BabyDrill shares new album ScoreGod
Jordan Darville
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The Atlanta rapper’s third full-length project has arrived.
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Benzino On Why He Created The Source Awards: “We Control The Narrative”
Tallie Spencer
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In a candid revelation, Benzino recently shared the origin story behind the creation of the Source Awards. According to him, the motivation for establishing the awards show stemmed from the Grammys’ historical lack of recognition and respect for the hip-hop genre. In a statement that echoes the sentiments of many in the industry, Benzino shed light on the enduring struggle hip-hop faced in gaining acknowledgment from mainstream award ceremonies.

“The reason we made the Source Awards: the Grammys weren’t giving hip-hop respect at all. This has been going on forever,” Benzino asserted, laying the longstanding frustration within the hip-hop community regarding the Grammy Awards. His words reflect a sentiment shared by artists who have often found themselves overlooked or under-appreciated by traditional award platforms. Moreover, Benzino’s observation extends beyond mere frustration, delving into the perceived intentional actions by the Grammys to provoke and disappoint hip-hop artists. “Thats why the Source Awards was important because we control the narrative,” he said. “What the Grammys just did was f**ked up, stop supporting.”

Read More: Benzino Fires Back After Joe Budden Rehashes Rumor He Slept With Transgender Model

Benzino Speaks Out

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Furthermore, his remark, “they do things on purpose to piss hip-hop off,” unveils a deeper layer of systemic bias. Some believe this has persisted within the Grammy voting process for years. This perspective challenges the integrity of the awards system, suggesting a deliberate sidelining of hip-hop artists. While acknowledging the importance of artists like Killer Mike, Benzino raises questions about the recent Grammy decisions. Especially in awarding three of the hip-hop and rap category Grammys to Mike. His skepticism suggests a broader critique of the Grammys, urging the hip-hop community to reconsider its support for an institution that may not truly represent its interests.

Moreover, Benzino’s call to “stop supporting” the Grammys resonates with a growing sentiment within the hip-hop industry. The idea of empowering the community to control its narrative, as exemplified by the Source Awards, becomes a rallying cry for artists to seek recognition and validation from platforms that genuinely appreciate the genre’s cultural significance. In conclusion, Benzino’s candid remarks provide a critical perspective on the Grammys’ treatment of hip-hop. As the hip-hop community grapples with ongoing challenges and strives for equitable recognition, Benzino calls for collective action. He urges artists and fans alike to reassess their support for award platforms that may not fully embrace the essence and impact of hip-hop music.

Read More: Benzino Admits He Had Help Writing Eminem Diss Track

The post Benzino On Why He Created The Source Awards: “We Control The Narrative” appeared first on HotNewHipHop.

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When Will ‘Power Book III: Raising Kanan’ Season 3, Episode 10 Come Out?
Wongo Okon
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'Power Book III: Raising Kanan' 310 Raq
STARZ

(WARNING: Spoilers for the most recent Power Book III: Raising Kanan episode will be found below.)

It all comes down to this in the season three finale of Power Book III: Raising Kanan. We can pretty much expect the brewing battle between Raq & Marvin and Kanan & Ronnie to finally reach its breaking point in this episode. Though both sides would like to continue business without interference from the opposite side, it’s become clear that both cannot coexist in the same territory. To make matters worse, this battle is not the only problem that needs solving in the Raising Kanan finale.

Jukebox’s music career may be in jeopardy thanks to an investigation into her family, it appears that Detective Howard will be caught for the murder of Detective Burke, and Marvin is the lead suspect in a pair of federal investigations in Queens. A lot is going on as season three prepares to come to a close and here’s when you can watch the season three finale.

When Will Power Book III: Raising Kanan Season 3, Episode 10 Come Out?

The tenth episode of Power Book III: Raising Kanan season three, titled “Made You Look,” will arrive on February 9. The Sascha Penn and Albert Minnis-written episode will be available on Friday, 2/9 on the STARZ app starting at midnight EST/PST. The episode will later air on the STARZ TV channel at 8 pm ET/PT. A synopsis for “Made You Look” has not been revealed yet, but when it is, we will update this post.

