Hip Hop NBA Conference Finals Preview

The NBA is down to it's final four teams battling for the Larry O'Brien trophy. In this preview I'm not going to try and break down the matchups. That has been down by numerous people that are a lot smarter then me when it comes to basketball. Today I am going to give a hip hop snapshot of each team and how music may be playing apart in their run. This preview will go over songs where the team or player's names were dropped, artists who are fans of each team and recent stories from hip hop relating to this year's NBA playoffs.

Toronto Raptors 


The Raptors will easily be the easiest team to write about for this post. Drake has shown to be a diehard Raptors fan. From holding a position with the team to cheering courtside to trying to recruit Kevin Durant. He had a song on his last album called "6 Man" which had a chorus centering around former Raptors guard Lou Williams. There has never been a team that has fully embraced an artist the way the Raptors have Drake. The hip hop superstar had his own night featuring a Hotline Bling Booth for fans to take pictures at and even creating black and gold jerseys this season which are heavily influenced by Drake and his OVO branding.

Sadly we haven't seen Drake on the sideline cheering on his Raptors in a while. It may be due to his promotion of his new album Views. The Raptors have the tough task of playing the Cavs who have yet to lose this playoffs and set an NBA single game record for threes. Hopefully Drizzy makes one more courtside appearance this NBA playoffs. 



Cleveland Cavaliers


The Cavs have gained numerous fans in the hip hop community due to the return of Lebron James but two artists who have remain fans throughout the decision are MGK and Usher. MGK a Cleveland rapper even sat with Cavs ownership for the NBA Lottery in 2013. Usher is a part owner of the Cavs. According to reports Lebron has a secret weapon for his pregame this NBA playoffs. Before each playoff game he listens to artists from the respective city that he's playing. Against Detroit it was Eminem, Atlanta it was Outkast/T.I. and we can only assume James is listening to the some Drake before the Eastern Conference Finals. The Cavs even had the Atlanta rap trio Migos preform when the Cavs were playing the Atlanta Hawks.



Oklahoma City Thunder




This is the toughest team to write about as their are no notable rappers from the Oklahoma City area that I am aware of. However there have been multiple songs and mixtapes that show love to the OKC Thunder and there star players. Rapper Waka Flocka Flame has not one... but two mixtapes named after former MVP Kevin Durant along with a photoshopped pic of Waka on KD's body. KD and Harden have also been in the studio with Waka. Also up and coming rapper Lil Dicky wrote a nearly 7 minute song called "Russell Westbrook on a Farm." The song is actually over the Drake beat Pound Cake. The track is a hypothetical story about Russell Westbrook being a farmer and later being discovered as an NBA player. Kevin Durant was also mentioned on Drake's newest album Views. The song is called "Weston Road Flows" and KD even commented with his appreciation of the mention from Drake.

It's not all positive though Kevin Durant has been cursed (the curse is still active) by Bay Area Rapper and Warriors fan Lil B. Lil B who once tried out for the Warriors D-League team challenged Kevin Durant to a game of 1 on 1 and Durant has yet to except as well as added he didn't know who Lil B was. Lil B even wrote a diss track (warning extremely explicit) about Kevin Durant and the video also showcases Lil B's game.




Golden State Warriors


It helps to be the best but there have been tons of Steph Curry/Warriors references recently. "Chef Curry with the pot" from Drake's song 0-100 has grown to t-shirt and even a dance video from Steph and his wife. The Warriors also held practice at Drake's house (according to Drake). I mention Lil B above but he has been to multiple Warriors game and look for him at games moving forward. Bay Area Rapper E-40 created a Remix of his song "Choices" for his Warriors squad. Also check out this video of Steph Curry dancing on stage with rapper Lerae.








Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Rise of Future Hendrix

Image
About five years ago a friend told me to download the Pulto mixtape by Future. I was familiar with him from the couple of singles he had but had never listened to a full mixtape/album of his. The mixtape was filled with numerous autotuned filled ballads as well as high-energy bangers. I enjoyed the majority of the songs and something about Future's energy was extremely infectious. Fast forward to two years ago and Future solidified himself as one of my favorite rappers. In the span of less than a year Future released five projects: Monster/Beast Mode/56 Nights/Dirty Sprite 2/What a Time to be Alive. The numerous hits and anthems that came were tremendous from March Madness to Thought It Was a Drought every hip hop fan knew every word. Fast forward to this week I was extremely excited to learn that Future would release two albums in one week. With little to no warning, Future dropped the self-titled album FUTURE. The album is high energy with catchy hooks and fast-paced beats
Read more

What's better I Need a Girl Part 1 or Part 2?

Image
In the year 2001 P Diddy released the two-part song I Need a Girl. Both songs have a clear distinct sound while being equally fire. Below I will do my best to articulate what separates the two parts of I Need a Girl and which is better. Part 1 P Diddy featuring Usher and Loon A slow pure r&b track with very little bass. Usher kills this song, he even sings over himself in the chorus. Part 2  P. Diddy featuring Loon, Ginuwine & Mario Winans For all you young kids out there this is what a true remix or part two looks like. Using the same theme/melody but flipping it to creating a new song. This part features more an of a hip hop vibe with verses and an r&B chorus. Who can forget Diddy's classic "take that, take that" What part of I Need a Girl is better? In my humble opinion, it has to be part 2. The combination of the bounce in the bass and melody drop will make anyone lose it. You also get what is most likely P Diddy's best l
Read more

Drake's Hidden Gems

Image
Aubrey Grahm aka Drizzy aka October's Very Own aka Drake is no doubt a superstar. He has transitioned from child actor to a rapper on Lil Wayne's Young Money label to an icon. His music has become anthems for months and he recently hosted SNL. With this level of popularity, it's hard to imagine his music being anything close to hidden but there are a lot of great songs from Drake you may have missed. I remember listening to Ransom feat. Lil Wayne in my 98 Jetta in 2008 as a Senior in high school via cassette adapter. I am going to try and introduced your or reintroduce you to some great Drake songs you may have glossed over or simply missed. Little Bit feat. Lykke Li Check out this chill love song featuring singer Lykke Li.  I'm Still Fly One of Drake's best early songs. Stuntin' feat Lil Wayne This is a song off of Lil Wayne's Dedication 3 when we didn't know much about Drake. Congratulations Drake does a verse over some Coldpa
Read more