Today – Wednesday, April 29 –  premium all-natural sports drink BODYARMOR will be hosting an exclusive Instagram LIVE conversation between two of the biggest names in fitness and sport – Seattle Seahawks 6x Pro Bowl LB and Super Bowl Champion Bobby Wagner and renowned group fitness and wellness guru Ally Love.

Bobby Wagner

Join Bobby and Ally as they catch up, discuss life in quarantine and answer fan questions on BODYARMOR’s Instagram account. Follow @DrinkBodyArmor, @BWagz and @AllyMissLove, activate notifications for updates and enjoy from home.

Bobby Wagner

The conversation will kick off today – Wednesday, April 29 at 4 p.m. EST / 1 p.m. PST.

For more make sure to check RESPECT Magazine!

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The post Super Bowl Champion Bobby Wagner & Fitness Guru Ally Love Host IG Live Conversation | #TheAltWithMel appeared first on RESPECT. | The Photo Journal of Hip-Hop Culture.

Philadelphia Eagles safety Rodney McLeod will play in his first Super Bowl on Sunday against a New England Patriots team that Las Vegas has predicted the Eagles to be a 5.5 underdog against.

So how does one actually stop Tom Brady? “It’s knowing that he’s going to sort through, pick out, you know, your flaws and try to expose you,” Rodney McLeod told me on Scoop B Radio.

“And so, you know, we have to make sure we have all those things corrected that has worked against us. He’s a guy that looks at matchups, we got to obviously disrupt him and make him uncomfortable. I think that’s the biggest thing, make him uncomfortable early, kind of get him on his heels a little bit and be able to match up well in the back end.”

Ahead of Super Bowl LII, Philadelphia Eagles safety Rodney McLeod checked in with Brandon ‘Scoop B’ Robinson and Scoop B Radio. Photo Credit: Fan Rag Sports

The Eagles secondary that features McLeod and Malcolm Jenkins also includes Ronald Darby, Jalen Mills and Patrick Robinson. They have the task of facing one of the deepest receiving corps in the NFL.

An NFC division lifer in his sixth season in the NFL McLeod has never played against Brady and the Patriots in the regular season. 

However, McLeod believes that Green Bay Packers quarterback, Aaron Rodgers’ game is comparable to Brady’s.

But why?

“A guy who can put the ball in places that not too many can, maybe only Tom Brady,” said McLeod.

“His experience in this league, his, you know, ability to have so much poise. Being in a situation where he’s never out of it either. He can be down fourteen and hop back into the game just like that. Knowledge of the game is excellent and he’s just an ultimate competitor man. And so, one person I have gone against, that I think I could compare him to would be Aaron Rodgers, in comparison to Tom Brady.”

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The post Super Bowl LII: Eagles’ Rodney McLeod says that Tom Brady and Aaron Rodgers’ QB skills are comparable appeared first on RESPECT. | The Photo Journal of Hip-Hop Culture.

Hate him or love him, Tom Brady is legitimately the ultimate winner. The New England Patriots’ star quarterback has won two NFL MVP awards, four Super Bowl MVP awards and a record five Super Bowls wins.

He’ll go for his sixth ring on Sunday against the Philadelphia Eagles at Super Bowl LII.

Las Vegas has perched the Eagles as a 5.5 point underdog against the Patriots despite blowing out the Minnesota Vikings 38-7 in the NFC Championship game and outshing the NFC with a 13-3 record and losing their star quarterback Carson Wentz with an ACL injury.

But I digress.

The Philadelphia Eagles’ defense has the arduous task of stop a Tom Brady-led offense who turned the tables on the Jacksonville Jaguars in the fourth quarter of the AFC Championship Game. The Pats wiped out a Jags 10-point lead in the fourth quarter and won 24-20 to advance to Sunday’s big game.

So does the 5.5 underdog thing bother the birds?

“I don’t really pay too much attention to it,” Philadelphia Eagles Rodney McLeod told me on Monday evenings episode of Scoop B Radio.

“That’s been like that all playoffs for us. You know obviously, people come with these predictions. But all that matter is facts and at the end of the day we go out there on Sunday and do our jobs, then we’ll handle business. And the facts will be that the Eagles came out with the win.”

New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady. Photo Credit: USA Today

The Eagles and the Patriots couldn’t be more opposite. The Patriots are legitimately the most dominant, successful franchise in 21st century American sports. And the Eagles? Well, they’re a team that has gone 57 seasons without a championship.

The Eagles secondary that includes McLeod also features Malcolm Jenkins, along with Ronald Darby, Jalen Mills and Patrick Robinson has the task of facing one of the deepest receiving corps in the NFL.

They’re not enemies and both team have been quite respectful of the other.

So, I’m curious: What does McLeod and his secondary actually respect about the Patriots?

“Their attention to detail,” he said.

“I think that’s their biggest strengths, they don’t beat themselves up about something and they play 60 minutes of ball. Whether they’re up or whether they’re down, they play 60 minutes of ball. And that’s what you got to do, you gotta bring it each and every quarter. They’re a team that makes great adjustments and we have to do the same.”