New episodes of ‘Power Book III: Raising Kanan’ are available on the STARZ app on Fridays at 12 am ET/PT and on the STARZ TV channel at 8 pm ET/PT.

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It was just minutes until tipoff for the Los Angeles-area basketball game, and the lead official was in the midst of his pregame meet-and-greet. After introducing himself to the coach of the Lawndale team, the referee appeared befuddled as he walked past the students standing near the St. Bernard bench.

“Who’s the coach around here?” the official asked one of the students.

Jordan Bradford, a St. Bernard senior, smiled as he met the official’s eye.

“I am,” Bradford replied, looking every bit of his 17 years.

The referee, initially confused, then realized Bradford was serious. Realizing he wasn’t being pranked, the referee laughed.

“I’m gonna need to check your student ID,” Bradford recalled the referee saying.

And that’s how it started back in November 2023 when Bradford, a former junior varsity player himself with a strong desire to remain attached to the sport he loved, launched his career as a coach of the St. Bernard High School junior varsity team.

For Bradford, there were no first-year coach growing pains. A win over Bishop Montgomery High School on Jan. 31 completed an undefeated conference record (10-0), a junior varsity league title and an impressive 16-2 overall record.

Yet Bradford’s coaching career continues. He’s also been an assistant to head coach Tony Bland this season on the St. Bernard varsity team, which will host a CIF Southern Section Boys Basketball on Wednesday against Mira Costa.

“This is my 29th year in education and I’ve never seen a situation where a student has been a head coach. I’m not sure it’s ever happened,” said Casey Yeazel, the president of St. Bernard. “Watching him, it’s like he’s been a head coach for 10 years. This is an amazing young man with a bright, bright future.”

St. Bernard junior varsity coach Jordan Bradford coaches from the sideline.

Craig Weston

Just how did they get here, a scenario where Bradford was coaching teens one day, and bowling and playing video games with them the next?

St. Bernard was without a junior varsity coach last summer — the previous coach had moved away from the area. Bradford was without a team — he had previously played a year of junior varsity, but there wasn’t much room on the varsity level for a 5-foot-10 power forward/center.

“I went up to [Bland, the varsity coach] and said, ‘if you need me, I can help with the junior varsity,’ ” Bradford said. “I was open to help in any capacity. I wanted to stay connected.”

The more Bland received calls about the vacant position, the more he thought about his conversation with Bradford and his desire to help out.

“Every place I’d been had made hires from inside,” said Bland, who started his collegiate career at Syracuse before finishing at San Diego State. “He’s well-respected on campus, by teachers and peers alike. I thought it would be an opportunity to give one of our guys a shot.”

Bradford, when the school year began and the school had not made a junior varsity hire, assumed he would be helping Bland out during the 2023-24 season.

Until the day of junior varsity tryouts.

“He asked me to lead the trials,” Bradford said. “That’s when I realized he’s going to give me the full power to do this.”

Bradford began showing up to varsity practices early to prepare. “I was taking mental notes, and seeing what I could incorporate into my team,” he said.

As he stepped into a position where he’d be the leader from the sideline, he underwent an extreme makeover.

“When I got the job, I cut my dreads,” Bradford said. “And I was probably about 240 pounds last summer, now I’m eating better and getting into the gym and I’m down to about 180.”

The biggest challenges as the season began? 

Getting the buy-in from the supporters of the program.

“We’ve been doing a great job with this program,” Bland said. “We don’t want people saying ‘hey, what are they doing over there?’ ”

Getting the respect of the players.

“I don’t think they were taking me seriously the first few days of practice because I see them in school every day. I’m in some of their classes,” Bradford said. “I had to install a level of accountability and make them realize that if you don’t listen to what I’m saying, we’re going to run the entire practice.”

And getting the approval of parents, several of whom offered a side-eye when it was revealed that the early stage of their sons’ high school basketball career would be guided by a classmate.

“My first thought was who is this, and what the hell is going on,” said Linda Ferguson, whose son, Gary, is a freshman on the St. Bernard junior varsity team. “My son told me he was really good. And I said, ‘Is he?’ ”

Jordan Bradford, 17, coached St. Bernard’s junior varsity to a 16-2 record in the 2023-24 season.

