Nothing but accolades have been issued from the NBA’s Commissioner, Adam Silver regarding Kobe Bryant’s pending retirement. Sunday evening (November 29), via Twitter, number 24 broke the news to his 7.93M followers. The Lakers’ aging phenom has invested 20 years into basketball and has been christened by Silver as, “one of the greatest players in the history of our game.”
In the penned poem “Dear Basketball,” which is published in its entirety on The Players’ Tribune, Kobe explained the motivation behind his retirement. Although “love” combined with “sweat and hurt” have helped to sustain his dream, the celebrated shooting savant then expressed, “My heart can take the pounding / My mind can handle the grind / But my body knows it’s time to say goodbye.”
Throughout his acclaimed career, among his many accomplishments, Bryant has earned top distinction having as a two-time Olympian and has collected 5 NBA championships.
Check out the slide for Kobe’s poem and Adam Silver’s statement.
With her mixtape You Cain’t Use My Phone out earlier this week and a duet featuring her and Andre 3000 surprising the internet Friday, Erykah Badu’s spotlight was only bigger when the singer hosted this year’s Soul Train Awards earlier today. Badu kicked off the show right by blatantly dissing rapper Iggy Azalea. The “On & On” singer took her phone out while hosting the show, and claimed Iggy Azalea was on the line. Badu then threw shade by saying:
“No, no, no, no, you can come [Join the Soul Train]. Cause what you do definitely is not rap.”
TheShadeRoom happened to capture the clip. Check it out below.
A woman is suing Lil Wayne and his clothing company Trukfit for illegally using her likeness on a widely distributed T-Shirt. According to TMZ, Shanise Taylor found a shirt made by the former Cash Money member’s company featuring a picture of her on the front with the Trukfit brand. Taylor, admitted to participating in a photoshoot in 2011, however, she was not informed that the photos would be used for Wayne’s company.
Taylor also states that the designers of the clothing line altered her originally photo to make it look like she was not wearing any underwear. She also didn’t want to sell her image with the company, claiming that it was “apparel associated with violence and misogyny.”
Taylor is asking that the shirts are taken off the shelves and an unspecific amount in damages.
Tyler, the Creator has always been a super fan of Kanye West and Pharrell, and once again he reminds his own fans his obsession for both artists. Recently, Tyler went to Instagram to post a picture of the two artists with that caption “Dads” under the photo.
With the post gathering a lot of attention, the Odd Future founder also talked about the two during an interview with Breaks Magazine:
I mean seeing those two in a photo together, that really meant a lot to me and there’s not that many photos of those two. There’s one photo in Japan at the Ice cream store opening, a couple of other photos of them floating round too but seeing that photo in 2015 it’s like they’re still chewing it and they’re still friends, it meant something to me.
It’s like no matter what I’ll be I guess I’ll always be creating and I’ll always try to do that at an awesome level, so seeing those two try to do that. I mean I look up to them so much and they know that they’re f###### gods. I love that photo that’s cool!
Both Kanye West and Pharrell was a part of Tyler’s last album, Cherry Bomb, which released earlier this year. They also showed and performed up at the rapper’s annual festival, Camp Flog Gnaw.
It looks like Migos is releasing another mixtape, making this the 6th mixtape the trio released this year. Unlike past projects, the Atlanta rap group is now working with only one producer, named DeeMoney, for the entire project. To celebrate the announcement of their upcoming mixtape, titled Migos Money, Migos releases two new tracks off of the album. Both projects are produced by DeeMoney.
Check out the tracks Story of RN and I Told You below.
A while back, Kanye West showed up on the set of American Idol an performed his hit single “Gold Digger” to the judges on the show. Recently, the show released a promotional trailer for their final season, and Kanye happened to appear on the commercial. We’re guessing that his “Gold Digger” solo will appear on the American Idol when it airs next year.
Monday, November 30th media’s elite and industry VIPs will join together to support this young talent. During the private listening event for Breeding Ground Alumni ERREON LEE, to listen to his new project Eleven Rings. The legendary Jay-Z room at the 40/40 nightclub will filled with members of Global Grind, Chronycle Post, BET.COM, The New York Post, Whats New In Hip Hop, The Source and many more. Hosted by AllHipHop.com’s Steve Raze and Digiwaxx’s CEO, CL along with special appearance by R&B star Chrisette Michele.
