New Hip Hop News

President Joe Biden has been wishy-washy regarding his stance on the federal legalization of marijuana for the last several years but, this week, his actions spoke louder than his words when multiple White House staffers reported that they were asked to resign or were demoted because of their past marijuana use.

Alberto Ortega/Getty Images

According to claims being made about Biden’s administration, a number of White House staffers were fired or demoted after admitting to previous marijuana usage during their background checks, despite being informed that it wouldn’t pose an issue. According to the reports, the firings even affected staffers who live in the fourteen states where weed has been legalized.

Biden’s staff was reportedly asked to disclose their personal history with marijuana use during their background checks, but they were told that the information would be “overlooked”. With Friday’s news that the staffers were actually asked to resign, that much was obviously untrue. White House Director of Management and Administration Anne Filipic reportedly called staffers and asked those who admitted to weed use to resign or be placed in a remote work program. 

Drew Angerer/Getty Images

“This decision was made following intensive consultation with career security officials and will effectively protect our national security while modernizing policies to ensure that talented and otherwise well-qualified applicants with limited marijuana use will not be barred from serving the American people,” said a White House statement on the matter.

What do you make of this news?

[via]

Every single year, there is a massive debate surrounding the NBA MVP award. For years now, LeBron James has gone without winning the award, despite consistently being one of the top players in the league, year in and year out. His teammates have taken note of these snubs, including Kyle Kuzma who spoke to ESPN about the MVP award following a win against the Hornets last night. Essentially, Kuzma thinks the whole process is political.

“The NBA MVP is a very political award,” Kuzma said. “Bron should have been the MVP at least eight, nine, 10 times. Everybody knows that.”

Ashley Landis-Pool/Getty Images

LeBron was asked a follow-up about the MVP and as he noted, he does take a lot of stock in the MVP award, and every single year, he hopes to hear his name called. Clearly, LeBron is still looking to win one.

“It is something,” LeBron noted. “…I’m not going to sit here and say it doesn’t mean anything to me… Being in the running, hearing my name with some of the best basketball players in the league this year again, it would mean a lot…it would mean an unbelievable thing for me, especially at this point in my career.”

At this point in the season, there are still a lot of players who are in contention for the award although LeBron is certainly one of them. If he continues his current pace, it will be hard to vote against him.

Mike Ehrmann/Getty Images

[Via]

Lonzo Ball has made a lot of noise throughout his short NBA career, even if that noise hasn’t always been extremely positive. He is in the midst of his fourth season, and rumors have been swirling when it comes to trade deadline movement. Ball and the New Orleans Pelicans don’t seem like the best match these days, and even LaVar Ball is calling for his son to be dealt.

Now, according to Marc Stein of The New York Times, it seems as though the Los Angeles Clippers are looking to make a play on Lonzo. The team has needed a playmaking point guard for a while now, and Ball would be the perfect move to make this Clippers team that much better on offense and defense.

As Stein noted, such a trade would probably need a third team, although there are always teams looking to make these kinds of deals at the deadline. If Lonzo is truly unhappy in NOLA, it serves the Pelicans’ best interests to trade him and March 25th presents the best opportunity for that.

There are no guarantees as to what happens here, so keep it locked to HNHH as we will continue to bring you the latest updates surrounding the trade deadline.

Justin Ford/Getty Images

Though HBO has spawned no shortage of incredible television shows, never have they housed a cultural phenomenon on the scale of Game Of Thrones. The network’s adaptation of George R.R. Martin’s fantasy series A Song Of Ice And Fire went on to take home 59 Emmy Awards, forever immortalizing itself as one of television’s GOAT contenders — though a controversial final season certainly tarnished its legacy for some. 

Despite a few rough patches, HBO clearly still holds Thrones in high regard, to the point where they’re essentially going all-out on the world of Westeros. With the upcoming spin-off series House Of The Dragon already slated for 2022, a new report from IGN indicates that three additional spin-off series are currently in development. 

Don Arnold/WireImage/Getty Images

The first apparently holds the working title of 10,000 Ships, and is set to follow the adventures of Princess Nymeria, the founder of Dorne, one thousand years prior to Game Of Thrones. The report also tells of another series set in the slums of Flea Bottom, a slum in King’s Landing populated by the impoverished and criminally inclined. Lastly, the third spin-off actually has a developer attached — Rome creator Bruno Heller — and will follow Lord Corlys “the Sea Snake” Velaryon, a man said to be the “greatest seafarer” in the world of Westeros and beyond. 

It should be noted that this in no way indicates that all three spin-offs will make it off the ground. Lest we forget, HBO actually shot a pilot episode of a Naomi Watts-led prequel series only for the network to pull the plug entirely. Still, the fact that so many different spin-offs are currently being developed bodes well for Thrones fans, as it appears that HBO is determined to line up a near-endless supply of Westeros-set content. Are you excited for a return to George R.R. Martin’s vast and complex world? 

DJ Khaled has been in “album mode” for the last few weeks, linking up with some of the world’s most popular artists, including Travis Scott, Diddy, and more, for his upcoming studio album Khaled Khaled. The project has seemingly been in the works for a couple of years, but the mega-producer appears poised to drop the project in the coming months, continuing to reveal his collaborators on social media. He’s also been promoting his latest capsule collection with Dolce & Gabbana. 

On any given day, not just Thursdays, DJ Khaled is known to dive into his picture books to share some of his favorite memories with the world. The 45-year-old global superstar has been around the music industry for decades so he’s witnessed a lot of greatness. He loves to periodically go back in time to reflect on his legendary career. This week, Khaled looked back on when he was just a young lad, sharing a picture of himself on his soccer team as a teenager. 

Posting a shot of him as a budding soccer star on his team back in the day, DJ Khaled added a current-day video of him back on the field, practicing his footwork. And it may come as a surprise to some but, in 2021, DJ Khaled still has some pretty fancy footwork on the pitch. He likely wouldn’t hold his own in a professional game but, in a quick match-up with friends, he might end up sliding right by you to score.

Take a look above at DJ Khaled’s latest throwback and stay tuned for more news on his upcoming album.

Rick Diamond/Getty Images