Getting a co-sign from Jay-Z probably feels surreal for an artist that has been hustling to make it for years. Known globally as one of the best rappers of all time, the Roc Nation head honcho is respected as one of the premier faces in the music industry. His ideas surpass music though, heading over into all aspects of sports and entertainment.

As we near the midway point of the year (already!?). Jay-Z gathered together a list of his personal favorite songs of 2020 so far, showing love to some of the usual characters, and also taking notice of some younger talents.

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The list starts off with Lil Baby and "Emotionally Scarred," before the Atlanta rapper appears again with "Sum 2 Prove" and "Grace" with 42 Dugg. Jay-Z is also clearly a big fan of what Polo G has been bringing to the table, shouting out the rising star for "Heartless" with Mustard. At #3, his wife makes an appearance on the remix of Megan Thee Stallion's "Savage." Elsewhere on the 20-song gathering, Jay Electronica makes several appearances, which makes total sense given Hov's involvement in the release of his debut album.

Jay-Z was also busy listening to some of the newer releases, including Future's High Off Life, of which he included "Hard To Choose One." Drake and The Weeknd earn their spots before Westside Gunn, Boldy James, Benny The Butcher, and Conway of Griselda impress the legend.

Check out the full playlist below.

LeBron James is easily one of the greatest athletes of our generation and that apparently extends past the NBA. In a recent interview on the Uninterrupted podcast, Bron detailed the concerns surrounding the 2011 NBA lockout that nearly resulted in his foray into the NFL. The Lakers star, who was with the Miami Heat at that point, revealed that he began to train in anticipation that he might go into the NFL. “I had no idea how long the lockout was going to be,” he said. “We really started to actually train to be a football player when it came to October or November,” he said.

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He revealed that his entire workout routine shifted towards going into the NFL such as adding more weights when bench pressing and sled pushing. Maverick Carter chimed in and said that the shift in work outs wasn’t for nothing either since the Dallas Cowboys had reached out with an offer. 

Ultimately, the NBA resumed and Lebron was back on the court but he admits that he’s continued to have dreams about joining the NFL.

“It’s crazy because I actually never run on the field in my dreams,” James said. “It always gets to the point where I’m either in the locker room or getting dressed or talking about or seeing the fans and as soon as I’m about to run on the field, something else happens in my dream. It’s like something that it always happens like that.”

Despite his recent antics, Bow Wow has an illustrious career that stems from the Death Row era. He's worked alongside JD, joined the Cash Money team, served as a host on 106 & Park, and let's not forget his leading role in Like Mike. However, all good things come to an end including Bow Wow's career in hip-hop. 

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After a fan asked Bow Wow whether he's still considering retiring after his next project, the rapper confirmed that this is true. Though it's not necessarily because he's done with making music but more so to make sure that he's fully attentive in his daughter's life, especially as he pivots more towards television and film. "Fuck yes! I have to get shai ready she wants to follow in my footsteps so i have to shift my hustle. She next up! We are going to own tv and film. Daddy daughter duo like no other," he proclaimed on the 'Gram.

Thankfully, this will happen after his next album which could very well be his upcoming collab with Omarion. The two were scheduled to hit the road on the Millenium Tour but of course, coronavirus has postponed all live music events, for the most part. However, he did reveal that their joint project would arrive this year. 

"Me and O have been recording... might drop it soon not sure. I gotta callem today," he replied to a fan. 

Peep the tweets below.

It seems like the United States will be dealing with COVID-19 for the indefinite future. The Texas Department of Health reported that just this Saturday, amid the relaxation of social distancing protocols, over 1,800 new coronavirus cases have been reported, the highest single-day increase of confirmed cases since the pandemic began.  

Before this massive single-day increase, the average daily number of new infections was about 1,227, and the state had never seen an increase greater than 1,500 in one day. Texas began lifting social distancing protocols in early May and allowing restaurants, malls, movie theaters, and stores to open at 25% capacity. Gyms will be able to open, starting today at 25% capacity.  