Earlier this year, Chief Keef signed to FilmON Music, a company originally founded by Greek billionaire Alki David. Unfortunately, the company has released an official statement about Keef’s record deal being suspended. According to VladTV, the Chicago rapper’s deal has been suspended due to his “shady management,” referring to a recent tour Keef’s camp went on without permission from FilmOn Music.
According to the report, David is not feeling the people that Keef is being associated with. The mogul referred to the rappers “Let It Blow” video, which featured D. Flores, a Las Vegas rapper who was recently charged for allegedly kidnapping and 15-year old and forcing her into prostitution.
Although Chief Keef’s record deal is currently suspended, David still believes that in his career. The tragic situation follows a series of the rapper’s hologram concerts which were originally scheduled in Chicago, Indiana, and California. Unfortunately, they were all shut down by local police three songs in Keef’s performance or less. Chief Keef’s only released project with FilmOn Music was Bang 3.
2015 has been a pretty good year for Chicago’s own, Tink. Not only has the rapper/singer earned a spot in XXL’s 2015 Freshman Class, but her single “Million” has also gave her some clout as an artist on the rise. Recently, Think released a new set of visuals for her song “Medicine.” The song was originally off of her mixtape Winter Diary 3.
Yesterday, Kendrick Lamar and J. Cole cleverly released two freestyles called “Black Friday.” The internet nearly broke when fans found out about the new two tracks. However, there’s a chance that the two rappers are releasing their collaboration efforts sometime in may. According to HNHH, Kendrick’s sister, Kayla Duckworth, may have slipped some info about the album releasing in may. In a recent Instagram post, Duckworth wrote that the “Collab drops Feb 16th.” She also mentioned that she has a part at the end of the project.
“Go check out my brother @kendricklamar song “Black Friday” gift to you guys its definitely some ? as usual! But go listen to it you won’t regret it! and I also did a very small part in it at the end, you have to start somewhere right. ??? #kendricklamar#JCole#Blackfriday”
Unfortunately, the post ended up being removed. Guess we’ll have to wait until next year to hear this possible collaboration.
K.R.I.T. stands for a King Remembered In Time and the homie will be remembered by legions of fans for years to come. The guy is a product of M.I. Crooked Letter, Crooked Letter and he’s world wide now. Peep episode 2 of the tour below.
In a day where lyrics don’t seem to matter, Quadir Lateef makes an impact in the world of Hip Hop with this lyrical masterpiece, Voice of Biggie Mind of Malcolm. Listen below and see why he commands the voice of two resounding figures in Hip-Hop and the civil rights movement respectively.
A$AP Ferg is planning on opening a photo exhibit at this years Art Basel in Miami. According to Complex, the exhibit will include several photos taken by photographer Brock Fetch, and the rapper’s painting honoring the late founder of A$AP Worldwide, A$AP Yams. Ferg’s exhibit is also a collaboration with adidas Skateboarding, which will showcase a new skateboard line with the rapper.
As of now, there’s a trailer promoting the collaboration. Check it out below.
The Soul Train Awards is one of the biggest nights in R&B and Soul! BET & Centric celebrated and honored R&B legends and soul music’s brightest new stars once again at this year’s Soul Train Awards, which taped in Las Vegas on Friday, November 6. The soulful and comedic Erykah Badu hosted the night’s festivities, which included performances from Kenny “Babyface” Edmonds, Brandy, R. Kelly, Jeremih, Fantasia, Cameo, Tyrese, Boyz II Men, After 7, Lion Babe, Jazmine Sullivan, Erica Campbell, Tevin Campbell, V. Bozeman, and more.
Badu slid with ease between amazing songstress and comedic host. She also “banned” all Hip Hop this year to focus solely on the celebration of Soul music! She opened with some of her classic hits, including “Danger,” “On & On,” and “Love Of My Life.” A fan favorite moment was BET/ Centric’s “Soul Cypher” which mirrored the BET Hip Hop Awards cyphers, and featured Badu as the DJ with vocalists K-Ci Hailey, Lalah Hathaway, Chrisette Michelle, and Eddie Levert.