Craig Weston

The experiment could have backfired when an injury-plagued St. Bernard team lost two of its first three games during the Trevor Ariza Tip-off Classic in November 2023, falling to 1-2 after a loss on Nov. 22 to Venice.

St. Bernard ran the table the rest of the season, winning the next 15 games.

“At the beginning we felt he was too young, he had no experience,” Gary Ferguson said. “But then we kept winning and winning. You could see the other coaches get mad because they got outcoached by a 17-year-old.”

And mama Ferguson, who watches over the team like a hawk, attending games and even practices, was a quick convert.

“If it was me, I probably wouldn’t have listened to a 12th grader,” Linda Ferguson said. “But then they started winning and I said ‘OK, this is cool.’ ”

Bradford gained a bit of notoriety when a Los Angeles Times column noted his unique position.

“Before that article, I’m not sure everybody realized I was 17 years old and a student,” Bradford said. “And that was cool. I was just able to go out there and coach.”

Besides his team’s impressive record, Bradford is proud that he went the entire season without cursing on the sidelines or getting a technical foul.

“On the bench, I tried to keep it PG,” Bradford said. “In the locker room, it was sometimes different because I had to send a message in the way they’re used to talking, and the way they’re used to hearing.”

With the season soon to wrap, Bland is extremely proud of the growth demonstrated by Bradford during his four years at St. Bernard.

“As a player learned his position and everybody else’s position, and he was the freshman on the bench telling the seniors where they needed to be on certain sets,” Bland said. “I could see he had that coach in him, the same way Steve Fisher would tell me ‘you’re going to be a coach one day’ when I played for him at San Diego State.”

At the start of the school year, Bradford had visions of a career in sports communications (“I want to be a sports analyst or play-by-play”) and has applied to schools including USC, UCLA, Syracuse, Cal and Vanderbilt. [Bradford was not paid: the coaching stipend, according to Yeazel, will be applied to the college he attends].

With coaching experience now on his résumé, his career aspirations have grown.

“This year opened up a new world for me,” Bradford said. “Coaching was something I never really thought about, but it’s now something I would love to do in the future.”

LAS VEGAS – Already well-versed in being a pioneer, Las Vegas Raiders president Sandra Douglass Morgan is well-suited for her latest groundbreaking role: vice chair of the Las Vegas Super Bowl host committee.

The first Black female franchise president in NFL history, Morgan, who’s also of Korean descent, is also the first Black woman to hold such a high-ranking position with a host committee. In a nutshell, host committees work with the league to ensure that each host city delivers a great experience for fans during Super Bowl week and on game day. Deeply connected to Nevada’s top leaders in both politics and big business, Morgan, who was reared in Las Vegas, seems like a natural to help guide the group.

With Morgan being the ultimate Nevada insider, it’s fitting that she’s out front yet again as the state is set to host its first Super Bowl. Morgan not having a seat at the table would have been a shocker.

One of Morgan’s high-profile jobs will end Sunday after Super Bowl LVIII between the Kansas City Chiefs and the San Francisco 49ers at Allegiant Stadium. To hear Maury Gallagher, the committee’s chair, tell it, Morgan has performed admirably, which is what he expected.

“She’s an exceptional person,” Gallagher told Andscape in a phone interview recently. “The background she has had in this state, where she’s had exposure to business, where she’s had exposure to political environments, makes her” the right person both to handle her responsibilities for the committee and the Raiders.

From left to right: NFL executive vice president of club business and league events Peter O’Reilly, Nevada Gov. Joe Lombardo, Las Vegas Raiders president Sandra Douglass Morgan, CEO and president of the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority Steve Hill, and Allegiant Air and Chair CEO and chairman of the Board Maury Gallagher attend the Super Bowl LVIII welcome news conference Feb. 5 at Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas.

