New Hip Hop News

Over the past year, we’ve seen a major rise in anti-Asian hate crimes across the nation. The attacks are incredibly disturbing and unwarranted, and yet another act of hate was carried out against a 38-year-old Asian man last Saturday in Central Park. The victim, who does not wish to be identified, was enjoying a casual day in the park with his family when the attack occurred, according to police. 

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Around 1pm on the day of the attack, the victim and his family were inside the park when they were approached by the suspect by the Hernshead Rocks on the Upper West Side. According to the victim, something was clearly “off” about the attacker, as he was whispering sexual comments into the victim’s wife’s ear. 

“You can tell that something just wasn’t right,” the victim said. “He was sorta pacing back and forth through this area and he was just kind of muttering to himself…. He started coming closer to my wife and my 5-year-old son, and I could tell he was whispering something into her ear.”

The victim’s wife became incredibly uncomfortable, so the family kept moving to avoid the attacker, but eventually, he cornered them. “Now he’s really in my face and I asked him really politely, ‘Hey let’s practice social distance, you don’t have a mask on, it’s a pretty big park, let’s practice social distance,’” the victim said. “And then he muttered something to me and said, well, ‘You got a mask. That’s an advantage.’ And then he mentioned ‘You guys always have the advantage.’”

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The attacker then punched the victim in the face and ran off. While the victim is in stable condition, his cheek was fractured in two places, and he believes him and his family were specifically targeted. “It’s hard to tell if this was motivated by race,” he said. “However, we believe that we were targeted, and whether it’s through the fetishes of Asian women in general and sort of the stereotypes they carry, we believe that it’s worth it for us to speak up.”

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Spring is in full swing, and so are all of these exciting new releases that will get us through summer. On Friday, Lil Tjay dropped off his second studio album Destined 2 Win, which features the likes of Tyga, Offset, Saweetie, Moneybagg Yo, and Fivio Foreign. Lil Tjay makes a few appearances on this week’s Fire Emoji playlist, showing off with his new tracks “Born 2 Be Great,” “Headshot,” which features Fivio Foreign and Polo G, and “Calling My Phone,” which features 6LACK. 

Polo G, besides being featured on Lil Tjay’s track, also appears on the playlist thanks to his new track “Richer,” which he features on alongside Rod Wave. He also holds spots on the list by being featured on Pop Smoke’s track “Fashion,” which is on the motion picture soundtrack for Boogie. Polo G also holds his own on “GNF (OKOKOK),” which dropped earlier this year. 

BROCKHAMPTON is also officially back with this week’s playlist, returning from their hiatus strong with “BUZZCUT,” which features Danny Brown. The electric track is a precursor to their upcoming album ROADRUNNER: NEW LIGHT, NEW MACHINE, which is slated to release on April 9th.

Check out the latest Fire Emoji playlist below and be sure to subscribe to HNHH on Spotify. 

When the Charlotte Hornets signed Gordon Hayward to a massive contract in the offseason, there were some people out there who felt like the Hornets overpaid. As soon as the season started, those critiques were walked back almost immediately as many realized that Hayward was having a season to remember, and was also a big part of the reason why the Hornets held a playoff spot. Unfortunately, players like LaMelo Ball have suffered from injuries, and now Hayward is too.

According to Shams Charania of The Athletic, Hayward recently suffered a right foot sprain which is going to leave him out of the lineup for four weeks. These types of injuries are no joke and considering Hayward’s injury history, it’s important for him to take all of the time he needs, just so that he doesn’t hurt himself more than he has already.

Numerous star players have been getting injures as of late, including Melo, LeBron James, Anthony Davis, and even Kevin Durant. With Hayward out, the Hornets’ playoff path has become that much harder, especially with the teams behind them looking to take advantage of their weakness.

With the NBA playoffs approaching, keep it locked to HNHH as we will continue to bring you all of the latest news and updates.

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After experiencing numerous delays with the project, Rod Wave finally arrived with his third studio SoulFly late last month. After publically blasting his label Alamo Records earlier in the year and suggesting they were the reason for the album’s delay, he later made peace with them and announced the tracklist for SoulFly soon thereafter. Early projections for the project suggested the ‘trap soul’ lyricist was on pace to sell between 100k-150k copies in his first week, which would effectively secure him a debut at the Billboard Top 200 summit. Official sales figures now confirm that he did just that.   

SoulFly, which is largely featureless aside from one guest appearance from Polo G, moved 139,000 copies in its first week, earning the Florida native his first number one album ever. 

The album overtakes last week’s number one Justin Bieber’s Justice, which moved 154,000 copies in its first week. The rapper proudly shared a screenshot of the sales figures on his Instagram page with a few emojis. 