On the increase in confirmed COVID-19 cases, Governor of Texas Greg Abbott said in a statement that this increase in confirmed cases was expected with an increase in testing being done. “These teams conducted a site survey of high-risk areas to begin testing employees in meat packing facilities,” Abbott continued, “Today, Texas is seeing the results of those tests and will continue to see these results in targeted areas over the next two weeks.” 

Even with these increases in cases, Gov. Abbott is expected to announce plans on Monday to move forward with reopening the state and allowing businesses to operate at an increased 50% capacity.

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At this point, Gucci Mane doesn’t care about what’s happening around him. He doesn’t necessarily fit in with the standard way of rolling out and announcing full-length projects, which leaves us wondering if this is his way of telling us to keep an eye on him for the next little while.

We already know about the 1017 compilation project, titled Cold Day In Hell, which is supposedly dropping at the end of this week. It’s unclear if that’s still in the cards. There is already some cover artwork floating around for that mixtape, so the fans are a little confused as to what just popped up on Guwop’s social page.

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Sharing a picture with the crew at the gas station, Gucci Mane not-so-subtly flaunted his wealth by posing in front of a red Ferrari and a red Rolls-Royce. His caption, “Bouldercrest Shawty,” sounds like it could definitely be an album title and, given the fact that he added a parental advisory sign in the bottom corner, it looks like that might be the case.

Is this a new album announcement or did the artwork for Cold Day In Hell just get switched up at the last minute?

Keep an eye out for Gucci Mane’s next moves. Something is up.

Once a Regulator, always a Regulator — it’s no wonder that Warren G has something to say about hip-hop’s current state of affairs. After all, his longtime friend and collaborator has been embroiled within an ongoing feud with the notorious Tekashi 6ix9ine, who has taken it upon himself to disrespect the legendary OG at every turn. Given that Warren and Snoop have been loyal since the days of 213, the group they formed with Nate Dogg in the early nineties, it’s no wonder that the legendary producer isn’t exactly pleased with the way things have been shaking out. 

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Taking to Instagram, Warren let fly a heavy critique of hip-hop culture, with the implication pointing to 6ix9ine as the catalyst. “Dam is anybody loyal these days or have morals,” he writes. “Sheesh the game is baffled from the streets to business and politics.” It didn’t take long before Snoop came through with his own take, and in that case, it’s abundantly clear what he’s referring to. “Rat infested,” he writes, a clear swipe at his latest foe.

Of course, it goes without saying that many of hip-hop’s favored values seem to be eroding, at least in the public eye. Case in point, Tekashi 6ix9ine has since become synonymous with the cardinal sin of snitching, and he currently stands as one of the biggest rappers in the world. A far cry from the days that “Regulators” valued qualities like morality, loyalty, and integrity. Where do you stand? Is this simply a case of an old-head unwilling to adapt, or a genuine danger to hip-hop culture?

Things are getting dicey for Tristan Thompson, and now he’s taking the woman who has accused him of being the father of her child to court. In the past week, there have been conflicting reports regarding the paternity of a child by a woman named Kimberly Alexander. It’s reported that the kid is a little over four-years-old, and while rumors have circulated that the NBA player had a one-night-stand with Kimberly eight years ago, she’s responded to the gossip saying that’s just untrue.

Kimberly was reportedly sent a cease and desist letter by both Khloé Kardashian and Tristan Thompson, and according to Page Six, the ex-couple’s attorney told the outlet that Thompson has already taken a paternity test that determined he wasn’t the father of Kimberly Alexander’s’ child. She claims that both Khloé and Thompson somehow tampered with the paternity results. It’s now being reported that Thompson is putting his money where his mouth is and taking his accuser to court, as he’s filed a libel lawsuit against her.

The court documents reportedly state that Kimberly “is a wannabe social media influencer and pornographic model/performer who is so desperate to achieve her fifteen minutes of fame that she recently fabricated a false claim that NBA star/Cleveland Cavaliers center/power forward Thompson is the father of her nearly five-year-old son.”

