Paulina Gretzky celebrating with her long time boyfriend, Dustin Johnson’s for his big win at this past weekend’s PGA Tour’s Northern Trust Tournament. Photo Credit: Sam Davis, PGA TOUR.

As a journalist, I’ve had the pleasure of beginning my career young as a 12 year old with an NBA team. Since then, I’ve covered political functions involving Nelson Mandela and his family and even hobnobbed courtside at Barclays Center with Rihanna. However, nothing takes the cake better than being on the scene at a PGA golf tournament.

My first experience with PGA began last while hosting a radio show with CBS I chatted with Zach Johnson. He and I talked about him winning The Masters in 2007, his first major championship where his 289 (+1) tied for the highest winning score ever. “The Masters there was kind of a shock,” Johnson told me.

“Because it was probably my third or fourth year on tour. At that point I had only won one tournament; it wasn’t like I was supposed to win, so there was a lot of shock.”

Johnson also clued me in on what the experience was like to rent out a mansion with fellow PGA’ers Jordan Spieth, Rickie Fowler, Justin Thomas, Jimmy Walker and Jason Dufner at the 145th British Open in Scotland. It was a bromance filled with  brisket tacos, movie nights and golfing from the porch.

It was a flashback to Puff Daddy’s Bad Boys For Life Video where Puff did whatever the heck he wanted to do: played basketball, rode a motorized scooter in the town of Perfect Town, USA and even shot a hole of golf or two off the roof of his sprawling mansion.

Fast Forward to the 2:37 mark and you will see why

Ben Stiller wasn’t feeling it though!! Puff Daddy may have broke a window or two…or three, or four! But hey, who’s counting!

Golf has always been the in thing. The pleated pants, the Titleist golf balls, going top speed in a golf cart AND HEY….Grey Goose vodka and Fuku Chicken are hits. In between setting up shop for my uncle’s 50th birthday party slash Floyd Mayweather vs. Conor McGregor fight party, I stopped by Long Island to attend Glen Oaks Country Club to attend Northern Trust’s PGA Golf Tournament. The Northern Trust is the first of four events in the PGA Tour’s FedExCup Playoffs.

GMA Host Michael Strahan at The Northern Trust PGA Tour Pro-AM in Long Island signing autographs. Photo Credit: Sam Davis, PGA TOUR.

The stars were out and about: Good Morning America’s Michael Strahan, Paulina Gretzky, daughter of hockey great, Wayne Gretzky and girlfriend to PGA golfer Dustin Johnson were in attendance. That fit with the theme of this year too. PGA went with a different strategy this year. The PGA Tour is keying in on a fans-first strategy coupled with elements like food and fashion.

That said, as a social media influencer and brand ambassador myself, I was impressed with PGA’s mission to incorporate social media in their draw this year. In years past, patrons on country clubs were not allowed to film intricate portions of golf in play. Well, that changed this year!

Additionally, the growing female fan base was catered too! There was tons of wine, Grey Goose and conversation to be had! Respectfully with a hint of joking for referencing purposes, Mitt Romney’s Pay Equity and binders full of women reference would have been spot on at this event!

But I digress!

Millennial women have becoming a focal point for the PGA. They’re looking for more social and fun and they found it. There were young ladies that were alums from Villanova, nearby Hofstra University and Boston College in attendance. Honestly, if women are supporting an event and in attendance, everybody is happy.

The sunlight and the clear skies were perfect for the photo-op!

#NoFilter ⛳️ @thentgolf #fedexcup

A post shared by ? Brandon ‘Scoop B’ Robinson (@scoop_b) on Aug 26, 2017 at 1:52pm PDT

Even better? Dustin Johnson got the win! Johnson defeated Jordan Spieth in a playoff to win The Northern Trust 2017. Johnson earned his fourth victory of the season, and 16th career, on the PGA Tour. With the victory, he earned the $8.75 million purse.

Spieth led by three shots entering the final round. Spieth carded 12-under through 54 holes, Johnson was in second place and four players were tied for third at 7-under.

I’m genuinely looking forward to next year.

