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Trae Young and John Collins are the latest NBA players to make an appearance at the Drew League. While their future as NBA teammates is in flux due to Collins’ name seeming to come up in trade rumors all the time, the pair joined forces for a run in the legendary southern California summer pro-am for Black Pearl Elite’s game against the Citi Team Blazers.

Young and Collins are one of the best lob combinations in the NBA, with Young serving as one of the league’s most creative passer and Collins holding the distinction of one of basketball’s most explosive big men. From early on in the evening, we got to see the pair tap into this, as Young got out ahead of the the play after a turnover, went off the glass, and set up Collins for an easy two points.

Collins even had some impressive moments below the rim, including this cheeky layup through contact.

Young was fully in his bag while playing in the Drew, showing off the combination of deep range, tight handles, and sensational passing that has turned him into the centerpiece of what the Hawks are building in Atlanta.

His gravity as a scorer set up a trip to the free throw line for Collins, too.

Getting fouled was hardly a unique thing for Collins on the evening.

But despite this, Young, Collins, and BPE were unable to pick up a win, as the Blazers led wire-to-wire for a 103-100 victory.

These days, bold predictions and music releases go hand in hand. Bold predictions about music the world has yet to receive also go hand in hand, and heighten the excitement and anticipation for what has not yet been released. Now, is the prediction really that bold if it has to do with Beyonce? Well, take that up with Nathan Hubbard, the former Ticketmaster CEO, who is planting his “album of the year” flag firmly on the forthcoming Renaissance for 2022.

In a tweet yesterday, Hubbard said “I’ve heard enough. Album of the year:” and listed his choices in order. The Lemonade artist’s upcoming album coming July 29 was deemed the winner, followed by Kendrick Lamar for May’s Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers, The 1975 for their forthcoming October album Being Funny In A Foreign Language and Brent Faiyaz for his July release Wasteland.

In a follow-up tweet, he listed the number five but instead of offering a name or album, Hubbard simply said “Yes *she* is releasing something.” It is unclear who the mystery woman is, but clearly her project is good enough for Nathan Hubbard to also stamp her release as top five among a strong slate of music in 2022, both what has already been released or is set to come out.

As if anticipation isn’t already high enough for Queen Bee and The 1975, now, those who take Hubbard’s word at face value, will have a guessing game to play for another potentially groundbreaking 2022 album.

Check out Nathan Hubbard’s 2022 album rankings tweet above.

Kendrick Lamar has provided multiple headline-worthy moments over the last few weeks since embarking on The Big Steppers Tour. Whether it was his crown of thorns and advocacy for women’s rights at Glastonbury Festival 2022 or vaudeville at a more recent concert, he has left the people with plenty to talk about beyond the music. This past weekend, the Compton rapper showed just how emotional his music can make the listeners as a show attendee film a security guard crying during a Lamar set.

The TikTok, posted to Twitter, shows the security guard standing to the side of the stage Lamar is performing atop. As the video zooms, the guard can be seen wiping tears from his eyes and joining the “Silent Hill” artist in singing the line “I’m like a exit away” from “Love” featuring Zacari. The song, one of the more endearing records from the Pulitzer Prize-winning album Damn from 2017, understandably has that effect on those who hear it but the conviction in which the security guard sang it shows there may have been a deeper effect on him than most.

Music is beautiful, after all, and no one should run from the emotions it evokes. Obviously, the security guard was on the job and could not run, but the sentiment remains the same.

Check out the video of the security guard crying during Kendrick Lamar’s performance above.

Hailee Steinfeld keeps herself pretty busy, whether it is on the film, television or music side. However, some fans have been patiently–or not so patiently–awaiting more music and it appears their prayers may be answered in a major way. Yesterday (July 22), the 25-year-old announced her next single “Coast” will arrive next Friday (July 29) and features Anderson .Paak.

The pop singer shared the information in a multi-photo Instagram post showing her in a car’s rearview mirror, a man’s tattooed arm, and a necklace reading the song’s title. The caption read “If you’ve been with me for a while you know this has been a long time coming. If you’re new here…I’m about to release my first song in over a year (COAST • 7/29) with one of my favorite artists/someone I’m lucky to call a friend. He’s so sick!! And so is the song!! Bet!!!!”

