LeBron James is perhaps one of the most influential athletes in the entire world and he has a voice that can reach millions of people in one fell swoop. He is easily one of the most recognizable brands in the NBA and when he speaks up about racial injustice, people listen. Of course, there are those who try to disparage LeBron's attempts at exercising his right to free speech although he always perseveres and says what he wants anyway.

Recently, LeBron has been given a lot to speak on following the police killing of George Floyd. Protests continue to develop all across the United States and it's clear that centuries of oppression have boiled over and people want justice. LeBron has come out with numerous statements on this topic over the past few weeks and now, he is offering up some inspirational Nas lyrics.

Nas has taken to social media to formally pay tribute to Kiing Shooter following the Streem Dream Records' artist's tragic death this week. On Tuesday, it was confirmed that Kiing Shooter had passed away, reportedly as a result of coronavirus complications. A fellow Queensbridge native, Shooter was signed to Nas and his brother Jungle's Street Dream Records through Nas' own Mass Appeal label.

On Tuesday, Nas shared a series of photos of himself and Shooter, along with a poem dedicated to the late artist, whose real name was William Daniels:

You made your mark and got your wings
On many hearts, you pulled their strings
From QB to Heaven, the world in between
What a pleasure to have you, in our lives, in this world, in our world
We shared our street dreams.

"Condolences to @kiingshooter family and friends," he concluded the message. Jungle also mourned the loss of Shooter on Instagram. "R.I.P. @kiingshooter my brother," he wrote on a series of photos of the two of them. "I can’t believe it..my condolences to your family bro! Young Queensbridge Legend!!! Can’t Believe this Shit!!!"

Street Dream and Mass Appeal also issued a statement on the passing of Kiing Shooter through their respective social media accounts. "This is never easy," the account for Street Dream wrote. "One of Queensbridge's finest. You shared your city with the world. You never wanted to stop giving more to your fans, more music, more videos, more of you. Your presence could light up the room. Never to be forgotten. Rest in paradise @kiingshooter"

"We are deeply saddened by the loss of Queensbridge's finest," a post from the Mass Appeal Instagram account read. "Kiing Shooter shared his city with the world and never wanted to stop giving more to his fans and his community."

"A loyal, kind hearted soul, Shooter leaves behind a wealth of music and dedicated fans and supporters," the statement continued. "Our hearts and prayers go out to his family during this time." The label also added on Twitter, "You never stopped giving and impacted the hearts of so many. Whether through your music or your presence, you lit up the room. To one of Queensbridge's finest, an artist, and a true visionary, rest in power and paradise @KiingShooter."

Emerging artist Kiing Shooter has reportedly passed away. The rapper, who was signed to Nas and Jungle’s Street Dream Records, was from Queensbridge and was coming into his own musically in recent times. HipHopDX spoke to Big Twins who confirmed that Kiing Shooter had passed away after succumbing to his battle to coronavirus. 

“He was the one that broke through the most, getting hundreds of thousands of views on YouTube and really coming with it. Me and his father go way back … we used to play basketball together and he used to date my older sister,” Twins said. “But Shooter next up to represent the Bridge … I’m stunned today. Rest in peace Shooter.”

Shooter reportedly caught coronavirus after he was hospitalized for liver problems. On April 24th, he shared a photo from a hospital bed revealing that suggested his issues with alcohol have caused major health problems for him. “This Can’t Be Life,” he wrote. “I Said Henny Was Stronger Than The Rona I Ain’t Kno It Was That Strong. No More Drinkin For Me.”

“Kiing Shooter was one of the new guys coming up in Queensbridge,” Big Twins said. “Nas just signed ‘em to Street Dream Records. He was coming with it. What’s crazy is that Alchemist just hit me three days ago, asking me, ‘Who’s this dude Shooter? He’s nice.’”

Along with his affiliation to Nas and Jungle’s Mass Appeal offshoot, he was also very tight with Dave East who he collaborated with on numerous occasions including on Karma 2‘s “Traumatized.”

Rest In Peace, Kiing Shooter. Our condolences to his family and friends. 

Today, T.I. shared the latest episode of his ExpediTiously podcast, which features a conversation with two of the game’s best lyricists — Benny The Butcher and Conway The Machine. While much ground is covered, an interesting moment arises early on when the pair discuss receiving flowers from their peers and predecessors, namely Raekwon and Nas. 