Solid Weekend! Thanks @thentgolf ??#NorthernTrustGolf #FedExCup

A post shared by ? Brandon ‘Scoop B’ Robinson (@scoop_b) on Aug 28, 2017 at 2:00pm PDT

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The post Scoop B: Attending This Year’s PGA Tour Was Worth It appeared first on RESPECT. | The Photo Journal of Hip-Hop Culture.

Power 105’s DJ Clue and Scoop B Radio host Brandon ‘Scoop B’ Robinson in New York City. Photo Courtesy of: The Brandon Robinson Brand

Check out DJ Clue and Brandon ‘Scoop B’ Robinson on Scoop B Radio

The NFL and NBA’s season are literally around the corner. That means one thing: the release of Madden 18, NBA Live 18 and NBA 2K 18 video games are a fast break pass and a 2-minute drill away from releasing.

Over the last ten-plus years, the NBA 2K franchise has established itself as a premier hoops platform. This year, EA Sports has made a comeback with their release of NBA Live 18 and James Harden as the game’s cover athlete. One of the coolest features of the game is a mode that allows you to play with WNBA teams; the first of its kind and according to my buddy Brian Mazique at FORBES Magazine, by way of Chicago the game’s soundtrack is pretty solid!

Speaking of soundtracks, I’m always enamored by the evolution of video game soundtracks. One of the catalysts of that was NBA Live 2003.

The game had Jason Kidd on the cover and the game’s intro, ‘It’s In The Game,’ was performed by Fabolous with DJ Clue producing the track. “You know it’s funny I was just thinking about that today,” DJ Clue told me on Scoop B Radio.

“I was thinking about how,  I think I saw James Harden say he was on the cover of the new Live. So I was thinking: ‘Man it wasn’t too long ago that I produced the intro to Live and it had rap on it.”

Added DJ Clue:

“I think that sometimes  you get caught in the moment and you don’t realize how big something is that you are doing.”

The track and video was pretty legit!

“They gave me no restrictions on how to be with sound, but they gave me sound effects that they wanted me to actually incorporate into actually beats.The whistle, the feet squeaking, the dunk, they gave me all those sounds. So I was in the studio, I was doing a beat and I came up with the beat and they came up with the rap and I had to go back and put the sound effects in from what he was rapping about.”

That he that DJ Clue is referring to was Fabolous.

Fabolous’ wordplay on the track was insane:

“‘I’m the crowd favorite and I believe the fans love the way I finger roll it with either hand, my handles pull it through presses plus I can play the lane and block shots like bulletproof vestes.’

How the heck did Fab turn the plural of the word ‘vest’ into his own wording? Years later he’d do it again in his song “Breathe,” when he changed the plural of the word ‘mask’ into ‘maskes.’

But I digress!

“It was a cool experience,” Fabolous told me in a recent interview.

“The whole video game, I actually got to visit the EA Sports headquarters and got to see the stuff behind games; the real geeky, techy side, that was even cool. It was really, really, really a cool experience.”

According to DJ Clue, not only did he take part in the producing process of the game, in the NBA Live 2003 game, EA Sports created a creation of the DJ Clue if you put a special code in. “If you typed in the code ‘Mixtape,’ I personally came up in the game as a player you could play with a 96 rating,” said DJ Clue while on Scoop B Radio.

A 96 rating Clue? Don’t let current NBA players hear that!

Apparently EA Sports crafted the Power 105 dj’s likeness after Tracy McGrady, who will be a minted an NBA Hall of Famer in a couple of weeks at the NBA’s Hall of Fame in Springfield, Massachusetts.

Make sure to check out DJ Clue’s interview in its entirety by clicking here. Not only did DJ Clue discuss NBA Live 2003, he also discussed his infamous ‘Clueminati’ and William M. Holla Drops before the start of songs.

“I have always heard people talk about the Illuminati,” said DJ Clue.

“But it was, I wanted to try and put my own little twist to it. So I came up with Clueminati, Clue Fargino you know all those names, just to keep it interesting. You know Fidel Cashflow, you know.”