Steinfeld then opened up the floor for her followers to guess, and today (July 23) they got their answer. Steinfeld took to Instagram once again to share the song’s cover art and feature, none other than Anderson .Paak. The moment is now even more exciting as the actress’s first solo release since the 2020 EP Half Written Story will feature one of the most highly coveted artists and instrumentalists who has been on quite a run himself since forming Silk Sonic with Bruno Mars.

Check out Hailee Steinfeld’s announcements for “Coast” above.

“Coast” is out 7/29 via Republic Records. Pre-order it here.

Bobby Shmurda has been living life to the fullest for the last year and a half since being released from prison. Along with the fun, he’s been getting his business in order as he officially parted ways with Epic Records. As both the fans and the “Hot N****” artist look toward the future, there have been questions as to when he will fully dive back into the music scene. In an official press release, Shmurda provided his answer with the announcement that his first post-prison EP Bodboy will release on August 5.

The project’s announcement comes along with the reveal of the 27-year-old’s new label GS9 Records, operating in partnership with ONErpm. The Brooklyn rapper is taking full control over his future, and Bodboy could be the start of his music career’s second wind after jail derailed his white hot momentum. In the time since Bobby left Epic he has released tracks such as “Getting Em Back,” “They Don’t Know,” “Cartier Lens,” “No Time For Sleep,” and “Shmoney” featuring Quavo and Rowdy Rebel in addition to appearing on Funk Flex’s “Hitta.”

With the announcements for GS9 Records and Bodboy comes official confirmation that last week’s “Hoochie Daddy,” a play on Uncle Luke’s “Hoochie Mama,” is the EP’s lead single. The EP is nine songs total and will feature Fat Tony and Shmurda’s longtime collaborator Rowdy Rebel.

Listen to “Hoochie Daddy” here. Below, find the Bodboy tracklist.

1. “Gorilla”
2. “From The Slums”
3. “Hoochie Daddy”
4. “Whole Back”
5. “No Sense”
6. “Glock Inside” ft. Fat Tony
7. “RSN”
8. “Bodmon”
9. “On God” featuring Rowdy Rebel

Bodboy is out 8/5 via GS9 Records.

The last week has been filled with controversy for Ricky Martin and it began when the singer was accused of domestic violence by his 21-year-old nephew who Martin was allegedly in a seven-month relationship with. Dennis Yadiel Sanchez, who also filed a protection order against Martin, made note of “physical and psychological attacks” that occurred during their relationship. Less than a week after the accusations were made against Martin, the singer’s nephew decided to withdraw the claims which resulted in the case being dismissed in Puerto Rican court.

Just a day after that case was closed, Martin took to the Hollywood Bowl for a performance, and it was there that he delivered a message about love to his audience. “Are you ready to have a good time? ‘Cause that’s why I came here,” he told the crowd at the show. “We’re going to go back in time. We’re going to be romantic at times. We’re gonna have some energy at times.” He concluded, “All I want is for you to forget all your issues tonight and just focus on the love and light and let’s just have a good time.”

After the court case was dismissed, Martin’s lawyer shared a statement about the matter. “Just as we had anticipated, the temporary protection order was not extended by the Court,” the statement read. “The accuser confirmed to the court that his decision to dismiss the matter was his alone, without any outside influence or pressure, and the accuser confirmed he was satisfied with his legal representation in the matter.”

It continued, “The request came from the accuser asking to dismiss the case. This was never anything more than a troubled individual making false allegations with absolutely nothing to substantiate them. We are glad that our client saw justice done and can now move forward with his life and his career.”

You can watch Martin speak to the crowd during the concert in the video above.

Day one of this weekend’s Rolling Loud Festival in Miami was eventful for not the best reasons. Kanye West made a surprise appearance at the showcase despite dropping out of the headlining slot and he was replaced by Kid Cudi. Speaking of Cudi, he closed out day one, but his set ended earlier than expected as he made an early exit due to fans constantly throwing objects at him onstage. “I will f*cking leave,” Cudi warned before leaving. “If I get hit with one more f*cking thing — if I see one more f*cking thing on this f*cking stage, I’m leaving!”

As we now know, Cudi stayed true to his word and made an early exit when a fan threw a water bottle at him after his aforementioned warning. Following last night’s incident, Rolling Loud took to their Twitter page to issue a statement and a note of support towards Cudi. “Rolling Loud is a family,” the platform wrote. “Our fans, the artists, and everyone involved need to look out for each other. Share the love and be respectful to everyone.” They concluded, “We love you, Cudi. Please take care of each other and let’s have an amazing day 2!”

