Benz and a Backpack

Tomorrow is a big day. I’m headed down to NYC with the homies for a big birthday weekend, and along the way I’ll either be watching (or receiving updates on my phone about) the 2010 NBA Draft. Expect John Wall to go #1 to the Wizards (who desperately need a floor general). In honor of the phenomenal point guard, Reebok released Wall’s first commercial for his first shoe. The shoe has received mixed reviews thus far; some like the oversized interlocking Reebook stripes, some think it’s too overbearing.

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Almost all the boxes on my Friday checklist have Nike swooshes through them, which means that the weekend is just an arms-length away. To celebrate, here’s a compilation of the most recent freestyles, including verses from Black Thought, Q-Tip, and more! Speaking of swooshes, the boy John Wall (who will no doubt be the first overall selection in the draft this year) had some jersey issues in this most recent Kentucky photo shoot (take a close look at his jersey, haha). Way to be, Nike! Shouts to the boy Dellogs.
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Two summers ago I was lucky enough to catch the Paid Dues Tour at New York City’s Nokia Theatre in Times Square. I was particularly excited for it because the lineup included a bunch of artists I’d never seen in concert before: Kidz in the Hall, dudes from Boot Camp Clik, Blackalicious, GZA, all culminating in what I hoped would be a satisfying set from the godfather of hip-hop, Rakim.

I remember the show with particular clarity because my boys and I endured an hour-and-a-half-long train ride that should’ve only lasted twenty-five minutes. The stifling June heat had us sweating our shirts out while we were held in station after station by train dispatchers. People in our car were fanning themselves with whatever they had: Yankees and Mets fitteds, celebrity gossip magazines, folded-up copies of the Daily News (with a picture of a smiling Barack Obama- who’d just secured the Democratic Presidential nomination- under a headline that read: ‘HISTORY!’).

Once we pulled into 42^nd Street, we bobbed and weaved through swarms of people in the station and on the fume-filled streets (hustling because we were already way late), and by the time we got to the Nokia Theatre we’d practically melted. Making it through security felt like clouds parting to allow us entrance into a very well air-conditioned heaven.
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