DJ Clue also discussed what it was like working with Mariah Carey on tracks like  “Thank God I Found You Remix,” a track that DJ Clue produced:

“Mariah is a super perfectionist man,” he said. “So she wants to make sure that when she does vocals that it are done right. She definitely is that person that if she wants you to hear her music it has to be right. She isn’t playing around.”

Clue says Working with Tamia on the So Into You Remix with Fabolous challenged Tamia in a good way: “I feel like I pushed her,” he said.

DJ Clue weighed in on why Jay-Z doesn’t write his lyrics down: “I think Jay started doing that because I think it helps him remember songs,” said DJ Clue.

“There have been times when we have been on stage when he first started. He would be on stage and he would forget a line or two. He would tap me and be like: ‘Yo what’s the line?’ I think coming from that he would just sit and be like: ‘yo maybe if I just memorize it better if I just sit and say it to myself over and over again.. He used to get in the car and be like: ‘yo give me a day or two. He would ride around with his driver and make up his lines. He would call me up and be like: ‘Oooh I got a line.’ That is how it would be.”

He also says Puff Daddy has a pretty good routine while in studio:

“I think with Puff working with him; when I would go to Daddy’s House [his old recording studio]  he would have Total in one room working, then you would have BIG working in another and then have Craig Mack working in another room. He would be bouncing from room to room working on songs; it was crazy! Je would say: ‘Ok I’m working with Total in one room and then be back in an hour, he was going for it. He had a movement, he would be there all times of the night, working on songs. Puff’s work ethic was serious!”

DJ Clue also discussed his own business ventures like his DJ Clue Ap, his forthcoming documentary and his no-tie shoelaces that he has called Clue Lace. The partnership that he and business partner, Randy Parker, a fellow DJ who goes by the stage name DJ ESSO is successful so far. “It is definitely the first no-tie shoelace,” DJ Clue told me.

“If you have kids out there, you know how strenuous it is when you get yelled at to tie your shoelaces. You don’t got to do that! These are the no-tie shoelace. They are flexible, they are dope. They are good for kids in sports. You don’t want to stop the game from the moment on the court because their shoelaces are untied, or trip over them. You can set them one time and it will never go loose. They look stylish too.”

 

There are about 12 varieties of his laces available.

As for DJ Clue’s forthcoming documentary he told Scoop B Radio:

“It is going to take you into different phases of my career,” he said. “The start, obviously you have to go into Queens and check out mom’s crib and the place it all started at. Different times when I was producing with different people, my different travel, of course. It is going to have my trials and tribulations and that kind of stuff. It is like any story. You have to make sure you focus on the good and the bad and all the positives and all the negatives. We want to have it well-rounded so that people can really understand the story and know where the grind came from.”

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The post Scoop B: DJ Clue Discusses Working With Fabolous on NBA Live 2003, Clue Lace, Documentary, Producing For Mariah Carey, Puff Daddy & Jay-Z appeared first on RESPECT. | The Photo Journal of Hip-Hop Culture.

Actor, rapper and producer Curtis ’50 Cent’ Jackson and sports and entertainment journalist Brandon ‘Scoop B’ Robinson. Photo Courtesy of Scoop Vision Media

50 Cent is probably one of the most brilliant minds you’ll ever meet. The creator of the Starz Network hit show, Power, 50 Cent’s brought you hits like: ‘In Da Club,’ ‘Wanksta,’ ‘Candy Shop,’ ’21 Questions,’ and a ton more.

Those songs are fan favorites, but one of the most underrated songs that 50 ever put out never went mainstream was ‘How To Rob.’

‘How To Rob’ was a single off 50’s Power of the Dollar album, 50 Cent’s first album.

Yes, his first album! Get Rich or Die Trying was 50’s second album. Power of the Dollar was originally set to be released in 2000 via Columbia Records.

It never dropped though because Columbia Records found out that 50 was shot nine times. Columbia dropped him, a huge mistake on Columbia’s part and a gain by 50 who went on to have a huge career with he and G Unit.

Quips at folks like late rapper ODB, hip hop legend Lil Kim, gospel singer Kirk Franklin, Bishop T.D. Jakes and other notables like Will Smith, Jada Pinkett-Smith and even late rapper Heavy D was 50’s way in the late ninetys/early 2000s that he was hungry and he was coming!

