With summer almost upon us, we know that the live entertainment is about to ramp up. Couple that with celebrations being planned for the landmark anniversary of what could be the most exciting musical movement of the past century and it’s only up from here.  

Some of the projected lineups for some of the projected shows, while star-studded, still feel incomplete. In my estimation, it’s because promoters are looking at acts that popped from the late ’80s (earliest). Some fans, however, want more because their memories run deep. They had the JVC Box. They rocked the Lee, Sergio Valente, Talelord, Clyde’s, 69ers, Mock Necks, British, Cortefiel, and AJ Lesters. They frequented the T Connection, 371, or Norman Thomas Boat ride. Their taste buds need a little more.

That crowd will finally get some light, with a lineup that at one time sold out the Harlem World.  We’re talking about the Treacherous Three, Cold Crush Brothers, Fearless Four, Crash Crew, Mel, and Scorpio. Those names are featured acts on the 50th Anniversary of Hip-Hop Mixtape Live concert on June 17 at Jim Whelan Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City. Curated by DJ Jazzy Jeff, Doug E. Fresh, and Charlie Mack, the show will feature 50 MCs from the ’70s, ’80s, and ’90s, which also includes the Sugar Hill Gang, Roxanne Shanté, Yo-Yo, DJ KOOL, J.J. Fad, Schooly D, and Monie Love, among others. Showtime is set to start for 7:00 p.m. and tickets range from $55 to $175.

Just in…looks like this show will be trumped just by sheer magnitude. It just came down that on August 11, 50 years later to the day, Yankee Stadium will play host to “Hip-Hop 50 Live at Yankee Stadium.”

So far, the headliners will be the possible last reunion of Run DMC in what’s being dubbed the “Bottom of the Ninth…The Walk-Off” performance. Lil Wayne, Snoop Dogg, and Ice Cube are also on deck and the ladies will shine as “Queens of Hip-Hop” spotlight the collective of Eve, Lil Kim, Remy Ma, and Trina. A “Pillars of Hip-Hop” set will feature Kool Herc & Cindy Campbell, Grandmaster Caz, Kurtis Blow, Melle Mel, Roxanne Shante, Scorpio, and the Sugar Hill Gang. A “Legendary DJ” set will have Clark Kent, Marley Marl, Mannie Fresh, and Battlecat.  

Tickets will become available beginning with pre-sales on Thursday, June 8, at 10 a.m. EST until 10 p.m. EST. The general sale starts Friday, June 9, at 10 a.m. EST. Tickets will start as low as $50. Early-bird access to tickets will be granted to the Renaissance Youth Center, New Settlement, SCAN-Harbor, Madison Square Boys & Girls Club, Kips Bay Boys & Girls Club, North East Bronx YMCA, Castle Hill YMCA, New York Urban League, Hispanic Federation, Bronx Chamber of Commerce, Bronx Community Foundation, and CORO New York Leadership Center.

RELATED: 50 years strong: Hip-Hop from the physical, metaphysical, philosophical, and spiritual realms

“Hip-Hop 50 Live at Yankee Stadium” is co-produced by Mass Appeal, Live Nation, and the New York Yankees. Additional acts will be announced in the coming weeks and will be T.I., Fat Joe, Common, A$AP Ferg, EPMD, Ghostface Killah, Lupe Fiasco, and Slick Rick.

“I am honored to hit the stage in the Bronx, the birthplace of hip-hop, and celebrate all of my heroes,” said Run DMC. “August 11 is hip-hop’s 50th birthday! So…‘Up in the Bronx’ where it all started, we will be celebrating this historic moment in history. I am honored to pay tribute to the culture that allowed this little shy kid from Queens to grow up and become the Mighty King of Rock! Thank you, hip-hop!” 

“Hip-Hop 50 Live at Yankee Stadium” is the latest event in Mass Appeal’s Hip-Hop 50 initiative—a massive cross-platform initiative that celebrates hip-hop’s 50th anniversary in the most authentic and globally impactful way possible by acknowledging and recognizing hip-hop as not only a genre, but a movement that has had an impact on the worldwide community.

