuffle between the rival gangs. Though 9lokkNine was arrested on an unrelated weapons charge, the altercation was said to be tied to a rivalry between the two gangs. 

Racketeering often accompanies a serious charge, and the future of 9lokkNine and Hotboii’s release seems uncertain. The new RICO charges may be the final nail in the coffin for 9lokkNine, who has a considerable amount of felonies under his belt ranging from gun possession to drug charges. Other notable rappers and celebrities hit with RICO charges in the past include 6ix9ine, Casanova, and Hoodrich Pablo Juan. 

Fans don’t seem to be taking sides, with Instagram users littering the comments with “free them”. Time will tell how the rapper, producer, or the other gang members fare against these charges.

Check out the announcement below. Find out more on 9lokknine here.

Apparently, all Azealia Banks needed to get her shit together was a new (female) manager and some green juice. According to the Harlem-based rapper, she’s back on the right track after finding a female manager, explaining that her previous male managers never took great care of her career.

Sharing a new post on Instagram and quoting a fan who remarked that Azealia has been getting “gradually more sane” in recent weeks, the rapper agreed and attributed her rejuvenation to her new manager.

“This is what having a female manager who isn’t robbing you blind then fucking you in every hole and tossing you off a bridge does,” wrote Azealia. “Less stress, less worry, business sorted – can RELAX at the studio and CREATE from a pure place. Male managers have just always bought this extra layer of romance, jealousy and sabotage to my career that absolutely NO ONE FUCKING ASKED FOR. Y’all really have no clue of the type of shit women go thru in this industry and have no idea the type of traumatic shit I’ve had happen behind the scenes since SEVENTEEN.”

She goes on to say that after she tried bringing up her frustrations to her old manager, he acted out of spite and basically dropped her entire career from his responsibilities. “When they leave your entire business operations in shambles out of spite – to make you *think* you needed them it just turns into misdirected anger, self-loathing, discouragement, and non-productivity,” she added. “My life is MILES better now. I’m healthier, happier, friendlier, wiser, skinnier, more responsible …. even my lotion absorbs better now sis. Like we are ACTUALLY getting a fully mixed mastered and cleared single on July 9th. Who would’ve thought ALL Azealia Banks needed to get her shit together was a green juice and a female manager?!”

You love to see it. Hopefully, Azealia has a successful single release and calms down online because, sometimes, she definitely goes too far when shaming other artists.

Back in May, singer Demi Lovato came out as non-binary, a person who doesn’t identify as the sex that was assigned to them at their birth. “Today is a day I’m so happy to share more of my life with you all — I am proud to let you know that I identify as non-binary & will officially be changing my pronouns to they/them moving forward,” she shared on IG.

Well fast forward to last night when rapper Lizzo was outside a venue in LA signing autographs and taking photos with fans while a paparazzo filmed her and asked her questions. The paparazzo then asked Lizzo if she would perform with Lovato at the upcoming Jazz Fest 2021 in New Orleans.

“Do you have a message for Demi? Should she reach out?” the person asked. Lizzo quickly corrected the paparazzo: “They.” Lizzo again corrected the paparazzo, saying: “Their team. Demi goes by ‘they’.”

The paparazzo then seemed to realize their mistake, and apologized. “Thank you for the correction, you got me,” the paparazzo said.

Shortly after the video made its way online, Demi caught wind of Lizzo’s thoughtful action and thanked her. “@lizzobeeating you f—–g queen I love you, thank you” she wrote on her IG story.

Lovato had initially come out as bisexual to their parents in 2017 before coming out as pansexual in an episode of Joe Rogan’s podcast in March this year. She is not the first major singer to come out as non-binary either. In 2019, Sam Smith also came out as non-binary after what they called “a lifetime of being at war with my gender.”

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If you have followed LeBron James’ career from the beginning, then you would know that he has given us some pretty incredible shoes over the years. One of those sneakers is the Nike LeBron 8, which was one of the first models he wore during his stint with the Miami Heat. Fans continue to love these shoes and with the 10th anniversary of the silhouette going down throughout 2021, it’s not surprising that numerous retros have been brought back to the market.

One of the retros that are set to return is the infamous “South Beach” model which has that tried and true Miami Vice aesthetic to it. In the official photos below, you can see how the shoe has a mostly teal upper, all while we get a black Nike swoosh and tongue, as well as some pink laces to add that extra pop of color. This is a classic Nike LeBron 8 aesthetic and fans are excited to finally get their hands on a pair.

As for the release date, these are set to drop on Wednesday, July 21st, for $200 USD. These are going to be highly sought after, so make sure to be vigilant on release day. Let us know if these are a must-cop, in the comments below.

Image via Nike

Image via Nike

Image via Nike

Image via Nike

Image via Nike

YoungBoy Never Broke Again is one of the most surprising features on Tyler, The Creator’s new album CALL ME IF YOU GET LOST. Nobody predicted that the two rappers would link up to do a song together, considering their conflicting styles. However, they combined their talents to deliver one of the fan-favorite records on CMIYGL, “WUSYANAME” with Ty Dolla $ign.

Performing a pop-up concert in Brooklyn this week, Tyler, The Creator took some time on stage to praise his “WUSYANAME” collaborator, giving a shocking compliment to the currently incarcerated YB. 

Cooper Neill/Getty Images

“Sending love to NBA YoungBoy man, for real,” said the rapper to the audience. “He’s such a sweetheart, dude. We kicked it a few times. That n***a’s a sweet person, my bro. N***as think he’s evil, no, he’s fun.”

We’re not sure how YoungBoy would feel about somebody referring to him as a “sweetheart.” He doesn’t seem like the type that would appreciate such praise, but he is one of the most misunderstood rappers in the business, so perhaps he’ll be pleased to hear the compliments.

One of the most popular rappers in the world, fans have been following YoungBoy’s present legal case with the superstar likely remaining behind bars until his trial. Hopefully, he comes home soon so we can all see his “sweetheart” side too.