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At the turn of the century, it was Allen Iverson who served as the bridge between hip-hop and basketball while also boasting a massive amount of pop culture influence. Part of the influence came after he retired, when the Philadelphia 76ers icon inspired Post Malone’s breakout hit “White Iverson” in 2015. A decade later, Posty returned the favor and invited Iverson to join him on stage Saturday night (May 24) while performing a countrified version of “White Iverson” in Philly.
With an uptick in gun violence plaguing the New York City area, LIFE CAMP Inc.’s co-founder and hip-hop community activist Erica Ford hopes to remedy the ongoing issues by holding the first annual Gaming 4 Peace NBA 2K Tournament on April 6 and 7 at York College. The tournament will feature appearances by Lola Brooke, NBA star Mikal Bridges, and Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse star Shameik Moore.
Shaq is throwing an appropriately large New Year’s Eve event in the VR world. Retired NBA great Shaquille O’Neal will host “The Shaq-tacular Spectacular,” an immersive VR countdown special featuring guest spots from Cardi B, Killer Mike, Ludacris, Lil Yachty, Rob Gronkowski and Camille Kostek.
The 19-year pro, who won four titles in the NBA and is regarded as one of the most dominant big men of all time, will spin tunes for a virtual DJ Diesel set, filling it up on a main stage that’s said to be “filled with a marching band, cheerleaders, pro roller skaters, basketball players” and more.
He didn’t go to Duke University law school like renowned sports agent Drew Rosenhaus, or have a relative cutting deals at Universal Music, making his path to celebrity row at Madison Square Garden nearly unreplicable. “I would see all these corporate guys [courtside] and thought I couldn’t do that — I’m not going to college. Then seeing Clive Davis, Marty Van Deer and Puffy, Jimmy [Iovine] and music big wigs around the time I was hustling in that world was when I wanted the music industry energy,” he says of MSG’s Golden Age, with the Knicks and Rangers making runs well into June seemingly every year during the ‘90s. With hoop dreams of his own six feet under, Kleiman enrolled at Boston University, but his time there in the general studies program wouldn’t last long. Dropping out after a semester, which he now chalks up to not being “disciplined enough,” Kleiman remained in Beantown for two years working as a bookie. He even spent a year in Boca Raton, Florida — but contrary to the typical relaxing life of retirees in the Sunshine State, Kleiman grinded, working odd jobs but priding himself on continuing to build his interstate Rolodex.
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It wasn’t until 1998 when Kleiman got his first taste of the music industry, at OneLevel.com – a hip-hop community commerce website – alongside a pair of Cornell University graduate friends. As a third partner, he solicited marketing opportunities, and built relationships for the site’s board that included Robert De Niro, Heavy D, and Q-Tip. Around this time, Kleiman also landed on a relatively unknown Mark Ronson’s radar. Ronson would run into him at star-studded high school basketball games around the Big Apple, where tastemakers from the city would link up for must-see matchups. “[Rich] always walked around with this aura — it wasn’t like he was scary, but he had a sense of purpose,” the British DJ-turned-producer tells Billboard. “He had a level of gravitas which I was curious about. At first, you’re like, ‘Who is this guy?'”
Ronson continues to recall fond memories of his friendship with Kleiman, which took them to the Tuscany Hills of Italy’s countryside, where he DJ’d Tom Cruise’s wedding to Katie Holmes in 2006, and another time where the Grammy-winning producer tanked a meeting they had with Jay-Z at Baseline Studios because he was left star-struck. The two remain best friends, and Mark Ronson is actually the godfather to one of Kleiman’s daughters. He’s not surprised at the massive level of success Rich has had in building his business either, as the tea leaves were apparent during their time working side-by-side at Allido. “It’s his intelligence and creativity more than anything,” Ronson adds. “Even when we didn’t have a lot of money, I knew we’d be able to figure it out with him being inventive. He loves the art of the deal, and he sees things in a different way.”
Even with all of the success he’s enjoyed, Kleiman remains as hungry as ever, with the goal to continue to build out the infrastructure of both 35V and Boardroom into industry-defining staples. However, he does name one childhood goal he’d like to bring to life in the coming years – to become part of an NBA organization. “I want to definitely be part of an NBA organization at one point in my life,” he asserts. “Whether that’s in ownership or being the president of a team or doing it with KD after he retires. What [New York Knicks President] Leon Rose and [Golden State Warriors General Manager] Bob Myers have done, those are incredible jobs. Would I want to run a prestigious organization? Why not?”
As part of the partnership, two EMPIRE artists will be initially releasing songs that will be used during NBA programming on ESPN: Money Man, whose song “Tip Off” will — you guessed it — serve as the official NBA Tip-Off 2021 track for games on the network; and D Smoke, nominated for two Grammys in 2021, whose basketball-themed “Say Go” remix will also premiere on broadcasts.
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A boxing event pitting YouTube creators against TikTok stars on June 12 called the Battle of the Platforms was supposed to usher in a new era of post-pandemic live entertainment, combining high-energy performances from DJ Khaled, Migos and Lil Baby with a headline fight between YouTuber Austin McBroom and TikToker Bryce Hall. Broadcast on livestream platform LiveXLive, organizers hoped to create a model for a new entertainment franchise, but instead the event lost at least $10 million, with investors, producers and 15 boxers still fighting to get paid. Basketball superstar James Harden is one of those investors, Billboard has learned. The nine-time NBA all star, who now plays for the Brooklyn Nets, is one of the main investors in the Battle of the Platforms, which cost $20 million to produce, and sources say at least one other NBA player made an investment as well. Harden’s business manager declined to comment.
Lawyers for Harden, McBroom, Hall -- who was promised a $5 million fee for participating in the fight -- and others are trying to figure out how to get their clients paid from the sales generated by LiveXLive. If the sides can’t agree, the dispute could end up either in bankruptcy or as part of a lawsuit. LiveXLive is currently embroiled in a dozen lawsuits and legal efforts to enforce court-ordered judgements won by lawyers, former ticketing clients and ex-employees.
IDK: JaVale originally produced the original beat for it, and [Young] Thug did a long verse on it. Then I took the record and re-produced it and kept some of the elements JaVale had on there and broke [Thugs] verse up, so we were going back and forth. When Thug heard it, he was like, “Yo, this is fire.” It was just a testament to me being able to properly produce and not just make the beat, but actually produce the song top to bottom. It was like a flex moment, but yes, JaVale originally produced that beat. I’ll release the original eventually.
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