Zion Williamson barely got to play during his rookie season but when he did get to step on the court, he made the most of his opportunities. It has become quite clear that he is a star in the NBA and if he stays healthy, he has MVP potential. Fans are already obsessed with the kid and the NBA, as well as Take-Two Interactive, are well-aware of this. 

Williamson's stardom was on full display today as he was the main focus of the NBA 2K21 PS5 reveal. Of course, today was the day that Sony finally unveiled the PS5 and NBA 2K21 was a part of it all. In the clip below, you can see Zion in video game form as he stands in an open gym, waiting to perform a monstrous dunk. All we hear is dribbling and breathing before a song comes in and Williamson does his thing.

Right out the gate, rising Detroit rapper 42 Dugg makes a loud statement on his most recent collaboration with his mentor Lil Baby.

"'Fore I go broke like Joc/Fuck with that dog like Vick/Not that rock, that pit," rhymes 42 Dugg to begin the track. One of the six songs added to the deluxe edition of Lil Baby's #1 album My Turn, people have been waiting to hear what Yung Joc would say about being labeled "broke." Finally, he's coming through with his response to the line, claiming that he's actually a fan of the song.

"I like the song," said the rapper. "And the first verse they say, 'Fore I go broke like Joc' and somebody say 'I don't think it was a diss.'" He pauses to reflect how ridiculous it would be to not think this is a diss.

42 Dugg likely came up with the bar after seeing Yung Joc driving Uber at the beginning of the year. 

Despite the diss, Joc wants to tell people that he's far from broke.

"The funniest part about that is I understood," he adds. "At the end of the day, like, I'm far from that word. For real."

Peep his reaction to the song below.

Halle Bailey was the subject of plenty of racist scrutiny last summer after the news broke that she’d been cast as Ariel in the upcoming live-action remake of The Little Mermaid, but the talented artist did not let any of the hate get to her. Halle appeared alongside her older sister, Chloe, who together make up the group Chloe x Halle, on the cover of Teen Vogue this week. In their cover story, Halle was asked about the negative criticism she received by folks who took issue with a Black woman playing the fictional mermaid.

Emma McIntyre/Getty Images for The Recording Academy

“We’ve always learned to just keep our heads up no matter the situation,” she said. “No matter what anybody has to say about you…just keep pushing.”

Halle officially landed the exciting role last July after director Rob Marshall conducted “an extensive search” to find the perfect Ariel. “It was abundantly clear that Halle possesses that rare combination of spirit, heart, youth, innocence, and substance — plus a glorious singing voice — all intrinsic qualities necessary to play this iconic role,” he said at the time. While many were thrilled for Halle, others decided to turn a happy situation sour, and project their own racist views onto her casting. Some even had the nerve to start a petition titled #NotMyAriel in an attempt to have Disney recast the character with a white actress that they felt would more closely resemble the animated fish-human hybrid. In response, Disney’s cable network, Freeform, wrote “An open letter to the Poor, Unfortunate Souls” who were vehemently against their casting choice.

All the while, Halle stayed positive. “I feel like I’m dreaming, and I’m just grateful,” she told Variety at the time of her casting. “I don’t pay attention to the negativity. I just feel like this role is something bigger than me. It’s going to be beautiful.”

Not much new music was released in the last week as singles and albums were pushed back out of respect for the protestors risking their lives to combat anti-Black racism in the middle of a pandemic. Still, a number of people have been looking for music to entertain them during this historic time. We saw some artists release new protest anthems in support of the Black Lives Matter movement, and others drop their regularly-planned programming. Our staff gathered up our personal favorites from the last several weeks for the new update of the TIDAL Wave playlist.

We start off with a stretch of music that will wake you right up, including Meek Mill's new single "Otherside of America" and select sounds from Run The Jewels, Flatbush Zombies, and Freddie Gibbs. This week's update is filled with RTJ4 tracks, also complemented by a number of selections from FBZ's new album now, more than ever. 

Elsewhere on the tracklist, there are offerings from Gunna, Lil Durk, Sleepy Hallow, Conway, Joell Ortiz and KXNG Crooked, Leon Bridges, Lil Yachty, and more.

Listen to the playlist below and check out our individual picks. Be sure to also sign up for your free trial at TIDAL here.