“[Raekwon’s] like a Jordan poster n***a for me,” admits Conway. “Any of the Clan. Any of the OGs who laid the cement down. That’s the shit that mean the most to me, I appreciate the support from the fans and the people but I’m really trying to impress the n***as I grew up inspired by. I want n***as like that saying you killed that shit — I can really believe it cause I know this is a master craftsman himself telling me that, so I know it ain’t no cap. It mean a lot when a n***a like Raekwon throw his arm around the homies and hold us down. That’s next level to me.”

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Tip inquires about Nas, and Benny proceeds to break down their introduction. “It’s crazy, I just met that n***a the other day,” reveals The Butcher. “Kicked it with him. I was kicking it with Swizz and was like ‘introduce me to Esco.’ He talked about how he fucked with the music. He came and did a show and shouted us out on stage. He fuck with [Green Lantern] and Green like our DJ too, we got a mutual relationship with him…[Nas] was just telling us he aware, he fuck with what we do, it’s a breath of fresh air, he’d love to work. I just let him know how he inspired me. It’s crazy to meet that n***a.” 

Benny echoes Conway’s sentiment about being recognized by the genre’s greats, maintaining that receiving such co-signs are the reason he does what he does. And rest assured, they have done exactly that — at this point, it’s easier to count the hip-hop lyricists that haven’t recognized the Griselda movement than the ones who have. Check out the full episode of ExpediTIously below.

Even voices of hip-hop’s new generation like the currently incarcerated Kodak Black understand the artistic brilliance of the legendary Nas. Regarded by many as one of the most brilliant lyricists of all time, a claim backed by projects like Illmatic, It Was Written, Stillmatic, God’s Son,  Hip-Hop Is Dead, and Life Is Good, Nas has been steadily putting in work for nearly thirty years. He’s even got a few new projects on the way, including one recently-unveiled collaborative effort with Hit-Boy.

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Should Kodak Black have his way, there’s still another bit of new Nas music to come. Though Kodak is currently serving forty-six months in prison, that hasn’t stopped him from building a catalog of new music — though it has thrown a cumbersome wrench into his networking abilities. Be that as it may, Kodak has remained vigilant in his efforts to connect, with his latest effort aimed at none other than Nas himself. 

“I’m ILL Forreal,” begins Kodak, addressing his message to the NASIR emcee. “Greetings King! I Got This Song I Need You On. I Said Please Homie! Whenever You Get A Chance Listen To It & Jump On It Fam. I’m ILL like You! P.S. I Just Sent It To You.” While it’s unclear as to whether Kodak’s plea will bear fruit, it’s still cool to see him paying homage to one of the all-time greats. And who knows — perhaps Nas and Kodak would make a solid team, unexpected though the pairing might be. 

It looks like we could expect Nas to drop this year as well. Though he’s been consistently dropping records in the last two years with NASIR and Lost Tapes Vol 2, fans haven’t necessarily been satisfied with the rapper’s output. However, he has continued to tease more music in the stash. More recently, he spoke to Ralph McDaniels during the HipHopLovesNY benefit concert where he shared some top secret details about his forthcoming project.

“There’s some projects going on. One of them, I was working with Hit-Boy and I still am. And then there’s another, the one I’m working on, that I don’t want to disclose. But Hit-Boy, that’s been fun working with him. So he played a snippet during the battles the other day,” he explained. “We got some things.”

The last project Nas made exclusively with one producer was NASIR with Kanye and that was far more underwhelming than what anyone else expected. However, the snippet that Hit-Boy teased on Instagram did sound promising so perhaps, this album will mark the return of Nasty Nas.

Though Nas didn’t reveal any confirmed dates for when we can hear new music, maybe there’s a chance it’ll arrive before the end of the year. Keep your eyes peeled for that.

If you ask Rich The Kid what his favorite albums of all-time are, you might expect him to list off a bunch of projects he’s created over the years. The World Is Yours, The World Is Yours 2, BOSS MAN, maybe a Rich Forever tape thrown in there… Surprisingly enough, the Atlanta/New York rapper actually has a pretty respectable list that will pleasure hip-hop historians around the world.

Out of nowhere, Rich The Kid decided to reveal some of his favorite bodies of work ever released, sharing their cover artworks on his Instagram page.

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“These my top albums ever only rap n***as I ever looked up too,” wrote the 27-year-old.

Placed in no particular order, the rapper highlighted select projects from Nas, Lil Wayne, JAY-Z, and others. The first picture is one of Nas’ God’s Son. He follows that up with one of the greatest debut albums of all time, 50 Cent‘s Get Rich Or Die Tryin’. Then, we get JAY-Z’s The Blueprint, Lil Wayne’s original Tha Carter, the third installment in that series, and Nas’ Stillmatic. 

