Kobe Bryant and Pau Gasol might sit out some of the Los Angeles Lakers' preseason games after a hectic offseason. Bryant helped lead the United States to a victory over Gasol and Spain in the gold medal game in the Summer Olympics. Bryant and Gasol each took only a few weeks off before reporting for the first day of training camp today. Bryant and Gasol played a carefree game of one-on-one near the end of the first of the Lakers' two practices. Their teammates, meanwhile, ran a set of wind sprints at the conclusion of their morning workout. "This week I'm just seeing how they feel, how's their energy level, and then we'll adjust," coach Phil Jackson said. "I was told not to say that I wasn't going to play Kobe in exhibition games. "So I'm not going to say Kobe's not going to play in this exhibition game or that exhibition game. But there is a chance they may not play in an exhibition game."
Only time will tell if Marquise will be a NBA or even a college prospect but one thing is for sure, he is already a STAR! Here's part 2 like I promised.
Dysposable Heroes just released their newest mixtape entitled "Genius Vs. Genius." This album mashes classic GZA acapellas with rare and hard to find Ray Charles samples to create a remixed sound that is truly original while still maintaining the integrity of both artist's sound. You can download the mixtape from their website.
If you have never heard of Marquise Walker then I suggest that you watch this footage. ESPN just did a feature on Marquise for their "Outside The Lines" story.. Marquise is known for being the worlds best kindergarden basketball prospect. I will post Part 2 tomorrow, Enjoy!
Check out the newest single, "I Believe", from everyone's favorite Tribe member, Q-Tip. You can't go wrong with D'Angelo on the track either. This is on some smooth soul tip with just a touch of Prince thrown in for good measure!
Most basketball players like myself at some point in their lives wrote on their sneakers. Whether it is a quote, their number, or their nickname, ballers have been tagging up their kicks for years. The only problem with that is once you write on them you can’t really erase it. Reebok has come up with a way to rectify that with the release of its ATR Talkin Krazy sneaker. The Talkin Krazy is a performance basketball shoe made out of a dry erase board and comes with a dry erase marker! So now you can customize your shoe as much as you want with the ability to erase and start with a clean slate. The concept is dope but the shoe is ugly, I'm really surprised Nike didn't think of this first, props to Reebok. My son thinks this is the coolest BBall shoe ever, Hahaha! The shoe drops at all the major chains 10/1..
By now most of you may have seen the posts on sites such as Strictly Fitteds, Highsnobiety, Kilos And Grams, or New Era Cap Talk about our limited LA New Eras that are dropping October 4th. If you haven't, now you know! Only 30 of each color, and these are definitely gonna fly off of the shelves! Don't miss out on these!
The Zoom Kobe IV is Kobe's fourth signature shoe and will be a Low cut instead of a high or mid cut, something that Nike has strayed away from when it comes to creating signature shoes for their franchise athletes. Its been said that Kobe was looking for a low cut shoe so that he could prevent himself from losing seconds in reaction time. The Zoom Kobe IV continues where the Hyperdunk left off in that it continues to use Nike’s newest innovative technology, Lunar Foam and Flywire in addition to keeping with some Zoom Air in the forefoot to balance the shoe out. The Nike Zoom Kobe IV officially drops in January of 2009. Not sure how many serious hoopers are gonna play in low tops but they are dope!
Jason Williams announced his retirement, ending his 10-year NBA career less than two months after signing with the Los Angeles Clippers. Williams, who helped the Miami Heat to the NBA title in 2006, averaged 11.4 points, 6.3 assists and shot 39.6 percent from the floor in 679 games. The point guard was drafted seventh overall pick in 1998 out of Florida by the Sacramento Kings and averaged 12.8 points and six assists as a rookie. Williams joined the Memphis Grizzlies three years later, and in 2001-02 averaged 14.8 points and eight assists. In four seasons with the Grizzlies, Williams became the club's career assists leader. He played for the Heat from 2005-2008, and started all 23 playoff games in Miami's title run. He signed with the Clippers on Aug. 7.
Tradition is proud to present the opening of "Horror Business", an artshow inspired by the occult, death, monsters, and Halloween. The opening reception is October 18th, and the show features a stellar line up of artists including: Alex Pardee, Dennis Mcnett, French, Andrew "The Kid" Farnsley, Tommii Lim, Derek Albeck, J. Bannon, Axis, and many more. There will also be a huge art installation and custom screenprinting by the good folks at Dethkills, so bring some blank t-shirts! Anyway, mark your calendars now, because you do not want to miss this event! I will be doing some profiles on some of the artists involved in the next few weeks as well, so look out for that.