McLeod believes that the winner of Sunday’s game will win by managing the clock and by doing things the right way. “It’s going to come down to penalties,” he said.

“Who’s able to make adjustments throughout the game and then who’s able to put four quarters of work together.”  

An undrafted free agent and six year NFL veteran, this is McLeod’s first Super Bowl and he’s uber excited. The ultimate dream for any safety would be to get that golden opportunity to get an interception on the game’s best quarterback.

So is an INT in your future?

“Man, honestly, I’m hoping to get one, at least one off Tom Brady,” Rodney McLeod told me. “But, at the end of the day I’m not going to go out there and try to make these, you know, legendary plays.”

McLeod plans to play like he always does. “Just be myself, make the plays that come to me and if it’s my chance to get that interception, I’m going to make the most of it,” he said.

“But I’m planning on hopefully getting that Tom Brady ball this my first time going against him. So, what better way than the Super Bowl to get an interception versus the Hall of Famer, Tom Brady.”

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The post Philadelphia Eagles’ Rodney McLeod says he’s hoping to get one interception off Patriots’ Tom Brady in Super Bowl LII appeared first on RESPECT. | The Photo Journal of Hip-Hop Culture.

David Banner chatted with Brandon ‘Scoop B’ Robinson about entrepreneurship on Scoop B Radio. Photo via Instagram.

Many people know David Banner as a talented lyricist and equally talented producer responsible for hits such as ‘Like A Pimp,’ ‘Get Like Me,’ and ‘Cadillac on ’22s.’ But what’s equally admirable is what he’s done in addition to the hip hop culture that he’s kind of been quiet about.

“What happens with me is I think it is very important, for you to become a success first,” David Banner told me on Scoop B Radio. “I think sometimes that black people in general, we run our mouth before, you know; we seem to put the carriage before the horse. What I wanted to do was, I wanted to be successful in a sector where there were not a lot of black people.”

Check Out David Banner and Brandon ‘Scoop B’ Robinson‘s chat on Scoop B Radio

Banner believes that diversifying portfolios is the only way to get ahead in the economy as an entrepreneur: 

“I own a multimedia company, people don’t know I did the music for Gatorade, for the World Cup, Mercedes Benz. I did like a whole season for Pepsi, all the music for Pepsi for the NFL season besides the Super Bowl. I scored video games, I scored movies, I done 12 major brands and the bad thing about it is, most of that money went from paying back taxes, for not knowing about it, you know, as a rapper. But, I just wanted to gain power, real power. I wanted to get to a point where nobody could stop me, you know. And what people don’t understand, as a leader, as a pan Africanist, one thing that I learned is one of the reasons why children don’t wanna be revolutionaries, because all the ones we loom up to were broke, lonely, crackhead or something. Malcolm died with $300 to his name, that’s what he left his family with.”

Banner broke it down further:

“After all the stuff that he gave, you know to people all over the world; globally, you know people don’t talk about the fact that Harry Belefonte and his friends were funding Martin Luther King. So why do the people who give the most that are black die broke? When you know revolutionaries from other countries and other walks of life they go down in history and their family live good and they live to be 80 and 90 years old and we die at 26 and 34. I just said that I wanted to be sure that I’m able to truly stand for the people and I think the only way you do that is to have success and then make a sacrifice.”

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The post Scoop B: David Banner Says Producing For Brands Like Pepsi, World Cup, Mercedes Benz Diversed His Portfolio appeared first on RESPECT. | The Photo Journal of Hip-Hop Culture.

Jhajuan Seales #81 of the Oklahoma State Cowboys celebrates a 21-yard touchdown in the third quarter against the Missouri Tigers during the AT&T Cotton Bowl on January 3, 2014 in Arlington, Texas.
(Jan. 2, 2014 – Source: Ronald Martinez/Getty Images North America)

Port Arthur, Texas is a big breeding ground for entertainment and sports. Rappers Pimp C and Bun B easily ring a bell like Sunday’s at 12 O’clock on the entertainment side. The sports side? Add NBA champion Stephen Jackson, Kansas City Chiefs speed demon Jamaal Charles and newly minted New England Patriot linebacker Elandon Roberts to that list. 

We’ve also got another guy: Jhajuan Seales.

Straight out of Oklahoma State, Seales made his presence known at OSU in 2013 after a redshirt year in 2012. The wide receiver started every game in 2013, finishing the season third in receiving yards and receptions in the Cowboys’ Cotton Bowl season.

“You know we breed a lot of athletes out of that area,” Seales said. “To be doing something special for your community and then going back and everyone showing you love its a great thing.” 

Jhajuan and Scoop B Chat On Scoop B Radio Overtime 

Coincidentally, Seales was a high school teammate of  Elandon Roberts. Before last year’s NFL Draft, Roberts told me that he could see himself becoming the next Ray Lewis on the field. In fact he said he thinks he could be better. “One day in this NFL when I retire, I’m hoping to be on top of Ray Lewis,” he said.

