The End Is Upon Us

NBA

So we're coming down the stretch as come close to the end of what's been in interesting NBA season to say the least. The Atlanta Hawks have showed that they are truly a force to be reckoned with in the East. The Golden State Warriors have continued to reign supreme in the Western conference and it's been a scrappy race for seeds 6-8 in both conferences. Russell Westbrook has been the catalyst that has powered a Thunder offense similar to those of the old Phoenix Suns and that has helped the team gain some hold on their current 8th seed position. The Boston Celtics are holding on for dear life in an effort to grab a playoff spot. The MVP race is still any mans title to take with the top 4 vote getters from last week stringing together impressive performances that have resulted in wins as of late. April will soon be among us so bring on the Playoffs!

Hip-Hop

At Midnight Action Bronson, an emcee from Flushing, Queens, dropped his debut album Mr. Wonderful. Legendary producer, The Alchemist, claims that the project is a layer of Bronson that has never been seen and that the fans should be happy with the work. SXSW, South by south west, is a festival currently taking place in Austin, TX that has garnered the attention of numerous hip hop stars. Iggy Azalea, Big Sean, and Joey Bada$$ are just a few of the many acts that were in Texas to perform this past week for the festival. Troy Ave's Major Without A Deal album is reportedly done and should be releasing very soon. Harlem's own A$AP Rocky also has an album that is currently being mixed and should be releasing very soon.
Download Action Bronson's debut Album now and tell him I sent you in his Twitter page for a shout out.

https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/mr.-wonderful/id965629356

Boxing

The world of boxing is set for another treat on Saturday April 11th. Undefeated welterweight Danny Garcia will face off against Lamont Peterson at Brooklyn's Barclay Center along with other superstar boxers on prime time television for the second time in as many months. As usual reports pertaining to the May 2nd Super fight between Manny Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather Jr. have been spreading across the internet like wildfire and the public is now so anxious *Ginuwine voice* for the fight to happen.

As usual feel free to email me mcorbin1214@gmail.com with any questions, comments, or concerns. Follow me on social media specifically on my new vine page Rayhem Corbin

It's Almost Spring But The Entertainment world is Ablaze!

Hip Hop

So where do we start... How about we begin with Kendrick Lamar's highly anticipated album entitled "To Pimp A Butterfly" that magically became available just this morning? The album was available for pre-orders on iTunes, however early Monday morning the album became available on popular streaming sites such as Spotify. Lamar claims to be upset, however he also claims that the album is a classic and will perform well in reference to sales regardless. Like little kids on Christmas Eve, the hip hop world amongst others are now anxiously waiting for releases from Kanye West, Meek Mill, Drake, and Pusha T. 2014 was a sub par year for Hip Hop with few releases garnering much attention with J.Cole's 2014 Forest Hill Drive being one of them. 2015 is looking to be a lot like March in reference to the music output, in like a lion and out like a lamb; as it should be.

https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/to-pimp-a-butterfly/id974187289  Kendrick Lamar's New Album

NBA

In the sports world Oklahoma City's Russell Westbrook is continuing to lead the currently 8th seeded Thunder team to victories having posted triple doubles in 6 out of his last 9 games. Westbrook continues to be in the MVP conversation along with players such as Stephen Curry, LeBron James, and James Harden. The NBA regular season is about a month away from completion and there are still numerous seedings to be determined in both the West and The Eastern conference playoff race, which recently became relevant following the trade deadline.
Here's a look at a few of Westbrook's league leading 6 triple doubles this season

NFL

In the NFL, Demarco Murray has officially signed with the Philadelphia Eagles ending his career with the Dallas Cowboys. The 49ers also made solid acquisitions that included RB Reggie Bush who previously played for the Detroit Lions. The 49ers have also added former Ravens Anquan Boldin and Torrey Smith to their roster after waiving former star Frank Gore. Fortunately for Gore, he landed right on his feat with the Indianapolis Colts and the superstar quarterback Andrew Luck. Brandon Marshall became a Miami Dolphin and the team now feels that it's going in the right direction as far as challenging their division rival and super bowl champion Patriots.

Boxing

Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquaio have gone through pretty serious training methods in order to prepare for their bout in nearly 6 weeks in Las Vegas on May 2nd. May weather has sparred with former 5 time champion Zab Judah and has been seen chopping wood on his instagram in preparation for the fight. Pacquaio has brought in sparring partners that mimicked Mayweather's defensive techniques. May the best man win on "May Day"

Thats all for now, but be sure to tune in next week for the latest in greatest in entertainment news and tell a friend.

Michael's Secret Stuff??

Welcome back to the Urban Word 411 where we strive to keep you up to date on the latest and greatest news pertaining to sports and music. Michael's Secret Stuff seems to have been injected into both the sports scene and the music business. For those of you that are unfamiliar with the reference, Michael's Secret Stuff was the label on the outside of a water bottle that was used by numerous TuneSquad players in the locker room in the 1996 blockbuster film Space Jam staring Michael Jordan. The drink, that was really just water, seemed to put some fire under the players who eventually went on to have an unprecedented comeback victory against the MonStars.

With the recent revival of boxing via primetime television, it's safe to say that the WBC had a good dose of the "water". Keith Thurman took a unanimous decision victory against Robert Guerrero and Adrien Broner defeated John Molina Jr. in the same manner. Three out of these four boxers have already become household names with Molina being well on his way after he goes back to the drawing board. April 11 will prove to be yet another stellar night for boxing as NBC will again be bringing boxing to primetime television with a bout featuring welterweight stars Danny Garcia and Lamont Peterson facing off in Brooklyn, NY Barclay's Center. With bouts like this on primetime television, there's no wonder the upcoming Mayweather V.S. Pacquaio bout is so highly anticipated on pay-per-view for  100 times the cost of these bouts.

There's also been a surge in the music industry as battle rap has become prominent again thanks to URL( Ultimate Rap League). Mainstream artists such as Drake have now become intrigued by what those involved would call a sport and 106 & Park featured members of the league every Friday as an alternative to the old formate on the show that was "Freestyle Friday". Big Sean released his album "Dark Sky Paradise" to the tune of 174,000 first week sales and a #1 spot on Billboard 200. Other rap artists set to release albums soon include Kendrick Lamar on March 23 and Kanye West according to multiple rumors. Below are the links to both Sean's and Lamar's projects. Kendrick Lamar's project contains 1 track that once the album is preordered will be made available for listening pleasure.

https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/untitled/id974187289

https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/dark-sky-paradise-deluxe/id963397688

In the R&B world of things, music has been pretty slow. No major projects or singles have dropped from any top mainstream artists and hopefully that trend will change soon.

As always if you have questions, comments or concerns feel free to contact me and tell a friend to check out the next volume of the blog.