Original G-Funk pioneer, Nate Dogg, recently suffered a second stroke. To show his support, DJ Steve1der created a tribute mix featuring the hottest tracks from the West Coast legend. Thanks to Dubcnn we have the mix available for you to listen to or download. Listen to these classics, wish Nate Dogg a speedy recovery, and reminisce of the old days when the G-Funk Era was in full effect. "G Funk... where rhythm is life, and life is rhythm."
Check out the newest mixtape, "The Carry On Experience," from Jansport J. The mixtape features verses from a bunch of up and comers, including our own resident MC Soul.ill.oquy. This mixtape is for fans of sample heavy classic hip hop, and definitely has a strong Detroit and Oxnard influence...
MURS FT. SNOOP DOGG & LETOYA WILLIAMS - TIME IS NOW
Murs is back with a brand new tracks called "Time Is Now." Murs enlisted the help of both Letoya Williams and big Snoop Dogg on this track! He has been getting quite this push for his new album, so expect some noise when it drops on September 30th!
Comedy Central has teamed with Kanye West for a project described as hip-hop meets the Muppets.
A half-hour pilot has been shot for the project, tentatively titled "Alligator Boots." It's from Jackhole Prods., the production company founded by Jimmy Kimmel, Daniel Kellison and Adam Carolla that also was behind Comedy Central's puppet-centric "Crank Yankers."
The project, which is under consideration for 2009, would feature music produced and performed by West and fellow rapper Rhymefest, both of whom are serving as executive producers on the pilot alongside Kellison. West also hosts the pilot; the idea is to have a different celebrity guest host for every episode, similar to the setup on the original "Muppet Show."
New York's MC Fokis recently aligned himself with Aftermath producer Focus to bring you the 20 / 20 EP. Focus' last mixtape hard as hell, with Focus bringing the heat with all of his beats! This E.P. is no different and features appearances from Mistah F.A.B., Young Dre, Bad News, And Focus himself. You can download the 20/20 EP for free here! Just enter your email to get the download link.
"It came together because Focus and I had been working on some records here and there and it came to a point where we had a couple of records and I was like, ‘yo we should just put together project’ and he was with the idea, man…and that was pretty much it. He sends the files to me and then I blaze them up, send them back, and get his approval, and then we go from there. We are looking forward to dropping this, man, I am excited!"
First he set the streets on fire with his ode to street fashion, "Streetwear", now Detroit MC Oseeola hit us off with the "Tradition Anthem." The track was a collaborative effort between Tradition, Oseeola, and the folks at Front Street Records. I produced the beat, Front Street Records put it all together, and Oseeola murdered the track! Look for future collaborations between Tradition and the Deroit crew in the near future!
The homie Diz Gibran is Hip Hop Official's Artist Of The Week! If you have never heard of Diz then pay attention because he is making some noise in the industry. He is one of my favorite MC's.. Congrats Diz!
Here's a small rough trailer of the movie Notorious, the life and death story of Notorious B.I.G. (a.k.a. Christopher Wallace), who came out of Brooklyn to take the rap world by storm. The movie is set to release sometime in January 2009. I can't wait!
As you know we just received the much anticipated Nike "Air Penny II", with all the hype on these shoes I thought I would post these pics of my homie Gene's 1996 OG "Little Air Penny". These are so dope!
I got a chance to stop by Futura's "Strategic Synchronicity" show this weekend downtown. The show was organized by a company called MadKrunk out of England, and was done in a warehouse in downtown Los Angeles as a "Pop-Up" gallery of sorts, with the show running a mere 4 days. The show focused on Futura's abstract graffiti style which he has been honing since the seventies in New York. Of course Futura's Pointman character was highly represented, but Futura claims this will be the last you will see of the Pointman for awhile. This was by far the biggest piece in the show, a huge Pointman painted directly on the wall of the gallery. This really shows the roots of his work on the street. This Piece was ten or twelve feet high.
One of the most distinctive features about Futura's work is his abstract approach to graffiti art. During the 80's most graff artists were focused on lettering. Futura pioneered this abstract style, and is known for the use of fine lines in his work.
Futura created this "crumpled paper" effect over 25 years ago. He said some of his peers thought it was too "kitschy" at the time, so he stop doing it. This is the first time this style of work has been shown.
I love the attention to detail... This sprayed red dot showed that a piece was sold. (There were many red dots, and well over half the show was sold the first night).
Check out the newest mixtape, Global Warming Part 3, from Shady Records own Ca$his. This mixtape features guest appearances from Alchemist, Crooked I, Royce Da 5'9, Spider Loc, and Young De. Look out for his upcoming project, Homeland Security, with Young De in the next few months!
ALCHEMIST FT. SNOOP, JADAKISS, AND PUSHA-T - LOSE YOUR LIFE
Alchemist is back with some brand new heat for all of you! "Lose Your Life" features big Snoop on the hook alongside verses from 2 of the best spitters in the game, Jadakiss and Pusha-T.