In addition to the Billboard No.1 album, the 22-year-old also recently celebrated earning a dozen different RIAA Platinum and Gold Certifications. “Still He Got So Far To Go,” he penned in the caption of the celebratory post. 

As for what’s next for the Alamo Records signee, he’s hinted at a potential collaboration between Ed Sheeran, made possible by Charlamagne tha God. 

The Los Angeles Lakers adding one of the best rebounders in NBA history to their ranks with Andre Drummond. They need it, since the team’s star members are injured. Drummond has a career average of 13.8 rebounds a game, putting him up there with the elites. However, Drummond’s Laker debut was spoiled after Brook Lopez stepped on his toe, ripping off an entire toenail. The Milwaukee Bucs went on to win the game after Drummond left with the injury. 

When the Lakers grabbed Gasol during the offseason, he was expecting to start with Montrezl Harrell coming off the bench. However, Gasol has looked absolutely gassed on the floor. The veteran doesn’t look like he’s ready to be a starting center for a championship team, but his move to the bench still hurt. 

“Things can change quickly in the NBA just as they have changed for me. But, I’m committed to this team,” Gasol told the LA Times. “It’s a hard pill to swallow because I know I’m going to be out of the lineup at some point. It’s never easy on a player. As a basketball player, you want to play. You want to contribute, especially when you made that commitment for that reason. But, we’ll see.”

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Kevin Durant missed all of last season with an Achilles injury and in 2021, he was poised to come back and have an MVP-worthy season. While his campaign mostly started out positively, he has now been facing a whole new injury to his hamstring. In fact, Durant has been out of the lineup for over a month, and Nets fans have been concerned about his progress. Recently, there was a report that said Durant would be back sooner rather than later, and now, Steve Nash is confirming the news.

According to reporter Alex Schiffer, Durant could be back in the Nets lineup as soon as Monday, when the team takes on the New York Knicks. That’s a huge matchup for the Nets, and having Durant on the court would prove to be a massive development.

Nash did issue a caveat, however, noting that it was not a done deal for KD and that there are still some hurdles to get over before he makes his way back into the lineup. Regardless, these words seem to indicate that a comeback is on the horizon, which should prove to be huge news for all of you Nets fans out there.

Stay tuned for more basketball news as we will be sure to bring it to you.

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Former New York Giants player Michael Strahan had a great plan for an April Fool’s Day prank. He tricked the world into believing that he fixed his iconic gap-toothed smile through the help of Dr. Lee Gause, a dentist at Smile Design Manhattan. Many were shocked and disappointed that Strahan filled his gap, which was considered to be one of the staples of his look by many. On Thursday, even though Strahan confirmed that him filling in his gap was a big prank, he says new customers have created a bonanza for his dentist. 

Dr. Lee Gause says he’s been flooded with calls from people who want to fix their smiles, similar to what Gause did with Michael. The customers have said that although they understand the situation with Strahan was a prank, they don’t care and still want Dr. Gause to work on their teeth. More than 100 people have called Dr. Gause, wanting to fix their screwed up teeth. 

Dr. Gause says some prospective patients have even already booked flights to his clinic in Manhattan, so there’s no doubt that Strahan’s prank made an impact on some people who are also insecure about their pearly whites. Dr. Gause’s cost runs anywhere from $5K to $50K, so getting a new set of chompers from him is no laughing matter. Dr. Gause says, however, that if Strahan ever asked him to fill the gap in his teeth for real, he wouldn’t do it because his smile is so iconic. 

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Although Nike is suing the company behind Lil Nas X’s “satan shoes,” the company has no problem ripping and repurposing other company’s work for their own gain. The sneaker and sports apparel giant created a colorway inspired by the USPS shipping products, and the mail service isn’t too happy about it. 

The new Air Force 1 Experimental doesn’t have the USPS logo, but it obviously rips the styling and colors to give the shoe its exclusive look. The USPS released a statement addressing Nike’s Air Force 1 Experimental, claiming that they are willing to “take whatever actions it deems necessary to protect its valuable IP rights.”

The statement states, “The Postal Service, which receives no tax dollars for operating expenses and relies on the sale of postage, products and services to fund its operations, protects its intellectual property. Officially licensed products sold in the marketplace expand the affinity for the Postal Service brand and provide incremental revenue through royalties that directly support it. Sales of unauthorized and unlicensed products deny support to the hardworking women and men of the Postal Service.” 

Because the USPS is essentially a government entity, Nike may find a hard time winning a legal battle against them. Then again, Nike has enough money to make it an interesting fight.