Heck, 50 let you know what time it was with lines like: 

The bottom line is I’m a crook with a deal. If my record don’t sell I’mma rob and steal. You better recognize, n***a, I’m straight from the street. These industry n***as is starting to look like something to eat.I’ll snatch Kim and tell Puff, ”You want to see her again? Get your ass down to the nearest ATM.

And:

I’ll rob Pun without a gun, snatch his piece then run/This nigga weigh 400 pounds, how he gonna catch me, son?

And a chorus that said:

This ain’t serious/Being broke can make you delirious/So we rob and steal so our ones can be bigger/50 Cent, how it feel to rob an industry n***a?

Did you know that Sirius/XM’s DJ Whoo Kid broke that record?

“You gotta imagine him just giving me that record and I’m like: ‘I gotta play this? Like you serious,” DJ Whoo Kid told me on Scoop B Radio. “And I’m like alright as long as you got my back.”

DJ Whoo Kid spinning records. Photo Courtesy of World Red Eye

Whoo Kid caught hell for releasing that track too!

“I was getting like threats, texts, you get like a phone call and then somebody hang up, like all kinds of craziness,” DJ Whoo Kid said.

Check Out DJ Who Kid and Brandon ‘Scoop B’ Robinson on Scoop B Radio

“Part of it, cause, like dealing with 50 Cent and remember, I used to DJ for like CNN, Capone-N-Noreaga before that and they went through like hell. Those guys were like killing and shooting and before that, I was with Juvenile. So I’m like super old school. I can’t even believe I even did all that s**t. But um rolling with Juvenile, he introduced me to the south and all the violence they do and white chicks, like I didn’t know what a white girl was until I met Juvenile because he had [the song] ‘Back That Ass Up.’

‘How To Rob’ appeared in a movie too.

Yup!

It was on the soundtrack for the film, In Too Deep, which starred Omar Epps, LL Cool J and Nia Long.

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The post Scoop B: DJ Whoo Kid Says He Got Backlash After He Released 50 Cent’s ‘How To Rob’ Record In The 90s appeared first on RESPECT. | The Photo Journal of Hip-Hop Culture.

Image credit: Bad Boy/Epic/Sony

Even in 2017, Diddy (or, as he’s back to being known as, Puff Daddy) is still the king of the samples. This past weekend, those who tuned in to episode 48 of OVO Sound Radio got to hear two versions of a new track by the Hip-Hop mogul.

Titled “Watcha Gon’ Do?,” the nostalgic cut — which was revealed during Diddy’s own guest mix — also features late legendary rapper The Notorious B.I.G. alongside Miami emcee Rick Ross. One version sees the three trading bars over the (slightly-reworked) instrumental to the classic LOX/Biggie collab “You’ll See”; the other is done over Dr. Dre‘s iconic “Nuthin’ But A ‘G’ Thang” soundbed. The fresh tune(s) follow(s) the recent documentary Can’t Stop Won’t Stop: A Bad Boy Story as well as Diddy’s in-depth sit-down with Zane Lowe, which brought about the revelation that No Way Out 2 is on the way.

Enjoy a stream of both renditions below. If you’ve been living under a rock, you might’ve missed the very dope MMM project Diddy dropped back in 2015…that should still be holding fans over as well.

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The post Puff Daddy Feat. The Notorious B.I.G. & Rick Ross – “Watcha Gon’ Do?” appeared first on RESPECT. | The Photo Journal of Hip-Hop Culture.

One of the best to ever play the game of basketball, NBA Hall of Famer, Allen Iverson is not shy about his love for hip music. He especially has love for Brooklyn’s own, the Notorious B.I.G.

Yesterday marked the 20th anniversary of the death of the Notorious B.I.G., Christopher Wallace who was shot and killed at the age of 24 in Los Angeles, California on March 9, 1997. His murder still remains unsolved.

At Mitchell & Ness’ unveiling of their section at the NBA Store in midtown Manhattan on Thursday, The Answer gave his ruling on who the greatest was: He was the best,” Allen Iverson told me.