A YouTube video from a charity flag football game in July has Dallas Mavericks forward Josh Howard embroiled in controversy yet again. The video, from Allen Iverson's event, shows Howard, as the national anthem is being sung, saying: "'The Star-Spangled Banner' is going on. I don't celebrate this SHIT. I'm black." Howard also makes reference to promoting Barack Obama, which is a good thing! Hahaha! Mavericks owner Mark Cuban said, according to The Dallas Morning News, that the team dealt with Howard at the time of the incident. He added that the team has a plan in place to address the issue at training camp. "That said, we will be going through some advanced communication skill sessions together this training camp," Cuban said. "I have explained to him that cell phone cameras are not your friend and that what you think you said on camera is never what people will hear when it shows up on YouTube or TV."
I have no idea where this came from or what it is for, but the above video is of Sir Ben Kingsley (yes... Ghandi) playing Ian MacKaye performing as Minor Threat. I don't recall a young Ian with a mustache...
YOUNG DE & CA$HIS FT. CROOKED I AND ROYCE DA 5'9 - "CLEAR THE AREA"
The anticipation is growing for the release of Homeland Security, the newest project from Young De and Ca$his. They've been on their grind recording close to 20 tracks, leaking songs, and making videos. The newest leak is a track called "Clear The Area" which features Crooked I and Royce Da 5'9. The tracks is heating things up, already getting major plays on Shade 45! Stay tuned for more updates about Homeland Security!
Here's a little video of Beans at Magic discussing his relationship with Undrcrwn. They dropped the Beanie and Freeway tees a few months back, he performed at their party at the Palms, and now it looks like he has got his hands in designing some new stuff for them.
B-Real just leaked his first single from his Duck Down Records debut, "Smoke and Mirrors", called "Laugh" featuring my boy Young De on the hook and second verse. This track is a straight West Coast anthem... Do yourself a favor and download it now!
First he set the internet ablaze with his myspace as Sarz with just 330 plays in three years! Now Tradition's employee of the month and future internet celebrity Bui aka 50 Yen breaks us off with a comparison between some whack Supra's that looking nothing like Tiffanys and the OG Diamond Tiffany SB's. I think our boy Bui has way too much time on his hands! Peep his Shoe Game Profile! Looks like this wasn't the first time he has appeared on the shoe game... Check out Bui's sneaker collection from August. We are really looking forward to part 3 and 4! My only question is... Where's the Heat?
Check out Bui's comments below... "CHEA!..LOL…..I KNO I ADLIB LIKE A MUHFu$%R HAHA..SORRY YALL…IM JUST SO FLABBERGASTED THAT I WAS ON HERE!..I READ TSG RELIGOUSLY… THANK YALL FOR THE PROPS, N ALSO THE HATE..HAHA ITS ALL GOOD, CANT PLEASE EM ALL..IMA DO ANOTHER EPISODE IN BETTER LIGHTING PROMISE…NO MORE TALKING EITHER…I STILL GOTTA SHOW YALL SUM MORE HEAT(SB) UNLUCKY,SUPREMES,6 RINGS….HEY SB’S IS MY THING, CANT HELP IT…. ITS WHATEVER, CHEA!!"
Check out the newest heater from Scarface featuring Lil Wayne and Bun B called "Forgot About Me off of his upcoming album “Emeritus” which is dropping late September. Scarface is one of the OG's in the Southern rap game...
Double Cross is online fanzine dedicated strictly to hardcore. Double Cross was launched in March, and was started by an old friend and former Mouthpiece singer Tim McMahon. In it you will find great articles and interviews featuring some of the most notorious hardcore heavyweights ranging from Chain Of Strength, Youth Of Today, Uniform Choice, NFAA, Judge, Cro Mags, Etc. For those of you in the know, Double Cross is a fun way to get nostalgic about your hardcore youth, for those of you who don't, Double Cross is a history lesson about some of the best bands in hardcore.
"Welcome to DOUBLE CROSS - an online fanzine dedicated to the hardcore we love... past, present, and future. The goal is classic fanzine vibe and content, with stories, interviews, photos and more - updated every day through the week. While this might be a "blog," we want it to go beyond what that term typically represents. And while we are undoubtedly straight edge and will put the best straight edge bands at the heart of this site, in no way does that mean we won't be featuring all of of our other favorite hardcore bands here as well."
Not 732 or 733 or 734 days. No, Phoenix Suns center Shaquille O'Neal knows his life will change in exactly 735 days. "My basketball career will be over in 735 days," O'Neal told News 13 television in Orlando, Fla. "And being an educated man, I've always had things to fall back on. So one of my options is law enforcement." Personally I think it all depends on how this season goes, if the suns have a horrible season then i expect this year to be his last!
Check out this video for "Fix Your Face", a mini mixtape from DJ AM and Travis Barker. Travis Barker is one of the best drummers there is, and it is really cool to see a drummer like him playing along with DJ AM.