Marc Sanchez/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images

“Not only is the game in my home of Las Vegas, it’s in our home stadium. … There’s definitely a lot of work that goes into it, but it’s all very exciting. It’s almost like you’re doing all this preparation to invite someone into your home.” — Sandra Douglass Morgan

A committee member since 2021, her participation on it predates her joining the Raiders (Morgan was announced as the club’s new president in July 2022). Familiar with juggling multiple major tasks throughout her highly successful career in law, government and business, Morgan, even by her standards, has been especially busy with her duties as a committee executive and the leader of the Raiders’ business operation.

For the committee, Morgan, 45, is involved with myriad issues including sponsorship discussions, the location of events during Super Bowl week, security at Allegiant Stadium, the Raiders’ home field, and traffic concerns. All the while, Morgan and others on the committee confer with the league office on, well, anything related to the NFL’s signature event.

Then there’s everything expected of Morgan on her day job.

Her portfolio includes ticket sales, luxury suites sales, advertising partnerships and the game-day experience for fans during Raiders games. Morgan, team owner Mark Davis’ top lieutenant, has had a hand in any major happening that occurs at Allegiant Stadium for the Raiders.

Not surprisingly, Morgan’s workdays have been extended for a minute now. But, she said, wearing both hats has been invigorating.

In her role on the host committee, “I’m more a cheerleader and supporter for the region. With the Raiders, there’s definitely a different lens,” Morgan told Andscape during an interview at the Raiders’ team headquarters in Henderson, Nevada.

“Not only is the game in my home of Las Vegas, it’s in our home stadium. … There’s definitely a lot of work that goes into it, but it’s all very exciting. It’s almost like you’re doing all this preparation to invite someone into your home.”

Morgan, whose family moved to Las Vegas when she was a toddler, attended high school in Las Vegas, completed her undergraduate degree at the University of Nevada, Reno, and received her law degree from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. Allegiant Stadium – the Raiders’ $1.9 billion home venue and the world’s second-most expensive stadium – is in Paradise, Nevada, next to Las Vegas.

Morgan was the first African American to serve as chair of the Nevada Gaming Control Board (2019 to 2021), which oversees every facet of Nevada’s expansive gaming industry, including gaming licenses, audits, investigations and enforcement. When Morgan became the city attorney for North Las Vegas, she also became Nevada’s first African American city attorney.

The trailblazer also held several top positions within the private sector in Las Vegas. Morgan serves on the board of directors of Allegiant Travel Co., of which Gallagher is the CEO. In 2019, the company secured the naming rights to the Raiders’ home stadium.

The glass ceiling Morgan shattered in the NFL, however, ranks as her highest.

Las Vegas Raiders president Sandra Douglass Morgan looks on before a game against the New England Patriots at Allegiant Stadium on Dec. 18, 2022, in Las Vegas.

Ethan Miller/Getty Images

The league was founded in 1920. It only took about 102 years for a Black woman to occupy a team president’s office.

Although she embraces the role of kicking open doors, Morgan is clear-eyed about the importance of her being a leader for the entire Raiders organization.

“With this role there is a responsibility, and I’ve always taken that responsibility very seriously throughout my career,” Morgan said. “I want people to understand that people of color and women of color are capable of, obviously, running teams. And I’m happy to have the support of Mark in that.

“But with this [role] it’s a little bit different because it’s about the team. I want to do a good job as president of the Raiders. That’s my goal, first and foremost. I’ve always said if I can inspire others, I just never want to be a … I want to support the team. That is my role here, to make sure we are the most successful team in the NFL.”

Beginning with Davis’ late father, maverick Raiders owner Al Davis, the franchise has been an industry standard-bearer in inclusive hiring.

In 1989, Al Davis promoted Art Shell from offensive line coach to head coach, making Shell the league’s first Black head coach of the league’s modern era. Onetime club CEO Amy Trask was the first woman to occupy that post in the NFL, and Tom Flores, who led the franchise to two Super Bowl championships, was the league’s first Hispanic head coach to win a Super Bowl. Besides hiring Morgan and a Black general manager, Mark Davis removed the interim tag from Las Vegas head coach Antonio Pierce, who is Black, on Jan. 19.

And now, the highest-ranking Black woman at the club level in NFL history is representing the Raiders on two levels the first time they’ve hosted the Super Bowl. Fortunately for Morgan, she’s used to going through new doors first.