More on that in a few. Right now, over and out. Holla next week. ’Til then, enjoy the nightlife.

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In Game 2 of the best-of-seven NBA Finals on Sunday at the aptly named Ball Arena, the Western Conference champion Denver Nuggets experienced what the Milwaukee Bucks, New York Knicks and Boston Celtics all did in succumbing to the Eastern Conference champion Miami Heat this postseason.

The Heat’s mental resolve is unparalleled.

After losing Game 1 on Sunday in Denver by 103-94, a rightful first impression many took away in witnessing the Nuggets’ two-time league MVP center Nikola Jokic (27) and uber-talented guard Jamal Murray (26) combine for more than half of their team’s points in a 104-93 win was the duo would be too challenging for the Heat to overcome.

Although in Round 1 the No. 8 seed had found a way to vanquish the No. 1 seed Bucks, which possesses their own two-time NBA MVP in Giannis Antetokounmpo and All-Star Jrue Holiday, then ended the rugged No. 5 seed Knicks’ season in the conference semifinals with guard Jalen Brunson putting on a superhuman display, and knocked off the No. 2 seed Celtics and the dynamic tandem of Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown in the East Finals, Jokic and Murray were playing at a stratosphere to which the Heat could not ascend.

RELATED: Can the Heat end their unlikely run taking down the Nuggets?

Until the Heat’s seemingly implausible gravitational pull brought the Nuggets back down to Earth in Game 2. The force perpetually attached the Heat’s All-NBA forward Jimmy Butler, who is also a five-time NBA All-Defensive team selection, to Murray with significant help from his teammates, limiting the multi-skilled scorer to 18 points on 7-15 shooting. Despite Jokic’s 41 points, making 16 of 28 shots, the Heat’s formula of slowing down one of the stars and neutralizing the secondary players, notably forward Micheal Porter Jr. (five points, 2-8 shooting) and guard Kentavious Caldwell-Pope (six points, 1-4) was manifest in the results.

Thus, they went into Game 3 at home last night at the Kaseya Center tied 1-1 with the favored Nuggets having Game 4 tomorrow night also in Miami. One win there would assure the Heat  a Game 6 next Thursday back in their building. Game 5 will be in Denver this upcoming Monday.

“Our guys love to compete,” said Heat head coach Erik Spoelstra, speaking with the media after Game 2. “They love to put themselves out there in those moments of truth. Fortunately we were able to make a lot of big defensive plays down the stretch, and then we got a lot of contributions, which you’re going to need against a team like this.”

Even with a near flawless fourth quarter, in which they outscored Nuggets head coach Mike Malone’s squad by 36-25, the Heat barely escaped going into overtime when Murray missed a game-tying 26-foot, 3-point attempt at the buzzer.

“I felt like Game 2, as teammates, it’s funny, Imma joke about it, I didn’t think we liked each other out there” said Caldwell-Pope ahead of Game 3.

“We [weren’t] communicating, a lot of breakdowns like you said,” he acknowledged to a reporter, “and stuff we knew what we needed to do. It just wasn’t happening and it threw everybody off.

The Nuggets issues weren’t just self-inflicted. They were caused by the Heat’s concerted and united execution of their game plan designed masterfully by head coach Eric Spolestra and his staff. Replicating and effectively applying it for the remainder of the series to attain four wins will be difficult and unprecedented as a No. 8 seed has never captured an NBA title.

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The 2023 NCAA outdoor track and field championships began yesterday (Wednesday) at Mike A. Myers Stadium and Soccer Field in Austin, Texas, the home stadium of the University of Texas Longhorns, and will conclude on Saturday, June 10.

First held at Stagg Field in Chicago in 1921, the event has been the host of some of the greatest, most accomplished and impactful athletes in the history of sports. Jesse Owens, Jackie Robinson, and Jackie Joyner-Kersee are some of the towering historical figures whose monumental achievements include winning NCAA outdoor track and field titles.