Rich The Kid is much more of an old head than many would have thought. Are you surprised that he was so heavily influenced by these albums?

She already poured out her heart and soul on Chilombo, but Jhené Aiko returns to open up even more with Ebro Darden. The singer’s recently released album is a hit amongst fans, and Jhené chit-chatted about the record and expressing herself musically in ways that she’d never done on previous projects.

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“Growing up, I was always self-conscious and dealt with a lot of self-esteem issues,” the singer admitted. “I don’t know, I just never liked my face. That was one of the things I dealt with when I was younger. I couldn’t look at pictures of myself. I hated video shoots, photoshoots, all those things. I almost thought that I had that thing, what is it, body [dismorphia] disorder where you just like see yourself very distorted when you look at yourself. Basically, I’m just not in that place anymore.”

There were plenty of noteworthy additions to Chilombo including Ab-Soul, Nas, Future, Miguel, Dr. Chill, John Legend, Ty Dolla $ign, and boyfriend Big Sean. Speaking of her Nas feature, Jhené shared that all of the Chilombo tracks were already full songs before she added any other artists. “I just wanted it to be this full-bodied piece of work,” she said. “There was a point in time when I was like, ‘I don’t need features. I can do a song by myself and it can be tight [with] just me.'”

“But then it’s like, the element of collaborating with people and coming together,” Jhené continued. “I did the full complete song and was like, ‘This beat reminds me—I hear Nas on it.’ He came, I talked to him about the song and what I meant with certain things and he went in and killed it… It was legendary. I can’t believe Nas is right there recording a verse for my album. Wow. Sounding just like Nas.” She also added that if she was “solely” a rapper—because she dropped a few bars on Chilombo—Jhené said, “I would be Ab-Soul.” Check out Jhené Aiko and Ebro Darden below along with her “10k Hours” collaboration with Nas.

In another move to expand her culinary empire, Chef Kelis is moving her talents to Netflix. Music fans know Kelis for her songs like “Milkshake,” “Jerk Ribs” or her “I hate you so much right now!” yelling single “Caught Out There.” Others only know the multi-hyphenated entertainer as rapper Nas‘s ex-wife and mother to his children. However, in 2006, Kelis began her culinary journey to become a saucier, later graduating from Le Cordon Bleu and eventually writing a cookbook.

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Kelis announced on Wednesday (March 18) that her new show, Cooked with Cannabis, will launch on Netflix on 4/20. “Anyone that knows me, knows how much I love my Netflix, so this is a dream come true,” she wrote on Instagram. She added that she didn’t “go looking for” this opportunity but was something that was presented to her. She couldn’t pass it up.

“As a chef, I was intrigued by the food and as an everyday person, I was interested in how powerful this topic is in today’s society,” she continued. “In this country, many things have been used systematically to oppress groups of people, but this is so culturally important for us to learn and grow together. I hope you all will tune in, it’s definitely going to be a good time!”

Nylon reports that Cooked with Cannabis is a cooking competition and Kelis’s co-host, Chef Leather Storrs, told Food & Wine, “Cooked with Cannabis is a show where weed is a seasoning rather than the reason. It’s granular, educational, heartfelt and smart. The contestants had personal and romantic relationships with the herb and they knew its intricacies: medically, chemically, spiritually and as an intoxicant. Further, there was a real sense of community and camaraderie.” Will you be tuning in to this new Netflix show?

“You can’t have a freestyle series without Fabolous steppin’ up and spittin’ some bars,” said Power 106‘s Justin Credible. We’re having a less-than-festive St. Patrick’s Day now that governments have shut down bars and public gatherings. Hoping to keep us entertained, and to continue proving that he’s a force to be reckoned with, Fabolous visited the L.A. Leakers and dropped a fire freestyle that would make Brooklyn proud.

Romain Maurice / Stringer / Getty Images

While rocking a red “Nipsey” hat, Fab dropped a few bars over Nas‘s “Black Republican” beat. “I feel like a rap Republican, red cap like I’m Trumpin’ them / Make loyalty cool again, don’t ship jump with ’em / Haters wanna see greats fall, Humpty Dumpty ’em,” Fabolous raps. “N*ggas bite the hand that feed ’em, I’ll chomp wit’ ’em / I ain’t steppin’ on n*ggas toes, I’m stompin’ ’em / Asshole I don’t like you, I don’t bump wit’ ’em / Trash hoes don’t get recycled, I’m just dumpin’ ’em.”

The veteran New York emcee continued on for another minute and a half with his flawless freestyle, so you can check that out below and listen to Justin Credible sing the rapper’s praises prior to the beat dropping.