After the opening of Minneapolis Native American restaurant Owamni, Sean Sherman, an Oglala Lakota chef, pivoted to a new level of visibility, winning the James Beard Award for Best New Restaurant in the United States for 2022. Owamni embraces the ideals of the Indigenous Food (Re)volution that Sherman has spread for years through his brand The Sioux Chef, but this time in a brick-and-mortar restaurant.

Almost a year after Owamni opened, I became intrigued by a different direction Sherman was taking with his romantic and business partner, Black Minneapolis food writer Mecca Bos — coalition building with different groups of people of color, focusing on the connection between Black and Indigenous food.

In 2022, Bos and Sherman started a new nonprofit organization called the BIPOC Foodways Alliance, highlighting multicultural histories of food traditions through dinners and community building to dismantle white supremacy. In May 2023, the duo led a tasting menu at Platform, the new James Beard Foundation chef-in-residence program, serving dishes such as jollof rice with mango and scotch bonnet pepper and smoked goat mushroom egusi with fufu and dried collards.

The idea of discussing the intersection between Black and Indigenous food is an intuitive one. One cannot mention the oppression of one group in this country and continent without mentioning the oppression of the other. That synchronicity follows with the food. The trade of African seeds between agricultural tribes, Sherman said, was facilitated by the Mississippi River, which flows north to south, from Minnesota to southern Louisiana. Owamni overlooks the Mississippi River, or the Haha Wakpa as it’s called by the Dakota, one of its many Indigenous names.

“There’s so much crossover with African and Indigenous histories, especially the United States, and especially in terms of agricultural knowledge,” Sherman said. “Not only did [the European colonists] take both people’s seeds but they commodified them and used slave labor and stolen land to make it possible.”

With more than 20 years of experience as a food journalist and chef in Minneapolis-area restaurants, Bos said that her goal for BIPOC Foodways, using food as a tool, is to increase solidarity between Black and Indigenous people. “I see so many commonalities in our oppression historically and to this day,” she said.

During the first BIPOC Foodways Table Series I attended, I spent the night chatting with Somali chef Jamal Hashi, Trinidadian Chef Marla Jadoonanan, and other locals in the food industry. Each guest brought an element from their culture — Hashi brought a Somali fermented mango hot sauce — and it was all put into a huge paella pan of wild rice native to the Great Lakes region, manoomin in Ojibwe, that Sherman tended over an open fire. We drank and laughed until past midnight, alternating between humorous and sobering conversations, talks of revolution and art, and examinations of how the uprisings in the wake of the murder of George Floyd by Minneapolis police had changed the culinary community for people of color in Minneapolis.

From that first dinner, it felt like the BIPOC Foodways Table Series was part of the latest resurgence of the salon, which is increasing in food culture for people of color. Ananya Chopra and Kritika Manchanda’s chic monthly supper club The Salon connects New York artists to South Asian food, while Questlove’s Food Salon brings chefs and artists together to talk about culture and activism. An Enlightenment-era French term, the salon refers to a gathering of people to discuss art, politics, literature, or social issues. Salons played a critical role during the Harlem Renaissance, with artists such as writer Zora Neale Hurston frequently hosting dinner parties where intellectuals and artists gathered over drinks, food, and music.

Despite its purpose to bring people together, Bos said that the BIPOC Foodways Alliance has received some pushback. “There’s been a little friction about BIPOC Foodways Alliance as if it’s something in conflict with Sean’s existing work. And it’s not,” she said. Bos said the responses she gets are that each culture is trying to reclaim itself and that separate reclamation should happen before coalition building. “I disagree because I feel like both things can happen at once. I don’t see why it has to be either-or.”

Minneapolis food writer Mecca Bos prepares items for the menu.

Nylah Burton

Still curious from my first BIPOC Foodways dinner, I went to Minneapolis this summer for my second one, an intimate affair hosted by Sherman and Bos and attended by Bos’ niece and BIPOC Foodways social media content director Sabrina Fluegel, Luke and Linda Black Elk, a married couple who are ethnobotanists and food sovereignty activists. After I left for their house from the Emery Hotel, Sherman and I gathered greens for the smoked turkey egusi from their garden outside, like wild arugula and chard. While Sherman or their guests will sometimes cook during the BIPOC Foodways dinner, highlighting their own traditions, Bos prepared every dish for this dinner.