Alex Zidel (Editorial)

Gunna - DOLLAZ ON MY HEAD (feat. Young Thug)
Lil Durk - 3 Headed Goat (feat. Lil Baby & Polo G)
RMR - I'M NOT OVER YOU
Lil Yachty - Whew' Chile
SAINt JHN - Roses Remix (feat. Future)

Alex Cole (Editorial)

Sleepy Hallow - Don't Panic (feat. Sheff G)
Sleepy Hallow - 6am In NY
Run The Jewels - JU$T (feat. Pharrell Williams & Zack de la Rocha)
Run The Jewels - never look back
Flatbush Zombies - herb

Lynn S (Editorial)

Leon Bridges - Sweeter (feat. Terrace Martin)
DJ Drewski - Water (feat. DreamDoll, Rubi Rose, & Molly Brazy)
Flatbush Zombies - herb
Flatbush Zombies - iamlegend
Flatbush Zombies - dirty elevator music

Cole Blake (Editorial)

Armand Hammer - Frida (feat. Quelle Chris & Fielded)
Armand Hammer - Ramesses II (feat. Earl Sweatshirt, Fielded & Moor Mother)
Armand Hammer - Bitter Cassava (feat. Pink Siifu)
Run The Jewels - JU$T (feat. Pharrell Williams & Zack De La Rocha)
Run The Jewels - never look back

Mitch Findlay (Editorial)

Run The Jewels - holy calamafuck
Run The Jewels - out of sight (feat. 2 Chainz)
Run The Jewels - pulling the pin (feat. Mavis Staples & Josh Homme)
Flatbush Zombies - dirty elevator music
Conway - Front Lines

Paul Pirotta (Sales)

Meek Mill - Otherside Of America
Freddie Gibbs & The Alchemist - 1985
Joell Ortiz & KXNG Crooked - Memorial Day

Mike Rapp (Sales)

Run The Jewels - out of sight (feat. 2 Chainz)
Meek Mill - Otherside Of America
Run The Jewels - JU$T (feat. Pharrell Williams & Zack de la Rocha)

Aron A (Editorial)

Jorja Smith - Rose Rouge
Apollo Brown & Che Noir - '94
Yaya Bey - sida A/ juu rant

—-

It’s been quite awhile since we last came through with an instalment of our artist-breaking series, and a lot has happened since that time. Unbelievable amounts of stuff, really– our last edition happened in July 2019. 2020 barely had a chance to start, and we were hit with the global pandemic that is COVID-19. While the pandemic is not over, we’re now in the midst of an even more important battle, with wide-spread racism and exposing all forms of police brutality. It’s heavy, to say the least.

Nonetheless, we’re hoping to brighten a few people’s day by breaking back our music discovery feature, and showcasing as-of-yet unheard artists for our readers. 

If it’s your first time seeing this feature, here’s a quick breakdown of how it works.

• Every week, or every other week, or maybe every three months every 9 months, each of our staff members submit a song from an artist we’ve never yet (or else, barely ever) posted on HNHH (so get your song into the hands of a staff member, and wow them with your musical prowess) 
• The song does not need to be new, in fact, most of the time, it’s an older record
• This can include music videos
• We listen to all the submissions as a team 
• Eachstaff member votes on their top three favorite submissions out of that week’s batch of submissions 
• We cull the votes, and feature the top 3 on the website, in a nifty little article like this
• We also always user/fan-submitted music as well. We go through all our Soundcloud messages and pick out the best submissions we find to include in our meeting (please send us your most fire submissions, it can be your song or someone else’s).
• When we’re in submission-listening-mode, you will know because we send out a tweet like this. See the tweet or IG post, submit a song.

This week, after a long hiatus, the three most-voted artists are all staff-submitted records. Stay tuned for the next instalment, keep an eye on our socials so you can submit your record.

We’d love to find out from the list below you’d like to hear more of on the site – vote at the bottom to tell us!

Artist: Mere Raj *Staff Submission*

Song: “DND”

Location: Charleston, South Carolina

Sounds: Don Toliver meets Bryson Tiller meets R&B

Discover more music: Mere Raj’s Soundcloud

Posted before: No 

Artist: Nasaan *Staff Submission*

Song: “Ben/Frank”

Location: Detroit

Sounds: Cold story-telling

Discover more music: Nasaan’s Soundcloud

Posted before: Yes

Artist: Chris Elite *Staff Submission*

Song: “Draco” feat. 22gz

Location: Brooklyn, New York

Sounds: New York drill, a la Sheff G

Discover more music: Chris Elite’s Soundcloud

Posted before: No 

Given all that has happened in the last couple of weeks, there haven't been too many high-profile album releases. Labels and artists have pushed back their scheduled singles and projects out of respect as there is something much more important happening in America. With the lack of new music being uploaded to streaming services, rap fans have been listening to their favorite albums from 2020 and, as a direct result, it looks like Lil Baby might end up at the #1 spot next week.

Kevin Winter/Getty Images

According to the most recent chart projections, Lil Baby is set to reclaim his spot at the #1 placement on the Billboard 200. Moving approximately 60,000 equivalent album units of My Turn in the last seven days, the Atlanta rapper seems poised to get back on top, upstaging Lady Gaga and her latest release. He's currently got some close competition but he's inching out the second position ever-so-slightly.

