As Atlanta rapper is gearing up to release his 15th studio album “Woptober II,” Oct. 17. The cover art doubles as Gucci’s New Cruise 2020 #ComeAsYouAre_RSVP ad campaign, which also stars Iggy Pop, Sienna Miller, Benedetta Barzini, and more.
Guwop who’s been repping the brand since his emergence is now the face of the Italian fashion house’s global campaign. The Resort 2020 campaign finds Gucci Mane showing off his retro style in Gucci’s red and green court sneakers and a floral tracksuit while celebrating at a lavish house party at Villa La Furibonda in Rome.
The shoot was directed by Christopher Simmonds and photographed by Harmony Korine, Gucci Mane was also joined on set by the brand’s creative director Alessandro Michele.
As the follow up to “Delusions of Grandeur,”“Woptober II” will include his new single “Richer Than Errybody” featuring YoungBoy Never Broke Again and DaBaby.
Wale is set to release his sixth studio album “Wow… That’s Crazy.” Boasting a star-studded tracklist which includes appearances from Bryson Tiller, Ari Lennox, 6LACK, Lil Durk, Kelly Price, Jacquees, Megan Thee Stallion, Boogie, and Mannywellz, who guests on the Afrobeat-infused “Love & Loyalty,” and Jeremih who gave a sweet assist for single “On Chill.”
Weeks away from its release the D.C. rhymer, has revealed the cover art and its 15 tracklistings. This album marks Wale’s first since 2017’s “Shine.” Last night, he kicked off his “Everything Is Fine” tour, which runs through Oct. 28 in Seattle.
“I never want to make anything that doesn’t feel infinite .. absolute .. this album is my most personal by far,” Wale tweeted, “The majority of my time making it I just knew it would be my last.”
“Wow… That’s Crazy” arrives Oct. 11. See the tracklisting below:
We are now 20 days and counting until the NBA season kicks off, and the NBA Preseason is in full swing with the Sacramento Kings and Indiana Pacers preparing to square off for NBA India Games 2019 tomorrow, October 3rd. Everyday we grow closer to the highly anticipated start of the NBA Season, but now we continue the NBA Countdown with #20, the 41-41 Detroit Pistons.
20. Detroit Pistons (41-41) – When will Motor City find themselves back in the driver’s seat?
If we’re being real, the Detroit Pistons haven’t been a team in the conversation of great NBA teams since they won the NBA Championship back in 2003. 16 Years later, with the recent acquisition of Blake Griffin, fans actually had some form of hope in terms of contention. This however was very short-lived, after a swift exit in the NBA Playoffs.
Looking at the roster this upcoming season, Pistons’ fans have even more to be excited about, with a multitude of additions to the roster with Piston’s Senior Adviser, Ed Stefanski, stating that the team is “deeper and grittier” after off-season moves were made. The Pistons have been trying to establish their identity within the league, which potentially becomes easier with stronger depth with skilled players. Names like Derrick Rose, Tony Snell, and Joe Johnson being added to the team can only mean good things for this team on top of having Blake Griffin, Langston Galloway, Andre Drummond, and Reggie Jackson at the teams’ core.
The Piston’s should be very proud of their off-season moves, but just how far can they go with 8 new additions to the team, all the while trying to establish themselves as a basketball team. It only seems like there should be an upswing from the organization, but there are many questions to be asked, such as can Joe Johnson be same threat as he was in the Big 3 League? Or just how well will all the new additions buy-in to Dwayne Casey? Pistons fans should be excited, but at the same time be cautious considering anything can happen in this league, for good or bad.
Back to the discussion of the depth of this team, is an area that had to be a priority for the Pistons this past season. Their bench seasons prior were mediocre at best, but making changes such as Derrick Rose coming off the bench, taking Ish Smith’s spot, is a legitimate upgrade for this team. Smith and Rose both played about 50 games last season, but Rose statistically outperformed Smith in all facets. Additionally, having Tony Snell, a genuine 3 and D wing player, and Joe Johnson, a walking bucket, is exactly what a team that comprises of post-up bigs need.
Regardless of what happens this season however, I’m personally excited to watch the Pistons this season. There is a ridiculous amount of potential for this team, and if Dwayne Casey can rally these guys together, the Pistons will definitely be a team to be reckoned with. They also have the potential to contend for the second place in their division against the Pacers( because lets face it, the Central Division currently belongs to the Milwaukee Bucks).
Facing all the facts, I got the Pistons making it to the Playoffs again this year, somewhere probably towards the bottom of the playoff picture again. The Eastern Conference took some hits this season (again), and realistically the only things stopping the Pistons is a lack of cohesion, or other teams in the Eastern Conference having breakout years.
