1987 Converse "Weapon" Shoe Commercial

For part one of a late night Old School Sundays special, we have something that NBA and hip hop fans will both thoroughly enjoy... and it's only 30 seconds long. That's because it's a 30 second spot from 1987 when Magic Johnson, Isiah Thomas, Kevin McHale, Mark Aguirre, Bernard King, and MVP Larry Bird took turns for a stream of consciousness rap session. Yes, this actually happened. And the 340K views it has is nowhere near the total this video warrants.

I was inspired to watch this again, and go a step further and post it for you all, because of a Twitter question posed tonight by our friend, RedEye writer Jack Silverstein:

So... to rank the flow: King, Aguirre, McHale, Isiah, Magic, and Larry (ironically the same as Jack's, which I didn't even read til after, hah!). Bird gets bonus points though for his hilarioius smile/smirk gloating about the MVP. How do you rank the flow?

Miguel "Adorn"

Tonight is the Billboard Music Awards and Miguel gets the lead with his performance of the amazing "Adorn", which will unintentionally (and hilariously) stand out for his flying leg drop that hit two fans. This clip was made for Vine.

Fortunately, she's ok — holding merely an ice pack in a backstage interview with Miguel after the performance (which was one of his most creative ones yet for "Adorn", oh by the way).

And per usual: the interwebs get the W in near-record time...

Down below: everyone wishes they were Lil Wayne tonight. He even says it himself as he's "the luckiest guy in the world right now" after a performance with Nicki Minaj for "High School" turned into a lap dance with Nicki Minaj.

Nicki Minaj "High School" f/ Lil Wayne

Also, Chris Brown expectedly channels his MJ for a song and dance performance of "Fine China"; really diggin' this one — the dance moves are crazy, the guitarist brought the chords to another level, and the stage fighting tied back into the music video and was well-executed here. Real nice ending to this performance (although I should add his singing was off-key at times, which can partly be attributed to all the dancing).

Lastly, Macklemore & Ryan Lewis take the stage for "Thrift Shop", and Bruno Mars and his ensemble don some red Michael Jackson jackets for "Treasure". Enjoy!

Chris Brown "Fine China"

Macklemore & Ryan Lewis "Thrift Shop"

Bruno Mars "Treasure"

More performers included Justin Bieber, Selena Gomez, Pitbull & Christina Aguilera. For those videos and more, head on over to Yardie's spot.

At one point during the start of #YeezySeason this weekend, I thought to myself what his fellow peers in the industry are thinking about how he premiered "New Slaves". Naturally, and expectedly, I'm not the only one as Sway was thinking the same and got thoughts from Kendrick Lamar about the spectacle that still has everyone buzzing. It's cool to hear that K. Dot is inspired by the "New Slaves" premiere and it makes me think back to his outdoor concert for Good Kid, m.a.a.d. city outside of Staples Center last fall. With one like that under his belt, I bet Kendrick Lamar comes up with something innovative again like this, and along the "create an experience" lines of Kanye's "New Slaves" as well, for his next big release.

PREVIOUSLY: Kanye West premieres "New Slaves" in Millennium Park // Wrigley Field [GWHH Footage]

Here is a dope new weekend roundup of a variety of news and tidbits that happened amongst all the #YeezySeason mania that is going on, hah!

First off, up above, De La Soul performed live with The Roots on Jimmy Fallon. Above is the feel-good "A Rollerskating Jam Named Saturdays" and "Jenifa Taught Me" can be viewed here. De La's got a new album coming out (!) entitled You're Welcome, slated for this Fall.

An intriguing upcoming collab was announced — Mario & Nicki Minaj! Mario revealed the single on the way, produced by Polow Da Don, via a handwritten note from the heart (seen below). May 21st, you can expect to hear this.

The day before (i.e. tomorrow), T.I. will release his new single with Lil Wayne "Wit Me". You can catch the teaser trailer from last Friday here and peep the new single art below.

And below that, you'll notice the tracklist to Ludacris' upcoming mixtape, IDGAF. There's plenty of big-name features on the 10-track opus, set to be released May 24th. Whew! How bout that for some quick-hit news?!

Wait, one late addition: Action Bronson tweeted a collab project with Harry Fraud called Saab Stories will be impacting early June.

From Mario himself: "Somebody Else" f/ Nicki Minaj drops Tuesday, May 21st

T.I. "Wit Me" f/ Lil Wayne single and music video drops tomorrow, May 20th!

Ludacris 'IDGAF' mixtape dropping May 24th (front cover here)

In a discussion with Billboard this weekend for the 20th anniversary of the release of janet, err... Janet... revealed that she has begun work on a brand new album! Says the superstar herself:

"I am working on a new project now. We are creating the concept and initial thoughts on the music. I am excited about the direction we are taking. I don’t want to rush it… I don’t want to put a time constraint on the creative process."

- Janet Jackson

Janet fans, I know you're excited and curious about this news. I wonder which new artists she'll collab with (for some reason the first one that came to mind was Bruno Mars).

So it looks like the Don C teaser for the artwork last night proved correct today. Here's the new scan of the album art to Yeezus. I like the handwritten red tape addition, just not sure what to make of what the gold part of the cover is representing. I'm sure we'll have more details on that soon though. 

What do you guys think of the cover?

PREVIOUSLY: "Black Skinhead" & "New Slaves" on SNL // "New Slaves" premiere at Millennium Park // Wrigley Field

Kanye West "Black Skinhead"

Up above: Kanye's first performance "Black Skinhead". Down below, his performance of "New Slaves". My first thoughts: more musical evolution from Kanye West. Vibing with the sound and the aesthetics. What did you think of the performances?

UPDATED Thoughts: After sitting with "Black Skinhead" especially and digesting the lyrics (handwritten by 'Ye below), I have come to a point where I'm liking it more with each listen. My first experience was just appreciating the visuals and the heavy, heavy metal influence in the song's sound. The seizure-inducing flashes behind 'Ye, with silhouettes of his ensemble behind him were both amazing. Not to mention Yeezy's "All Black Everything", save for the new red Air Yeezys.

Lyrically, Kanye is comin' back with a clear message and disdain for society, especially when it comes to the racism he not only sees but experiences. The King Kong reference cleverly drives it home for me in "Black Skinhead", with the song as a whole feeling like an independence anthem. Likely because it feels like Kanye is creating from that place of complete, unfiltered freedom. Just as much as ever, you can feel Kanye's soul pour out in his words, with no barrier in between.

For my initial thoughts on "New Slaves", check out my experience and video of the Wrigley Field premiere. As far as tonight's performance goes, the sound sounds even more crisp as one would expect. I thought the first few bars would be delivered more intensely but it set up a nice contrast to the rest of the song. 'Ye being completely still, his stare fixated into space, was magnificent.

Other fun/little things I liked: the LeBron 'Akron' reference in "Black Skinhead" actually made me want to root for LeBron (for just a minute, hah!), the Romans/Trojans punchlines, and Mano embodying the #TreatedCrew steez by wilin' out in the background of both performances. 

And overall, what else can I say? 'Ye's got the performance game down to a constantly evolving and creative level. Tonight, he stole the show from Ben Affleck, Amy Poehler's guest appearance, and Bill Hader's final episode (Fred Armisen's too?). #YeezySeason, indeed.

Kanye West "New Slaves"

UPDATE: Here are the handwritten lyrics for "Black Skinhead" and a look at the all new, all red Air Yeezy 2 that 'Ye was wearing tonight via Don C's Instagram.

#KanyeStare?

*tips hat* Yardie

PREVIOUSLY: Kanye West "New Slaves" LIVE @ Millennium Park // Wrigley Field