The paperwork also says that even though a paternity test has already ruled out Thompson, “Alexander has persisted in publicly proclaiming that Thompson is her child’s father and she has maliciously accused Thompson of being a deadbeat dad, ‘neglecting’ and failing to take financial responsibility for the child since birth… To quote Michael Jackson, ‘The kid is not [his] son.’” Thompson is asking for court costs and unspecified damages.

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Whew, boy. Usher has certainly ruffled a few feathers. While speaking with Swizz Beatz about the Verzuz series, Swizz mentioned that there has been an overwhelming amount of requests to see Nicki Minaj face-off with Lil Kim. Usher replied, “Nah, see…Nicki is a product of Kim.” The pair weren’t able to explore that conversation because Swizz spoke over him to say that Usher was already trending on Twitter.

Unsurprisingly, Nicki Minaj fans responded swiftly to the R&B singer’s remarks, and later, Tamar Braxton passionately weighed in on the topic. “I think of them as two different entities,” Tamar said. “I don’t give a damn, what come, what may, Lil Kim did not give Nicki Minaj her talent. So, therefore, who are you to take Nicki Minaj talents away from her?… You can’t get too involved with the Barbz or the Queen Bees, I don’t know the stans, but you can’t get too involved with it because that’s not fair.”

Tamar added that both Nicki Minaj and Lil Kim helped pave the way for this generation’s women in rap as she continued to criticize anyone who draws comparisons to “discredit [Nicki’s] talent.” Swipe through to watch Tamar Braxton share her opinions below.

Prior to this last week, it seems as if we didn’t hear much from Summer Walker. She’d been in the media regarding her relationship with London On Da Track, but the R&B singer wasn’t accumulating as much attention as she had in the last several months. Then, Summer Walker burst back onto the scene with the announcement of a new album and a few sexy photos—then came the rumors that she’d had cosmetic surgery. While the public debates Summer’s looks, Trey Songz chatted about wanting to sign the singer way before she gained notoriety in the music scene.

“Funny story about Summer Walker, actually a lotta people don’t know. Actually, nobody knows,” Trey Songz revealed. “I got this app on my phone that I store music in, unreleased music. Everything from like, people sending me songs that they would like me to listen to or like me to cut or feature on, et cetera. So, I had this song that I would listen to and I forgot who sent it to me.” Trey said he occasionally listened to the track, “Girls Need Love,” but he still couldn’t figure out where it came from.

“I text every producer that I know personally like, ‘Do you know who’s singing this song? I love this girl. I wanna sign this girl,'” he continued. “And then like, two years later, after all that, Summer Walker comes out with ‘Girls Need Love.’” Trey Songz added that he would even play the track for his friends who enjoyed it as well, but not knowing the singer put his plans on pause. So, R&B artists out there, you never know if Trey Songz is just bopping around for years, loving your music but not knowing who you are. Watch his clip below.

Over the last few years, Jordan Brand has been ramping up the number of colorways it has produced for the Air Jordan 11 Low. Of course, we all know that the OG Jordan 11 is a classic but there is something to be said for the low top which carries quite a bit of fashionable integrity. It’s the perfect shoe for the summer and doubles as both a basketball sneaker and a tennis shoe. With that being said, it shouldn’t be surprising that Jumpman is always trying to innovate and bring new models to the sneakerheads.

Thanks to @zsneakerheadz, we now know that another new Air Jordan 11 Low is supposedly supposed to drop next April for women only. This model is going to be called “Bright Citrus” and it certainly lives up to its name. As you can see, the upper is mostly white while the patent leather around the upper is orange. From there, we have an icy blue outsole that adds some contrast amongst the rest of the sneaker.

Overall, this is promising to be a pretty dope release although it remains to be seen whether or not it will drop on time. Stay tuned for updates regarding this shoe as we will be sure to bring them to you.