Before dinner, Sherman and I gathered greens such as wild arugula and chard for the smoked turkey egusi from their garden outside. There was a steaming bowl of jollof in savory tomato sauce made with manoomin. Nestled in the wild rice jollof was tenderly cooked quail. Bos had also made two sides of intensely spicy homemade pepper sauce, reminiscent of Caribbean or West African varieties. And for dessert, she also served late chef Edna Lewis’ molasses cake with a perfect tamarind glaze, topped with edible flowers she also gathered from their garden.

A molasses cake topped with edible flowers gathered from the garden.

Sabrina Fluegel

Everything was delicious, but the stars of the night were the tamales. Made with elk — following Sherman’s technique, Bos did not use any pre-contact (locally cultivated and wild foods eaten by Indigenous people before European contact) ingredients such as poultry, beef, dairy, or sugar for this meal.

Before dinner, I helped Bos roll the tamales as she spoke about their connection to Black food in the South, a nod to the exchange between Mexican and Black people facilitated by the cotton that sharecroppers and exploited migrant workers, many of whom were Indigenous or descendants of Indigenous people, would harvest together.

“The Tamale Trail goes all throughout the Delta,” Bos said.  “Throughout Mississippi and Louisiana, there’s a strong tradition of Black people doing tamales this way.” 

In the South, Bos said, Black people often squeeze out the tamale filling and put it on a saltine cracker. But she used plantain chips instead to decolonize the menu by not using flour. Going over the menu for the night and recalling her and Sherman’s previous work at the Platform by James Beard Foundation dinner, Bos’ menus seemed not to have many Black Southern influences and more West African ones. I asked her if she considered herself a product of the Great Migration of African Americans from the South to the North.

The author rolled hot tamales by hand as part of the night’s meal.

Sabrina Fluegel

“My father, who is the Black person in my bloodline, is adopted,” she explained, saying that her mother’s family was white Norwegian American, and they raised her. “So I don’t have any facts about why his family wound up here. I have to imagine that the Great Migration has something to do with why his folks were here, though. My father and I were estranged, which was the right thing. But it means I have had and probably will forever have to work to the food identity that resonates with me.”

But for Bos, what resonated with her most is explicitly West African food like jollof, fufu, and egusi. For most of her life, she felt disconnected from Black Southern food, believing the anti-Black propaganda that many Black people, especially those disconnected from the South, grew up hearing. “As someone who mostly engaged with this food via media, not home kitchens with the experts at the helm, the brainwashing was real and complete,” Bos wrote in a post on the BIPOC Foodways website. After Uche Iroegbu, a Nigerian home cook, collaborated with her on a BIPOC Foodway Table Series, Bos wrote that her food identity began to take a new shape. “ It was here that I had my epiphany of sorts — a glance at what my people’s cooking could have been had we been left to our own wisdom, ability, awareness.”

When we discussed her love of West African food at dinner, she said, “I like the idea of engaging with what my indigeneity would have been.

“African-American food is amazing. I don’t go with the ‘We made something out of nothing’ storyline because that’s bulls—. African Americans were growing food, fishing, hunting and foraging. They were making delicacies. But we’ve been so cut off from the [African] continent. I know so little about it. So I’m grateful any time I get a chance to exercise those culinary muscles.” 

I also asked Bos what she thought about eliminating pre-contact ingredients from this Black and Indigenous fusion style of cooking when African-American food is, almost by definition, a combination of the blended Indigenous, African, and European culinary traditions. 

Clockwise from left to right: Minneapolis food writer Mecca Bos (standing), chef Sean Sherman, BIPOC Foodways social media content director Sabrina Fluegel, an unidentified guest, and ethnobotanists Luke Black Elk and Linda Black Elk.

Nylah Burton

“I want to be careful about sounding like an expert, but one of the things Sean and I talk about a lot is how this is a revolution and an evolution,” Bos explained while graciously rerolling my loose tamales. “But there is this real urge, no matter who you are, to reclaim and understand history. I think we need to understand history, but I don’t think we have to be slaves to history. We can look forward.”