“I actually watch them before every game,” he said. “It’s crazy because some of my teammates like William Jackson will say ‘man, who hit us with those Ray Lewis speeches, you be having me ready.’ Everything I say is really coming from me. They didn’t look at me like ‘he’s trying to be like Ray Lewis.’ They looked at me and said ‘this kid is really like this…this kid is crazy.”

Watching Roberts win a Super Bowl in his rookie year is impressive to Seales. “It inspires me a lot,” said Seales. “He went out in his first year and won a ring starting in games and got to start right away; it inspires me a lot to go and try and do the same thing.”

Seales caught 37 passes for 615 yards and four touchdowns in his senior season. Today’s NFL Draft is the big day and he’s ready. So what exactly will the team that selects him be getting?

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The post Jhajuan Seales On Elandon Roberts Winning Super Bowl: “It inspires me a lot to go and try and do the same thing” appeared first on RESPECT. | The Photo Journal of Hip-Hop Culture.

Finally! Super Bowl 51 is coming! We are seeing a classic matchup between Matt Ryan and the high-powered Atlanta Falcons versus Tom Brady and The New England Patriots. With these two historic teams facing each other on February 5th, it can be a challenge to pick which team you think will win the Super Bowl. With the game being played in neutral territory in Houston, home field advantage is not a plus for either one of the teams.

Picking between the two is a difficult task. The red hot Atlanta Falcons may find themselves running into difficulties against the New England Patriots. With Legarrette Blount playing extremely effectively at running back, he will continue to be a huge factor in the Super Bowl. In order for the New England Patriots to win this game, two aspects of the Patriots have to be able to perform. First, the defense has to be excellent. The Falcons had one of the best offenses in the NFL and has only improved as we moved further in the post season. In order to prevent this team from scoring a lot of points, the defense has to put a tremendous amount of pressure on Matt Ryan. The New England Patriots also have to run the football continuously. Not only are you putting the ball in the hands of arguably the best offensive player (behind Tom Brady), but it also takes time off the clock to prevent the Falcons from scoring in bunches.

Even though the Atlanta Falcons have a great offense and a legitimate defense, I feel the New England Patriots will in the Super Bowl this year. Being the die hard Giants fan that I am, it hurts to predict the Patriots are going to be the NFL champions. However, if they are able to perform, the Patriots will win in February. Who do you have winning?

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The post RESPECT.’s Super Bowl LI Prediction appeared first on RESPECT. | The Photo Journal of Hip-Hop Culture.

a.) Jay-Z

b.) Eminem

c.) 50 Cent

d.) Nelly

If you chose Nelly (of all people), then you are correct. In fact, he performed twice. Once in 2001 alongside Aerosmith, ‘N’Sync, Britney Spears, and Mary J. Blige; then again in 2004–and we all know how that ended. However, he’s not the only hip-hop act to grace the Super Bowl stage: that same Super Bowl in 2004, the artist formerly known as P. Diddy had a guest spot, and Nicki Minaj joined Madonna in 2012. Not only have there been just three hip-hop acts to ever appear during the halftime show, not one rapper has been the headliner.

Will a hip-hop artist ever get the opportunity to headline the Super Bowl Halftime Show? Everyone understands that this is a big show; so it would make sense to tap one of the biggest names in hip-hop, one of America’s most popular genres, to perform. This would have been a great year for hip-hop to be a part of the Super Bowl: with living legends Eminem and Jay-Z both dropping albums in 2013, either one would have been a suitable center. Even Kanye West would have been a great choice. But instead, this year’s sponsor, Pepsi, chose Bruno Mars. Bruno had an electrifying performance this past Sunday that further catapulted the Grammy winner to stardom. However, many feel Bruno was a downgrade compared to last year’s performer, Beyonce. Some may say Jay-Z would have been a better choice; what better person to follow-up Mrs. Carter than Mr. Carter?

It’s likely that the sponsors of the Halftime Show are not interested in hip-hop acts or they fear a hip-hop-oriented show will cause a decrease in viewership. Every year, the Super Bowl is one of the most watched events on television. It is dismissive of hip-hop culture to leave it out of one America’s largest musical spectacles.

Honestly, this dismissal may never die. There are a lot of politics that are involved with selecting a performer for the show, and the “risque” nature of hip-hop in the eyes of much of America will be a huge hurdle to leap. If sponsors truly feel that a hip-hop artist is not a safe idea for a halftime show, then hip-hop will continue to be left out. Hopefully sponsors will come to their senses and allow icons such as Jay, Eminem, or Kanye to headline the show before they’re too far past their prime. Maybe, if they continue their rise up the pop ranks, sponsors will call up artists like Drake, Macklemore, or Kendrick Lamar.

The post Will A Hip-Hop Artist Ever Headline The Super Bowl Halftime Show? appeared first on RESPECT. | The Photo Journal of Hip-Hop Culture.