FREESPEAK BY JOHNNY SPANONE

 After the demise of Tupac Shakur and Biggie Smalls, the whole hip-hop artist community started feuding over the spots that were left vacant by the deceased artists, dividing the rappers. By that time, the Brooklyn-born rapper Jay Z, who had previously been aware of the vacancies even before the feuding began, was quick to ascend to fill the spot his long-time friend Biggie had left.  The rapper's quick ascend to the ranks reignited the conflict, now every rapper who had witnessed the power grab became more willing to fight harder and more viciously for the remaining vacant position. In the midst of the feuding, no one was ready to back down, anything that could be used as a weapon in the fight was used by the rappers to take over Tupac's position. In those days, the Quins-born rapper Nas was on good terms with his fellow Quins native and then-upcoming rapper 50 cent, to prove this check out one of the singles they had collaborated on when they were at peace with each other, it

 The B.A.L. or in full the Basketball African League is a recently unveiled, African basketball league that is supported by the International Basketball Federation and the US basketball league famously known as the NBA. It is the first professional, NBA-sponsored basketball league outside the US. The league consists of 12 teams, each team has to qualify through their domestic competitions to be considered as a qualified participant in the new international basketball competition, Initially, the league's matches were supposed to be held in seven chosen cities across Africa. However, due to the worldwide covid 19 epidemic, all the matches scheduled venues were abandoned, and the games were rescheduled to take place in Rwanda, Kigali.  It was noted that Rwanda was considered by the sponsors of the event as a potential host nation due to its recent heavy investment in sports and sports tourism. In recent years, the country has bid and successfully hosted various sporting events, includ

 If you were a fan of the late rapper Notorious Big aka Biggie Smalls, you probably have heard his classic track I got a story to tell. It was one of the singles in his last studio album, Life After Death'. For those who are not familiar with the song, album, or personality, I will try my best to expound more on all the above. Many referred to him as the King of Newyork after he helped raise the then-failing East Coast hip hop industry in the early nineties. This came to be when he released his debut album Ready To Die', back in 1994 when West Coast gangster rap was dominant all over America. He was a highly skilled rapper with unmatched lyrical capabilities. For this, he was considered a hip-hop icon with only 2 albums to his name. Sadly his life came to an abrupt end on March 9th, 1997. This didn't stop his last studio album from selling 690,000 copies within the first week. In 2000, it was certified Diamond by the RIAA(Recording Industry Association of America) after i

  Delray Richardson, an award-winning songwriter, recently claimed that Tupac Shakur wasn't legally signed to Deathrow Records. He continued by clarifying his statement saying Tupac was still signed to Interscope Records when he was approached by Suge Marion Knight, the then C E O of Deathrow. According to law, you cannot sign another contract while still bound to a former contract you agreed upon.  The songwriter went on to add to his claim by stating that there was no legal document available that could prove that Tupac had been let off his contract with Interscope Records. The next point Delray presented to back his claim was that the document Suge Marion Knight and Tupac Shakur agreed upon when he bailed him out of jail wasn't a contract but was more of a deal memorandum that included what Tupac would have had if he later signed to the record label.  2.25 refundable from gross sales of 3albums you may get refunded from the first profit but due to saying 1 million advances f

In the late sixties, a bunch of children from rival gangs met at Hoe Avenue to broker a peace treaty, and later this became the platform where hip hop was birthed.  When the gangs got together, violence was not condoned. When they had disputes, they traded beatdowns for rap battles and b-boying competitions. This just shows the role unity had to play in order for the creation of hip hop to occur. We have to peep the past and reflect so that we can remind ourselves what favored us and what has always hindered our progress as humans. This is the only way we can learn from our experiences and change to create a better future for our offsprings. But returning to our topic, these days we live in a world that propagates a message of individualism, capitalism, and disunity. Hip hop is not exempted from this propagation and this is reflected in rap lyrics that praise capitalism, greed, and individualism.  Due to this, the rappers of today and the industry movers and shakers have become selfish

 As the rap legend, DMX was laid to rest on the 25th of April and all hip hop lovers celebrated his legacy, something amazing happened. At his memorial, an announcement was made but the media outlets were not allowed to broadcast what was said.  Newyork state announced that December 18th which is DMX's birthday will be recognized across the entire state of Newyork as DMX day. Senator Jamaal T Bailey of the Newyork State told the House of the senate," We all can't be the same person all the time, everyone has a DMX moment".  He went on quoting DMX's lose my mind song and asked if there was anybody that was present who had never been in that position and went on in agreement with his statement. The passionate senator who couldn't hide his admiration for the rap legend did not only articulate DMX's lyrics on the floor of the House, and introduced a resolution in the rapper's honor. He went on to say," In Newyork, we have our own Hip hop royalty, He&#