Rapper & Everyday Struggle Host Joe Budden & retired NBA forward Kenyon Martin. Photo Credit: VIBE

Kenyon Martin Chatted With RESPECT Magazine’s Brandon ‘Scoop B’ Robinson about EVERYTHING on Scoop B Radio. Press Play Below To Listen In

Summer 2003 was big for both Kenyon Martin and Joe Budden.

For Budden, a former cast member of Love & Hip Hop New York and current host of COMPLEX’s Everyday Struggle, his self-titled debut album, Joe Budden released June 10, 2003 via Def Jam.

The Jersey City, NJ representer’s album had hits guest appearances from  Lil’ Mo, Busta Rhymes and 112 and had top singles Focus, Fire and the Just Blazed-produced crossover hit, Pump It Up.

June 10, 2003 for Martin was a tad bit different. He and his New Jersey Nets were preparing for Game 4 of the 2003 NBA Finals after dropping Game 3 84-79 to Tim Duncan, David Robinson, Tony Parker and the San Antonio Spurs two days before at Continental Airlines Arena in East Rutherford, New Jersey.  

New Jersey’s Jason Kidd, left, and Kenyon Martin watch as San Antonio celebrates a 93-83 win in Game 5 of the NBA Finals. The Spurs won the game Friday in East Rutherford, N.J. Photo Credit: Lawrence Journal

Martin would score 23 points and hauled in 11 rebounds in Game 3. and would would lead all Nets scorers in Game 4 with 20 points and 13 rebounds in New Jersey’s 77-76 win.

The Nets would lose the series 4-2, but K-Mart was the man around the Garden State.

So was Budden.

Jason Birchmeier of AllMusic gave his album four stars out of five, Chris Ryan of SPIN gave the album an eight out of ten and HipHopDX’s K.B. Tindal gave the album a four and a half out of five. Pump It Up was placed on the soundtracks for 2 Fast 2 Furious, You Got Served and EA Sports’ Madden NFL 2004.

Fire even found it’s way on the Mean Girls Soundtrack.

With all of the success going on that summer for said rapper and said NBA baller, can you believe that the two were mistaken for each other in public?

Everywhere,” Kenyon Martin told me on Scoop B Radio.“Everywhere! You name it!”

Martin says that their mistaken identities would mostly happen while he’d go shopping in downtown Newark, New Jersey. “I used to go onto Clinton Ave a lot and in the hood on Clinton Avenue shopping,” he said.

“It would be at a distance and then they would get up on me and see the height differential and say: ‘Oh hey! It’s K-Mart.’”

While you listened to part two of Martin’s interview above, make sure to also check out part one of our discussion. He talked about his Nets days and the 2002 NBA Finals against Shaquille O’Neal, Kobe Bryant and the Los Angeles Lakers. “I have never been afraid when it comes to basketball, period,” said Martin.

Check Out Kenyon Martin’s Part 1 Interview Scoop B Radio

“I’m not afraid to mix it up with guards or big men. But that experience there was a good team and we got to, but Shaq was dominant that series. We got to being out there and playing on that level, me holding my own, helping my team and putting them in a position to win. That meant a lot that I was there for my career and my confidence moving forward.”

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The post Kenyon Martin Says He Would Get Mistaken For Joe Budden During His New Jersey Nets Playing Days appeared first on RESPECT. | The Photo Journal of Hip-Hop Culture.

Vic Mensa has never been one to bite his tongue in regards to the state of his home city of Chicago.

On Monday (Jun 19), during an interview on Complex’s “Everyday Struggle” with Joe Budden and DJ Akademiks, Mensa started off the interview light discussing hot topics. Vic also talked about his current project, The Manuscript, where Mensa reveals that he created the album with the idea of being able to put who he is into proper perspective.

“I call my album the capsule because it’s similar to a clothing capsule collection. It’s like a piece on there for every demographic and each piece serves its own purpose. It’s really like a precursor to my album dropping this summer and I felt like I wanted to put a couple things so you can really get my perspective as opposed to putting the entire weight of the album into one single or song because is the album is one story or narrative that can’t really be encapsulated in one record.”

But even while explaining his album, you can tell that Vic was a light short towards Akademiks, then things finally came to a head when DJ Akademiks brought up the state of Chicago Hip-Hop. While discussing the influential scene, Mensa stated that while he was excited that artists like himself and Chance the Rapper were artists to become successful doing the alternative; Drill music was still very influential in Hip-Hop as a whole. When Akademiks asked about his feelings towards artists profiting off of the popular subgenre without understanding it’s root in violence, Vic let him have it, attributing Akademiks as being one of the people he was asking about.

When Akademiks asked about his feelings towards artists profiting off of the popular subgenre without understanding it’s root in violence, Vic erupted, attributing Akademiks as being one of the main people glorifying the violence.

“I wanted to slap you in your face honestly,” Mensa said irritated. “I’m just seeing you here for the first time and this is a tame environment so I am going to keep it to my words, but it’s people like you who sensationalized and made a following off of clowning situations that we go through in real life. I think niggas didn’t have no right, you speciafically like you didn’t never have a right. Whatever gave you the right to have a perspective on our people dying on a daily basis.”

But Mensa didn’t stop there, he went on to claim that Akademiks violation of recognizing the seriousness of what is going on in Chicago was not only ignorant but disrespectful.

“There was nothing constructive about what you were doing. Nothing clown and to tell you the truth I really think you’re a bitch to be honest because there is a video that you put up about a person named Tre-57, making all these jokes calling him stupid, nigga this is not a video game; that’s a nigga that I grew up with that I have known since I was five-years-old. To see you clowning him on the internet with this corny ass little voice and make jokes about it, I was waiting to see you.”

Since the episode aired DJ Akademiks has addressed the issue stating, he was caught off guard by the incident and has nothing but love for Chicago artists.

“I have nothing but love for Chicago artists and feel like artists like Chief Keef are some of the most influential. I have never offered anything but honest critiques and that’s how I got my following. However, I am never above artists and I don’ t want people watching to get this f*cked up, I never above an artist. We may have a difference of opinion on what I say or have said about them, but they always have the option to come up here and voice it. He said what he had to say and I’m no thug, but I want it to be clear I have never clowned anyone who died or did Drill or the Chicago culture.”

Check out the video below.

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The post Vic Mensa Calls Out DJ Akademiks On ‘Everyday Struggle’: “You A B***h” appeared first on RESPECT. | The Photo Journal of Hip-Hop Culture.