One of the greatest and most prolific songwriters of our time, the legendary 11x Grammy Award-Winning Kenny “Babyface” Edmonds, was honored with the Legend Award and an all star tribute which included many of the stars (listed above) he wrote hits for! Soulful songstress Jill Scott was awarded with the first-ever Lady of Soul Award as well. Babyface looked sharp in his tailored suit as he took a seat at a baby grand piano and proceeded to bring out stars that he had written hits for his tribute. After accepting his legend award, he closed the set with a performance of his hit “Whip Appeal.”
Jill Scott was honored with the ‘Lady of Soul’ Award with a special tribute video from industry’s top executives and artists such as Whoopi Goldberg, Usher, and more! Scott then serenaded the audience with her hits “Back Together,” “Long Walk,” “It’s Love,” “Golden,” “Cross My Mind,” and “Whatever.”
Jazmine Sullivan performed her hit “Let It Burn.” To pay homage, she brought out After 7 to perform their classic hit “Ready Or Not” as Sullivan’s “Let It Burn” sampled it. Erica Campbell took all in attendance to church as she performed her hit single “A Little More Jesus.” Campbell’s performance had the crowd on their feet.
Cameo broke it all the way down with their hits “Candy”, “Word Up,” and more. Comedian G Thang held it down in between sets as he entertained the audience by calling out known singers as well as up and coming acts to give the audience vocal snippets on the mic. Tank, Shaniece and more touched the mic and sent the audience into cheers.
The King of R&B himself, R. Kelly, closed the show with a soulful “block party” on stage as he performed a medley of his hits which included “Bump N Grind,” “Ignition (Remix),” “Your Body’s Callin’ Me,” and many more! The King undeniably has hits for days!
Before all of the show action, AllHipHop.com’s Rea Davis caught up with Avant, MC Lyte, Bridget Kelly, Jazmine Sullivan, After 7, Silento, and more, to discuss who they were most excited to see perform and what they were currently working on. Check out our video recap below.
The show will air on Centric and BET tomorrow Sunday, November 29, 2015 at 8PM ET/PT.
It has been the stuff of folklore: Big Pun and Jay Z had a confrontation at a club.
However, Liza Rios, the widow of the late Big Pun, says the urban tale isn’t what people think it is. Recently, Nore conducted an interview, which verified that Pun hit Jay Z with a bottle at a night club.
Liza Rios shoots the whole thing down. Check out the interview with Doggie Diamonds.
Chicago rapper Lil Bibby has been gaining notoriety for his mixtape game in the Windy City. Today, Bibby goes hits a three-peat by releasing the third mixtape to his Free Crack series. For a prospective rapper out of Chi-Town, Bibby has a plethora of artists from the Drill scene to the A-Listers. “Free Crack features verses from Future, Common, G Herbo, Jeremiah, and even R. Kelly. MetroBoomin and Young Chop are also a couple of the plethora of producers behind the project as well.
Master P and Terrence Howard, two of the most powerful men on television when it comes to empires. Terrence Howard deals with family and adversities on TVwhile Master P deals with it in real life with his real family. Master P becomes one of the top music moguls in the industry, selling over 75 million records, coming from the streets and taking over corporate America. Terrence Howard plays the role of Lucious Lyon on Empire a TV series on Fox, while Percy Miller aka The Boss of All Bosses, plays himself on Master P’s Family Empire reality series on Reelz tonight (Nov. 28th).
There is a possible chance that we will hear at least one Frank Ocean song in the next couple of weeks. A recent report on P&Phas stated that A-Trak may have tweeted about a new song from the elusive singer. The Fool’s Gold Founder recently posted on his timeline earlier about a song titled “White Ferrari.” A-Trak didn’t actually say that the song was by the New Orleans singer, but a recent post on Kanye To The included the same title in a story about one of Ocean’s cousins.
According to the report, there were other bystanders who indirectly spoke out about Frank Oceans album Boys Don’t Cry as well. One of them happen to be a printer from London.
There hasn’t been any official word on whether Frank Ocean’s album will drop this year or nah. The singer told every one that Boys Don’t Cry would drop in July this year. Unfortunately, Ocean didn’t release anything, and it made black twitter extremely mad.