Lady Gaga just dropped her new album Chromatica, which is battling Lil Baby's My Turn for the top spot. As it stands, she will remain strong at #2 with approximately 55,000 equivalent album units moved.

It looks like Lil Baby released an album that will stand the test of time. Is My Turn one of your favorite projects of the year?

Sony’s long-awaited PlayStation 5 reveal is finally underway, and throughout the extensive presentation, many of the console’s upcoming games are set to be put on display. With over a million people tuning in, Sony made sure to bring out the big guns, using the opportunity to outline some of the titles gamers can look forward to in the console’s first months. 

Off the bat, a Grand Theft Auto 5: Expanded And Enhanced is confirmed for PS5, set to arrive in 2021. Once that trailer concludes, the game footage begins, officially confirming Spider-Man: Miles Morales with some snazzy gameplay footage — look for that to arrive around the console’s launch this Holiday season.

The upcoming Gran Turismo 7 also gets some shine, revealing some truly impeccable graphics and what promises to be a compelling campaign mode. Next up is Ratchet And Clank: Rift Apart, a brand new mainline title in the beloved platforming series. The onslaught continues with more confirmations, including Square Enix’s next title Project Athia, a promising-looking fantasy-action game. Afterward is a somber teaser for Stray, a game that appears to follow a cat in the midst of a dystopian robot society — look for that in 2021. 

Be sure to catch the rest of the presentation, which is sure to include even more new titles, features, and possibly even a glimpse at the console’s final design. For those planning on copping the PS5 at launch, which of these new games are piquing your interest the most?

50 Cent went after Randall Emmett during his “Fofty” phase, playing the role of a debt collector and giving his foes minimal time to pay him whatever they owed. After the television producer recovered his debt with Fofty, the feud was put to the side. However, Emmett’s fiancée Lala Kent continues to bring up their issues and the rapper is tired of hearing about it.

During a sit-down talk with Andy Cohen, Lala Kent explained why she and Randall Emmett’s feud was not shown on Vanderpump Rules. 

“I mean, I won’t say more than I can,” she started. “There was a very public beef between myself and a pretty famous rapper, and it got very bad. When this all happened, we were not filming. I think we would have had a much harder time if it was happening during filming. But there was also a lot of legal stuff going on.”

Amy Sussman/Getty Images

She went on to claim that she just doesn’t talk about the situation anymore.

“Everything’s good now,” said the reality star. “Myself and Randall and this rapper, we just don’t speak about each other.”

50 Cent saw the headlines and got back in attack mode, dedicating an entire Instagram post for her.

“Why this bitch don’t just leave it alone,” asked Fif. “I don’t have beef with this hoe, I had issues with Randell he paid me the money, it’s done. I’m sure Amber is laughing at this guys choices.”

Do you think this will continue or is this the last we hear of 50 Cent’s feud with Randall Emmett and Lala Kent?

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Kanye West has made great strides with his AdidasYeezy brand and sneakerheads all over the world are constantly buying his sneakers. Pretty well every single release sells out almost instantly and each individual colorway has become a collector’s item. While the 350 V2 seems to be his main silhouette, Kanye has helped to develop plenty of other hits including the Adidas Yeezy Boost 380. The music mogul has been dropping new colorways of this model and thanks to Yeezy Mafia, we have been made privy to three new offerings.

The three new colorways can be found below and two of them will have glow in the dark capabilities. As you can see, there is a HYLTE GLOW & CALCITE GLOW model. One of these has a yellow upper while the other is white with some dark grey on the side. There will also be a “Pepper” colorway that has a Primeknit upper filled with greys, beiges, and some light blue. All three of these offerings display the unique nature of the Yeezy Boost 380 and will certainly be big hits once they drop.

No release information has been given for these as of yet so stay tuned for updates as we will be sure to bring them to you.

Adidas came under fire last week after one of their employees, Julia Bond, came out with a letter addressed to the company noting that there was a problem with racism in the workplace. Bond noted that there have been numerous instances of racism during her time with the company and that she and her colleagues planned to stage protests outside of the company campus. Adidas eventually replied to these allegations and pledged $20 million to the black community. After receiving backlash for donating so little, Adidas upped their contribution to $120 million.

Despite these attempts to make things right, Bond recently told Highsnobiety that she plans to continue her protests and that she still wants a real apology from the company. She also spoke about some specific incidents in which she encountered racism. She alleged that some white employees would say things like “moving at a coon’s pace” whenever a black colleague would show up late to a meeting. Bond also said one employee used an image of a white skateboarder with a Confederate flag during a meeting with her.

“Money is a very empty thing, and these are all symptomatic promises, but they are not addressing the systemic changes that need to happen within the brand,” Bond said. 

Adidas’ employees have every intention of continuing this fight and it will be interesting to see how the brand responds in the future.

[Via]