After leading the Wizards to a win over the Cavs on Friday, which secured them a spot in the play-in tournament, Westbrook was asked about being mentioned by J. Cole, who is one of the most decorated rappers in the game. It turns out the respect is mutual. “J. Cole, I’m a huge fan of his music. I’m a huge fan of him as a person more than anything. He’s one of the greats in the hip-hop space,” Westbrook said. “To be able to be mentioned on his songs and thought of, it’s something as a kid you always think about, hoping you can get named in a song. So, to be able to have that, especially on this album, is pretty cool I must say.”
Music Rumors
Taylor Rooks: Just spoke to @jamorant about his @JColeNC mention on #TheOffSeason “I was at home sitting at the kitchen table and yelled ‘hold up. I gotta run that back’ 🤣” Says he’s already listened to the song about 5 times and loves the album
CJ McCollum: On my second listen of @JColeNC album. Fuego Straight through. no skips. Album of the year. My favorite artist came back with a bang Apretón de manos and he sampled sub zero @Dame_Lillard . Legendary. Damian Lillard: 💯 Cole a real one… album 🔥🔥
Rapper J. Cole is expected to play for the Rwanda Patriots BBC in the inaugural season of the Basketball Africa League, sources told The Undefeated. J. Cole, 36, arrived in Rwanda two days ago and is in the midst of quarantining in order to play in the 12-team league. Born Jermaine Lamarr Cole, the rapper starred at Sanford High School (North Carolina) and was a walk-on at St. John’s, but he ultimately turned his focus to music before playing in a Division I game.
How many times did he think the Lakers were out of a game, only for Bryant to come out of nowhere to make an amazing shot, get a stop, make four jumpers in a row? “It’s phenomenal how fulfilling it was,” Flea said, “just this intangible sense of satisfaction you get from that that carries over into your life. It wasn’t just a game, you built up feelings of this intangible thing that added immeasurably to my spirit. I appreciated his craftsmanship and his ability to stay grounded in the moment, and there it was: the end of it.”
Put another way: There is the James Dolan who feuds with former Knicks stars and rankles celebrity fans. There is the Dolan who runs through executives and coaches like Spinal Tap drummers and puts tremendous on his employees. There is also the Dolan who pursued music on his own, who grew up on the touchstones — Eric Clapton, the Dead, Duane Allman — and reminisces about his first guitar, a used Gibson J-50, like Knicks fans remember Willis Reed, Walt Frazier and Dave DeBusschere. “That’s his rosebud,” McKenna told Shattered. Or, as Dolan once told Canadian journalist Peter Robb of the Ottawa Citizen in 2013, “I don’t shoot basketballs, I don’t shoot pucks, I don’t install cable in people’s homes. Music is a place that goes from my mind to my hands and into my voice direct out.”
The Knicks honored Yonkers-bred rapper DMX, who died Friday after a week on life support following a heart attack, with a scoreboard tribute between the first two quarters and with an RIP message on the marquee outside the Garden. The 50-year-old, three-time Grammy nominee’s real name was Earl Simmons.
