Rapper Juelz Santana
was recently tapped to be featured in Nike’s new marketing campaign, "The
Second Coming: Our Game, Our Time,” which features NBA basketball stars LeBron
James, Kobe Bryant, Steve Nash, Amare Stoudemire, Rasheed Wallace, Jermaine O’Neal,
Tony Parker, Paul Pierce, Shawn Marion and Chris Paul.The
new :60 second montage was produced by Nike, Wieden & Kennedy and acclaimed
music video director Dave Meyer. Dipset
member Juelz Santana and super producer Just Blaze provided the soundtrack for
the commercial, which debuted last week in major markets across the country. "The commercial is so powerful without no
music behind it, I kinda had an idea once they told me what they wanted, they
said ‘Juelz we just want you to do you but we want you to make that power’"
Santana revealed to AllHipHop.com. "And that’s what Dipset and Juelz Santana
is known for, just making powerful music. It wasn’t hard. I sent them the first
version. It was Nike – there were a couple of things I couldn’t say and I had to
take out, but other than that, they loved it, they loved the energy and they loved
the feel behind the song.On Jan. 29, Nike celebrated the new ad campaign at Niketown New York, where
Juelz and Kobe Bryant were on hand to speak to local high school students and
basketball fans about the importance of hard work to achieve greatness in sports.
While
Bryant unveiled his newest signature basketball shoe from Nike – the Zoom
Kobe II, Santana revealed details about his upcoming album with Cash Money Records’
star artist, Lil’ Wayne. The
collaboration, titled I Can’t Feel My Face, is finished, according to Santana.
Santana,
who is from the Bronx, said that a recently leaked mixtape was just a taste of
what he had in store with Lil Wayne, who hails from New Orleans. "That’s done, everybody who thinks that not happening, we did a mixtape,
and the mixtape leaked," Santana told AllHipHop.com. "We did the tour
together and we got over 40 records, so that’s definitely going down."Santana
said the two would select the best of the songs they recorded to produce I
Can’t Feel My Face, which is due in stores this year. "It’s
something that’s never been done before, a dude from the north and a dude from
the south, especially with the south being so hot, and me being one of the hottest
dudes in the north," Santana boasted. "We just gonna let the music talk.
Me and Weezy just put out a single ‘Black Republicans.’ We Black Democrats running
those Black Republicans out of office."Santana
is putting the finishing touches on the follow up to his hit album What the
Game’s Been Missing, which is certified platinum. The
album, Santana’s third, is titled Born To Lose, Built to Win (The Reagan Era).
Santana
explained that the album’s title is reference to the time Ronald Reagan served
as President of the United States (1981–1989), which is also the time period
crack cocaine hit the streets of inner cities in the country like a plague."The
Reagan era was the biggest crack era ever, and I feel like I am human crack in
the flesh. When I say that I don’t want people to confuse it. My music is so potent,
you get addicted to it."Santana
said that he would be finished Born To Lose, Built to Win (The Reagan Era)
and would turn it in to Def Jam, Santana’s recording home.