Can food end white supremacy? Not food itself, but the connections we make through learning about it, the ways we reach across the table to all colonized people and share thoughts and ideas, laughter and sobs, and endless stories. This can change the world and bring the importance of decolonization to the forefront. A project like the BIPOC Foodways Table Series, which presents these cultures as not divergent but existing inextricably from each other, could go a long way toward normalizing Black Native food and building those coalitions that will help dismantle white supremacy.

A “bothered” Brandon Ingram wanted to ensure that what happened in Vegas stayed in Vegas after the New Orleans Pelicans’ embarrassing ousting from the NBA in-season tournament.

The Pelicans were one win away for playing for a prize of $500,000 per player in the NBA’s inaugural in-season tournament. That money bag was dropped when New Orleans was hammered 133-89 by LeBron James, Anthony Davis and the eventual tournament champion Los Angeles Lakers on Dec. 7, 2023, in Las Vegas.

Since leaving Las Vegas, however, Ingram and the Pels have been playing inspired and winning basketball.

“What bothered me the most was just seeing the difference in how much guys locked in for the Lakers,” Ingram told Andscape. “You could tell the difference between regular season and them actually wanting to go after something. More than bothering me, it motivated me to be ready for whatever was coming.

“From that moment on, we just tried to work on our game execution, work on bigger stuff, see the game a little bit differently. That’s how you got to attack different teams. I took more stuff away from it. It bothered me when we walked out of the gym. I was just thinking, ‘Man, we lost by 40 points.’ That was on my mind. I couldn’t do nothing but think about it and rewatch it to see what happened. But we knew we had to respond.”

Ingram and the Pelicans have certainly responded since Las Vegas.

The Pelicans had a 12-11 record after that blowout loss to the Lakers. Pelicans head coach Willie Green said his team has been on a mission since then to prove “the standard we want to set for ourselves.” Post-Vegas, New Orleans has played much better with a 17-10 overall record. In a potential statement game, Ingram and the Pelicans (29-21) visit the LA Clippers (34-15) Wednesday night on ESPN (10 p.m. ET).

“Vegas wasn’t it,” Green said. “We were honest about that. That was a poor performance on our part. We played with a lack of energy. I don’t want to continue to go back and stay positive, but we had some honest discussions about it and we want to hold ourselves to a certain standard. And the last 10, 15 games since Vegas, it’s been more of what we’re about and that’s the goal, continue to move forward.”

A big reason for the difference from the Pelicans post-Vegas is Ingram.

New Orleans Pelicans forward Brandon Ingram reacts after making a 3-point basket in the second half against the Toronto Raptors on Feb. 5 in New Orleans.

Gerald Herbert/AP Photo

Ingram scored a season-high 41 points and made 8 3-pointers, including 5 straight in the third quarter during a 138-100 blowout home win over the Toronto Raptors on Monday. He added a game-high nine assists and six rebounds in just 29:58 minutes.

According to the Pelicans, Ingram became the first player in NBA history to tally 40 points, 9 assists and zero turnovers in 30 minutes or less. Since Las Vegas, the 2020 NBA All-Star is averaging 21 points on 49.9% shooting from the field, 44.3% shooting from 3-point range, 5.9 assists and 4.8 rebounds.

“You got to give 14 the ball and let him go to work,” Pelicans forward Zion Williamson said. “He is going to make the right play whether he is shooting like that or if it is another game where he is on pace to do what he usually does. He is always going to make the right play.”

Said Pelicans guard CJ McCollum: “His ability to hit tough shots, get others involved, finish around the basket, hit 3s — it was all on display.”

Green said several weeks ago that Ingram is having “a ball” in his eighth NBA season, and he believes this could be the forward’s best with the franchise. Green also complimented the Kinston, North Carolina, native for his unselfishness offensively, his defense, setting the tone on offense with “force and efficiency” and being a leader on and off the court.

Ingram, who says he loves the chill New Orleans vibe, has the calmness of the Mississippi River on a tranquil day. He doesn’t waste words, so when he calmly speaks his teammates listen. Just 26 years old, he has also found his own unique way to lead without yelling.