“He was the best ever! Simple as that, I don’t care what nobody say.”

You’ll never guess Bubba Chuck’s favorite Notorious B.I.G. song!

“One of his greatest verses is on the joint with Puff and Jay-Z,” he told me. “What is it? Ghetto Boys?”

While we were both scratching our heads to figure it out, I realize he’s talking about the song, Young G’s. The song, in fact did feature both Hov, Puff and Big and appeared on Puff Daddy’s No Way Out Album.

I yell to A.I.:  ‘Damn it feel good to see people up on it!’

Bubba Chuck took it from there:

“Flipped two ki’s in two weeks and didn’t flaunt it.

My brain is haunted, with mean dreams.

GS’s with BB’s on it, supreme schemes

To get richer than Richie, quickly.”

“He was crazy on that,” Iverson said with a sly grin.

Next to meeting Michael Jordan in the Bulls locker room, rapping a bar with The Answer was probably the coolest experience, ever.

But I digress.

Inducted into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame last year, Allen Iverson is the gap between Michael Jordan who was business savvy and LeBron James; the balance between Manhattan’s Fifth Avenue and the neighborhood corner store.

A pioneer of the arm sleeve and perfecting the crossover dribble, who better to weigh in on the late Biggie Smalls than The Answer? But he’s not just hip hop! “Just like I’m the number one fan of Michael Jackson, I’m the number one fan of Biggie Smalls,” he said.

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The post Allen Iverson On The Notorious B.I.G. “He was the best, he was the best ever!” appeared first on RESPECT. | The Photo Journal of Hip-Hop Culture.

20 years ago today, hip-hop was changed forever. Hip-hop lost The Notorious B.I.G. but the memories of the rapper never faded.

Since his untimely death, his music and powerful influence has lived on. Throughout  New York, B.I.G’s name is immortalized. There is even a yearly dedication on his birthday! But that’s not the only thing. There are murals, song dedications, clothes, movies, etc. that honor B.I.G. Even 20 years later, there is no way we can forget the Brooklyn native.

B.I.G. did so much in his short time here and left us with an unforgettable list of performances for us to relive. Check out some of them below. RIP B.I.G.

1. Last performance of “One More Chance” at the 1997 Soul Train Awards.

2.  “Juicy” at ‘MTV Grind Spring Break’

3. “Big Poppa” at ‘The Jon Stewart’ show.

4. Ready To Die album performance for fans in London with Tim Westwood

5. B.I.G. joins Lil Kim & Junior Mafia for a “Players Anthem” performance

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The post #BIG20Years – 5 Live Performances to Remember B.I.G. appeared first on RESPECT. | The Photo Journal of Hip-Hop Culture.

Marilyn Van Alstyne transformed her love of music into a full time job.

Currently the CEO and founder of EMVE Management Group, Van Alstyne, began her journey as an intern with Puff Daddy’s Bad Boy Entertainment in 1995.

Her point of entry came after hearing Puff pitch his need for interns on the airwaves of New York City’s Hot 97.

A Queens, NY native, Van Alstyne formerly held the position of VP of Branded Entertainment, Planning, Operations & Talent Partnerships at Combs Enterprises Blue Flame Ad Agency. At her post there, she was a trusted advisor and go-to person that handled the day-to-day operations of Revolt TV, Sean John, Blue Flame, Bad Boy Records and Combs Wines & Spirits. She also worked with some of your favorite stars like Rick Ross, Fabolous, French Montana and Meek Mill.

Check out Marilyn Van Alstyne and Brandon ‘Scoop B’ Robinson on Scoop B Radio.

Working in a male-dominated field, Van Alstyne encourages young women that one day hope to do what she does to manage their time effectively. “You don’t want to wake up one day in your forties and regret the decisions that you made in your twenties,” she said.

“You can always start over in your forties, but you might want to challenge yourself to do something new every day—even the things that scare you.”

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The post Scoop B Radio: Checking in with Marilyn Van Alstyne appeared first on RESPECT. | The Photo Journal of Hip-Hop Culture.