Rolling Loud Miami’s second day is set to be headlined by Future with additional performances from Lil Uzi Vert, City Girls, Latto, and more.

You can view Rolling Loud’s tweet in the post above.

Earlier this year, Morbius became that rare beast: an underperforming comic book movie. Plagued with poor reviews and bizarre behind-the-scenes revelations, the DCEU entry fared much better as a social media joke, which became so voluminous that a) star Jared Leto got in on it and b) Sony added more theaters, hoping chuckleheads would go see it. (They did not.) But the jokes seem to have eluded one of its lead actors.

As per The AV Club, Matt Smith — second-billed in Morbius, as our hero’s surrogate brother-turned-villain — was at this weekend’s San Diego Comic-Con, where he’s there to promote House of the Dragon. The former Doctor Who lead was sitting on a panel, minding his own business, when one attendee thought it would be funny to make a Morbius meme joke.

“Matt Smith, it’s Morbin’ time!” the guy said, to which Smith responded with a legitimately confused-seeming “It’s what?”

The fan tried to rebound, awkwardly reminding Smith that he “starred in a movie recently called, uh, Morbius, which was great.” He then tried to salvage the bit, asking Smith, “My question for you is how would you character in Morbius fit into the Game Of Thrones universe?”

Smith then tried to sincerely answer his question. “Well, I mean he’s a vampire, so I think he’d struggle first off,” he replied. “I don’t know really know how he’d fit into the Game Of Thrones universe. I think he would be a fish of water, in truth. I don’t think he’s got the chops to do it.” Eventually, he tried his best to stay professional about a movie he’s in that he may or may not actually like, saying, “But I’m glad you watched a completely different movie.”

In any case, Smith has bigger fish to fry these days: He’s one of the stars of a prequel to a show that is widely perceived to have had a disappointing ending. Perhaps he’s already forgotten about poor little Morbius.

(Via The AV Club)

Earlier this month, Brent Faiyaz released his long-awaited second album Wasteland. While the project was his first official album since 2017’s Sonder Son, it was also Brent’s first body of work since 2020’s F*ck The World. Wasteland arrived with 19 songs and features from Drake, Tyler The Creator, Alicia Keys, Joony, and Tre’ Amani, however, there was a point where many thought the project would be released under a different title: Make It Out Alive. During a recent sit-down with Complex’s Jordan Rose, Brent explained that his second album did not undergo a name change, but rather a separate body of work was created.

“I still have a project I want to put out called Make It Out Alive,” Brent said during the conversation. “That’s still in the works—it’s just not this one, because I love the title Wasteland and I love what it represents.” He continued, “I have an idea in my head of what I want Make It Out Alive to be, but all of the songs that I have been making up until this point didn’t fit that title. I wasn’t in the headspace to put that body of work out.”

For what it’s worth, Make It Out Alive seems like the perfect transition from the events that conclude Wasteland. So, if the project does end up being Brent’s third album, it would be interesting to see where he takes things after the success of Wasteland.

You can read Brent’s full interview with Complex here.

Wasteland is out now via Lost Kids LLC. You can stream it here.

Jacksonville rapper Nardo Wick concluded his 2021 year with the release of his Who Is Nardo Wick? project. The body of work delivered 18 songs and features from Future, Lil Baby, Hit-Boy, G Herbo, Lil Durk, 21 Savage, Lakeyah, and Big30. Who Is Nardo Wick? was a great look for Nardo as it earned him co-signs from all over the rap world as well as an inclusion in the 2022 XXL Freshman Class. A little over seven months from that project’s release, Nardo returns with a deluxe reissue and a brand new video.

Nardo Wick gets back to work with a video for “Demon Mode,” one of twelve new songs that appear on the deluxe of Who Is Nardo Wick?. In the visual, Nardo is surrounded by his crew in a dimly lit room as they show their unity while flaunting their stacks of money and collection of jewelry.

The deluxe of Who Is Nardo Wick? features the previously released “Riot” and “Krazy Krazy” as well as guest appearances from Latto and The Kid Laroi, with the former appearing on a remix of “Baby Wyd?”

You can watch the video for “Demon Mode” above.

Who Is Nardo Wick?? (Deluxe) is out now via Flawless Ent. and RCA Records. You can stream it here.