“I’m more by example,” Ingram said. “I speak up when I need to, whatever I see, what I can help people with. It’s more about just doing it by example and putting guys in spots. I’m a person that’s got good feel for everything that’s going on, whether it’s on the floor, off the floor. I can see people’s faces. I can see how they are talking. I can be there for them.”

Neither Ingram nor Williamson, who averages a team-best 22.3 points, made the 2024 NBA All-Star team despite a winning record. While individual scoring usually attracts leaguewide attention, the Pelicans actually spread the wealth offensively with seven players who average at least 10 points. Ingram spoke proudly about playing for a well-rounded Pelicans squad with young star Williamson, the veteran McCollum, inside scoring threat Jonas Valančiūnas, defensive specialist Herb Jones and key reserves Trey Murphy III, Dyson Daniels and Jose Alvarado.

Ingram says the Pelicans have to experience growing pains to become an NBA power. In that blowout loss to the Lakers, he said, the Pelicans saw the blueprint for what is needed to become a title-contending team that New Orleans fans have been eager to see.

“There is sacrifice in figuring out how to win,” Ingram said. “There is sacrifice in knowing every night is not going to be your night. Some nights call for defense. Some nights call for different things. That’s all I want to do is win. I know how that makes people feel. When you win, everybody gets paid. And I know New Orleans hasn’t seen winning. We don’t have a banner in a facility. We don’t have a banner in our arena. We’re just trying to draw closer and closer together …

“We definitely have the talent, but we got to continue to get in situations where we have to think and learn. We have to continue to get better. In the Lakers game, they have guys who have been there and leaders with LeBron and A.D. They made their teammates go. That is what we want to try to do.”

ScHoolboy Q Shares “Back n Love,” “Blueslides” Singles
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‘BLUE LIPS’ season is coming.
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ScHoolboy Q shares two new songs “Blueslides” and “Back in Love”
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The tracks appear ahead of the rapper’s forthcoming album, Blue Lips.
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Jordan Air Ship x A Ma Maniere “Green Stone” Coming Soon
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The Jordan Air Ship is teaming up with with A Ma Maniere and the upcoming “Green Stone” colorway has fans buzzing with anticipation. This fresh iteration brings a new twist to the classic silhouette. The “Green Stone” colorway introduces a vibrant green hue to the Jordan Air Ship, adding a splash of color to its sleek design. Further, crafted with precision and style, this collaboration promises to elevate the sneaker game. Overall, A Ma Maniere’s signature touch is expected to bring a fresh perspective to the Jordan Air Ship.

This pair blends innovation with classic appeal. With its unique color palette and premium materials, the “Green Stone” collaboration is sure to turn heads and make a statement. Further, as sneakerheads eagerly await the release, the Jordan Air Ship continues to sail through sneaker culture, leaving a lasting impression wherever it goes. Overall, stay tuned for the drop date of the “Green Stone” colorway, as this collaboration is set to make waves in the sneaker community.

Read More: Vanessa Bryant Reveals Nike Kobe 4 “Vino” On Instagram

“Green Stone” A Ma Maniere x Jordan Air Ship

Jordan Air Ship
Image via Nike

The sneakers feature a green rubber sole and a sail midsole that is meant to look aged. The uppers are constructed from a summit white leather base, with more summit white leather overlays. Also, a green stone suede Swoosh is found on the sides. More green stone suede is found near the top of the shoes and it wraps around the heels. Also, it features Nike branding embedded. Overall, this pair features a clean combination of green and cream tones.

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Sneaker Bar Detroit reports that the Jordan Air Ship x A Ma Maniere “Green Stone” is going to drop on March 23rd, 2024. Also, the retail price of the sneakers will be $150 when they are released. Let us know what you think of this sneaker, in the comments section below. Additionally, stay tuned to HNHH for the latest news and updates from around the sneaker world. We will be sure to bring you the biggest releases from the biggest brands.

Green Stone
Image via Nike
Jordan Air Ship
Image via Nike

Read More: Air Jordan 3 “Green Glow” Officially Revealed

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