In 1935 Owens, competing for Ohio State, won the 100-yard dash, 220-yard dash, 220-yard low hurdles and the broad jump. One year later, he repeated in the 100, took the 200-meter dash, the 220-low hurdles again, as well as the broad jump. Robinson won the 1940 long jump for UCLA, and Joyner-Kersee earned first place UCLA in 1982 and 1983 in the heptathlon.

The current group of collegiate track and field participants have in turn displayed the potential to go on to be Olympic medalists like so many of their predecessors. But first, they are seeking to indelibly etch their names among the past NCAA champions. As a collective, the University of Florida, led by their head coach Mike Holloway, is the defending men’s and women’s champion.

Some of the competitors to look out for are Terrence Jones of Texas Tech in the men’s 100-meters, Emmanuel Bynum of Tennessee in 400-meters, and Dylan Jacobs of Tennessee in 5,000- and 10,000-meter races. The women will have Kentucky’s Masai Russell in 100-meter hurdles, Arkansas’ Britton Wilson in the 400-meter hurdles, LSU’s Michaela Rose in the 800-meters, and North Carolina State’s Katelyn Tuohy in the 5,000-meters all vying for titles. 

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Harlem Bespoke: The Uptown Night Market returns for every second Thursday during the summer 2023 season after a successful first run in Manhattanville last year.

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The Yankees continue to play winning baseball with a positive six-game West Coast road trip, taking four from the Seattle Mariners and Los Angeles Dodgers before returning to the Bronx to begin a six-game home stand. They opened it on Tuesday against the Chicago White Sox. The series ends tonight and the Boston Red Sox will be in town starting tomorrow for a weekend three-game set. 

The Yankees took 10-4 and 10-2 victories from the Mariners on May 29 and May 30 respectively, followed by taking down the Dodgers 6-3 on Saturday and 4-1 on Sunday after dropping the first game of the series last Friday 8-4. They were 36-25 before facing the White Sox on Tuesday, the fifth-best record in Major League Baseball, but only good enough for third place in the American League East division, arguably the toughest. The first-place Tampa Bay Rays had the best record in MLB at 43-19 and the second-place Baltimore Orioles were 37-22, the third-best overall mark in the league.

The Yankees saw the return of outfielder/designated hitter Giancarlos Stanton and third base player Josh Donaldson from the injured list. Both came back in the Dodgers series. Stanton had been out since April 15 with a strained hamstring and Donaldson shelved since April 5, also with a hamstring strain. Donaldson immediately made his presence felt, hitting two homers in the Yankees’ 8-4 loss last Friday. Stanton also homered and had a walk in his first action in almost seven weeks. 

RELATED: Aaron Judge’s power fuels Yankees’ surge

With the two sluggers adding a lift to the lineup, last year’s AL MVP Aaron Judge injured his right big toe in crashing into the Dodgers’ outfield wall on Saturday. He missed Sunday’s and Tuesday’s games, awaiting results with the possibility of a trip to the IL. 

“I really don’t care at this point,” said the frustrated star. “If I’m on it, I’m on it.” 

The week started with Judge second in MLB with 19 homers. Starting centerfielder Harrison Bader was placed on the 10-day injured list on May 30 with a hamstring strain and starting pitcher Nestor Cortes is expected to be out of the rotation for perhaps the next two weeks or more with a left shoulder injury. The 2022 All-Star is having a subpar season posting a 5-2 record with a 5.16 ERA in 11 starts.

Meanwhile, after winning three in a row against the Philadelphia Phillies May 30 through  June 1,  the Mets were swept by the Toronto Blue Jays last weekend. On Monday, the Mets designated Catcher Tomas Nido for assignment and activated catcher Omar Narvaez, who will slot in as the backup catcher to Francisco Alvarez.

The Mets were 30-30 and in third place in the NL East behind the 35-24 Atlanta Braves and 33-28 Miami Marlins when they opened a three-game road series versus the Braves on Tuesday. They will be in Pittsburgh to play the Pirates, with Game 1 taking place tomorrow. Kodai Senga (5-3 3.75 ERA) will be on the mound for the Mets, who are back home at Citi Field to meet the Yankees next Tuesday and Wednesday.

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