The NFL community was dealt a serious blow when news that former Arizona Cardinals owner Bill Bidwill had passed away at the age of 88 years old. Bidwill owned the franchise from 1972 to 2006. His son, and current Cardinals president, Michael said, “Above all else, we will remember him as a man devoted to the three central pillars of his life–his immense faith, his love for his family and his lifelong passion for the Cardinals and the sport of football.”
During that time he oversaw many firsts in league history. His team hired the first black female executive (Adele Harris), the first black contract negotiator in the NFL (Bob Wallace, and the first-ever African-American head coach-general manager tandem (Dennis Green and Rod Graves). In 2015, the Cardinals named their fellowship program to promote and increase diversity within all NFL coaching staff after Bidwill.
16-year veteran Larry Fitzgerald, who spent his entire career with the Cardinals said the following about Mr. Bidwill, “Now you hear everybody talking about diversity and minority hires, back when he first started doing it that was not the norm…He didn’t care about the color of your skin or race or the gender, if he felt like you could do the job to the best of your ability to help us become better then you were the right person for it.”
NFL commissioner Roger Goodell shared his sentiments too, “Bill Bidwill was part of the NFL family his entire life, starting from his days as a ball boy through his time as an owner…[Bill] made extraordinary contributions to the NFL. Bill’s vision brought the Cardinals, the NFL and multiple Super Bowls to Arizona. He was a leader in embracing diversity…We extend our condolences to Bill’s family and the Cardinals organization, which along with his faith, meant so much to him.”
Teams around the league shared their condolences as well:
Rest in peace, Bill Bidwill, legendary owner of the Cardinals. Bill was involved with our league since 1932, and was a leader on the initiative of minority front office hiring. My sympathies go out to Michael, the entire Bidwill family and the Cardinals organization.
On behalf of the entire Philadelphia Eagles organization, we send our sincerest condolences to the Arizona Cardinals and the Bidwill family on the passing of @AZCardinals owner, Bill Bidwill. https://t.co/DOwdhKcljH
Our hearts are heavy to hear the news of the passing of @AZCardinals owner, Bill Bidwill. On behalf of the entire Seahawks organization, we send our sincerest condolences to the Arizona Cardinals and the Bidwill family. 💙 https://t.co/aKS487mHGI
PUMA is still on the hunt for new talent and they’ve pounced on their biggest prey yet. PUMA has officially inked Los Angeles Lakers Forward Kyle Kuzma to a multi-year shoe deal reportedly worth $15 million over 5 years. The acquisition of Kyle comes as a bit of a surprise especially after Kyle’s deal with GOAT and his position as a Kobe acolyte, even having a pair of the Undefeated x Kobe IV Protro dedicated to him.
PUMA immediately capitalized on the reveal, erecting a billboard in Los Angeles with “KUZ” stamped over the PUMA branding. Rumors began to spread just recently when Kuzma was spotted at Lakers media day wearing a pair of the PUMA x Rhude Alteration sneakers. Kuzma joins a wealth of young talent including Terry Rozier, RJ Barrett, Kevin Knox, Marvin Bagley, and 2018 number one overall draft pick Deandre Ayton.
There are officially 21 days until the start of a new NBA year and that is means for celebration. Preseason ball came back last night while you were probably asleep and James Harden recorded his first triple-double of 2019-20 for Houston Rockets as they played the Shanghai Sharks, in a game that didn’t count but still entertained.
The rest of the league is to start their preseasons on Friday and the days following the weekend. We will get the opportunity to witness the newer dynamic tandems share court time for the first time, big names in new threads and contenders practice obtaining their chemistry in short outings for four quarters. We are getting really, really close to NBA basketball, and it feels like I’m repeating myself when I say that the anticipation is killing us all.
But to get back on track, coming in at No. 21 is the 2018-19 first-round exit Orlando Magic.
21. Orlando Magic (41-41) – With 42 Wins Last Year And A Stolen First-Overall Selection, Can The “Magic” For The Magic Continue?
Admit it. If you were asked last fall about Orlando’s ability to contend with the likes of the Heat and Wizards in the Southeast, you’d have never seen a postseason berth in the realm of possibility for these one-time underhanded Magic.
Don’t lie. You know you didn’t predict the Orlando Magic to be a topic of relevance in the yearly NBA Playoff Picture, and it’s okay, I didn’t either.
Steve Clifford should earn a presidential medal of freedom for the way he’s revived one of the more infamous and unlucky NBA franchises in recent memory. The Magic are developing fundamentally, and in the right way going from the top down. We all cannot wait for what is to come in Mo Bamba’s second year while Nikola Vucevic is coming off an All-Star season, the first of his career in fact. They’re maintaining stability by keeping their starting five from last year. They are adding wing depth by getting a proven and credible defender in Al-Farouq Aminu that has extensive postseason experience.