Our good friend (and one of my favorite artists), Axis, just recently relaunched his website, STYLEPIG.COM. Axis started Style Pig in 2002 as a design agency and clothing line through which he has produced commercial art for Toyota, GM, BMW, Ford, Scion, Intel, Sony, Virgin Mobile, Pepsi, Stussy, VANS, I.C.U. Art, Fuel TV, TLC Network, Cartoon Network, Comedy Central, and MTV Networks. Axis has graced the walls of Tradition a few times with some of his contributions to a few of our group shows. He will have a few pieces in an upcoming group show called "Horror Business" which opens October 18th at Tradition. Axis is a L.A. based contemporary illustrator/graffiti artist/painter who emerged from Los Angeles' seminal graffiti scene in the late 1980's. He is most noted for his convoluted and hyper-stylized freehand graffiti. As a member of L.A.'s legendary CBS crew, Axis' work can been seen both on the street and in galleries all over the world. Be sure to check out STYLEPIG.COM to see more of his work including fine art, illustration, graffiti, pen and ink, and sketches.
You heard him perform it at the VMA's, now check out "Love Lockdown", the newest track from Kanye West. I wasn't too excited about his off key performance the other night, but this track sounds much better.
Reigning NBA MVP Kobe Bryant will not have surgery on his right pinkie because recovery would take too long. Bryant has played with damaged ligaments in the finger since February, but said yesterday that he won't have surgery after seeking opinions from hand specialists. "When the doctors told me recovery from a procedure could be 12 weeks, I just decided now was not the time to have surgery and what it really came down to for me is that I just didn't want to miss any time 'punching the clock' for the Lakers, given all we are trying to accomplish as a team this NBA season." Bryant averaged 28.3 points while playing in all 82 games despite injuring the finger Feb. 5 against the New Jersey Nets. The Lakers guard put off the surgery until after the Beijing Olympics, where he helped lead the United States to the gold medal.
Don't have any idea what tv show this! Thanks to my boy Geezy for posting this because its funny as hell! Dude slapped her and then got stomped out! Classic! hahaha
Los Angeles Lakers center Andrew Bynum proclaimed himself completely healthy today, saying he expects to be better than ever when training camp begins Sept. 30. "I'm doing well, man," the 7-footer said during a news conference at the Lakers' practice facility. "The knee's good. Everything's ready to go, 100 percent. I've been training, getting stronger." The 20-year-old Bynum was expected to be sidelined 8 to 12 weeks after bruising a bone in his knee and briefly dislocating of his kneecap in the third quarter of a 100-99 victory over Memphis last Jan. 13. Instead, he was sidelined for the rest of the season, and underwent arthroscopic surgery May 21 to remove some cartilage debris and smooth some rough spots on the underside of his kneecap. "Actually, I'm better," Bynum said when asked to compared his fitness to last summer. "My times on the track are better and I'm able to lift more weights. I'm stronger. I weigh about the same, I'm 285 [pounds] with less body fat." He was in the midst of a breakout season when injured, averaging 13.1 points and 10.1 rebounds. Look for the Lakers to be on another championship run this season! DAMN, can't believe I posted this dunk on my Clippers!
Once a Thousand Oaks High school standout and now disgraced sprinter Marion Jones was released today from federal prison after completing most of her six-month sentence for lying about her steroid use. Jones left a halfway house in San Antonio around 8 a.m and will remain on probation. Jones admitted last October that she used a designer steroid known as "the clear" from September 2000 to July 2001. The drug was linked to the Bay Area Laboratory Co-Operative, the lab that became the center of a steroids scandal that touched numerous professional athletes, including baseball star Barry Bonds. Her admission of drug use in 2007 came after years of denials.
Esteemed auction house Phillips de Pury & Company is holding the first ever live bidding-war for hip-hop’s most blinged-out pieces on October 1st. In consultation with Minya Oh (a.k.a. Miss Info), the auction will be putting 70 pieces on the block in an effort to raise in $3 million. The event, dubbed “Hip Hop’s Crown Jewels” will benefit three non-profit organizations under Russell Simmons‘ charity Rush Community Affairs. It will be open to the public (you’ll need tickets) and everyone will get a chance to try the pieces on in person. The signature bling being auctioned off used to grace hip-hop icons like MC Lyte, Biz Markie, Slick Rick, and modern-day flossers like Pharrell, Diddy, and 50 Cent. See which pieces will be available below.
TUPAC: Estimated at $10,000-$20,000 BIGGIE: Estimated at $15,000-$20,000 SLICK RICK:Estimated at $20,000-$25,000 PHARRELL: Estimated at $200,000-$250,000
While many of you are going crazy for Pharrell's links, I would gladly big on Biggie's Rolex or Slick Rick's iced out eye patch any day!