All of the things that the Magic are doing are just right. Problem is, there isn’t a lot to look forward too when it comes to their backcourt. D.J. Augustin is a veteran with some slightly impressive numbers and he only missed one game last season, but he was wildly inconsistent in his 81 starts, as he’s never averaged more than 15 points per game, or over 6 assists a game, over the entire course of his career. There’s no other reasoning that the Magic will need a reboot at the PG position, and it does not look likely that Augustin is the likeliest candidate to stick around for this rebuilding period that’s lasted for over eight seasons.
But, if all turns out well for their offseason pickup at the guard spot, that lengthy search that most teams that are looking for a franchise guard may not have to be undergone.
The disenfranchised Markelle Fultz is looking for a roster to fully call a professional roster home and hasn’t had the luxury of doing so, so at the tender age of 21, the 2019 season may be his last chance to maintain a spot in the NBA. His rookie season, being fair of course, was plagued with concurrent injury and mismanagement, causing him to miss over 68 games with that bizarre shoulder condition that altered his shooting form so many times you’d think he was a toddler learning the B.E.E.F method (Balance, Eye Contact, Elbow Follow Through).
Still, his ceiling for the type of guard he could be is too magnanimous to ignore. He averaged 18 points a game when he was a high schooler at DeMatha High, then went on to compete in the Pac 12 at Washington, putting up some scary good numbers by averaging 23.2 points per contest. He was equally able to get to the bucket by using an effective dribble, albeit with a 6’9 wingspan at a 6’4, 201-lb figure and shoot effectively from everywhere at a 47 percent FG percentage and a 41 percent rating from deep.
Now, his NBA numbers haven’t been great (averaged 7.6 points off a combined 41.2 shooting percentage in two seasons as a Sixer) but picture this: with a chance to develop in a low-pressure, media-dilute environment with a point guard’s coach in Steve Clifford, who is mainly responsible for the professional evolution of guards like Kemba Walker, Markelle Fultz is afforded the gift of getting healthy, boosting his confidence and growing into a franchise point guard for an evolving organization that could very well challenge for a consecutive playoff spot in a conference that doesn’t look that threatening.
Also with their backcourt situation: the Magic drafted Auburn Guard Chuma Okeke with the 16th overall pick. A volume scorer whose season ended abruptly with a torn ACL in a national tournament game, Okeke was the diamond in the ruff for the first-time Final Four visitors. He scored 12 points per contest and was a sniper from deep, nearly leading the team in 3pt percentage. The rookie will have to sit out the year and learn the system, but for a team that lacks guard depth, some may feel that the Magic made an unnecessary move of going back to the well in drafting a guard.
Touched on a little bit earlier, the Magic’s core maintained their stability in re-signing the likes of the cleared-for-takeoff Aaron Gordon and second-year man Jonathan Isaac out of Florida State. Gordon has improved his game every year since his rookie season in 2014 and looks to be living up to his four-year, $84 million contract signed just last year. Gordon’s numbers dipped slightly in 2018-19 from his 17.1 ppg standard, but that isn’t a reason to cast away the power forward whose game has expanded from just inside the restricted arc as a dunker to the three-point arc, shooting at a respectable 35 percent from deep with confidence.
If Gordon can take the leap to become an All-Star like his counterpart in Vucevic, the Magic could have one of the most arduous duos in the entire league to guard down low.
The Magic will also bring back the uber-athletic Terrence Ross, who saw a rise in his numbers in a career year as the leader of the second unit. He averaged 15.1 ppg off 42 percent shooting, while also posting the second-best efficiency rating of his tenure as a 2 guard in the NBA. The Magic are still looking to see if the improved games of a previously-conceived-to-be-average Evan Fournier and Jonathan Isaac make the leap to complement their teammates because if they do, the Magic will have more than enough firepower to compete and possibly win the Southeast Division and earn yet another postseason berth.
The Magic are literally the proverbial “what if” team in the Eastern Conference. They play in a division so impacted by free agency and injury and will have every opportunity to snatch the lead of the Southeast from the clutch of the Miami Heat (who, as you know, snagged Jimmy Butler in the offseason).
Some questions for next season: is Markelle Fultz the guy he was championed to be in the draft and can he earn a starting spot? Can Aaron Gordon take the next step to assert himself as an All-Star? Was Jonathan Issac worth a first-round draft pick? Can Mo Bamba flex his 7-foot frame and produce in some valuable minutes all season while staying healthy? Orlando only needs a couple of these things to happen for them to make the playoffs, luckily.
The only negative is that the Magic still don’t have the franchise guard they can trust to run the offense and produce consistently to make the Magic a practical threat in the East. So, worst-case-scenario, the Magic have a plan B in passing off some draft and free agent capital to make some trades.
The Magic will probably be a game better than what they were a season ago, and with the All-Star status of Nikola Vucevic and potential of Aaron Gordon being a multifaceted defender and scorer, the Magic will be able to further solidify their identity as an eventual contender in a weakened East sooner rather than later.
