Final Bracket. The Jones Family takes it home again.

Rivalries are a timeless and inevitable occurrence. We’ve had the Hatfields vs the McCoys, the Montagues vs the Capulets, Biggie vs Tupac, and the North vs the South. Well I witnessed the latter of these rivalries on May 1, 2010. Converse’s annual celebrity basketball tournament brought the battle right to Atlanta. Band of Ballers was enough to make artists put down their microphones and champagne bottles and lace up their sneakers for a 3-on-3 fight for a year’s worth of bragging rights. The teams competing included:

Of Montreal

Of Montreal at the pre-game meet and greet

Steel Train

Black Lips

Black Lips team photo. Their cheerleader was super cute (she had a dermal) and one of their players wore metallic gold leggings. Niiiice!

Bad News (a Brooklyn based team including Donnis, Jay Electronica, and Sean Price)

The Bad News boys took the name of their team to the max. They all wore the number 13 while on the court.

So So Def (Atlanta based team consisting of Jermaine Dupri, Spyda from AND1, and the So So Def family)

JD was playing NO games. He wanted that trophy, and he wanted it BAD!

Southern Hospitality (Atlanta based team headed by Shawty Lo and including OJ the Juiceman and Pill)

The Jones Family (NY team headed by Jim Jones)

The Glenn Twins were the Jones Family's personal cheerleaders. Looking good ladies!

Pre-game festivities consisted of a lot of ish talking and horseplay. As they say, boys will be boys. There were many celebrities in attendance (with MTV, The FADER, and Miss Info, and of course MISS OmniMedia covering the event), but all eyes were on the Jones Family. They were the defending champions and all the other teams were out for their blood.

“I’m actually out here playing basketball. Do you see Jim Jones out here playing basketball? No, because I’ll bust his ass that’s why. He’ll never say ‘balling’ again!” –Jermiane Dupri

Once the buzzer rang for the games to start, homies turned to enemies. The games were taken seriously and a lot of profanity was tossed around. The final game came down to hometown favorite Southern Hospitality and defending champs The Jones Family. To say the least Jim Jones and the Jones Family showed up and showed out. They ended up defeating Southern Hospitality and taking the trophy back home.

The champions, and they let EVERYONE know it

Of all the food, fun, and foul language, nothing topped the reunion of Cam’ron and Jimmy. We were all in shock and awe when Cam’ron put on the gold Jones Family jersey and took a stab at the hardwood. Now that they’re on speaking terms again, maybe we can get another Diplomatic Immunity album. Please?

The highlight of the day. Jim Jones and Cam'ron reunited...FINALLY!

A sour congratulations to the Jones Family on their victory. The ATLiens will be bringing the prize home next year. Watch and see!

Image Layout: Phaymiss

We Got The Beat: “Cop the new song . . . It’s As Easy as ‘WUN, TU, THR3′”

You’ve heard me go on about the sad state of hip hop these days and how I’m a student of the old school.  That’s not to say I won’t listen to anything new.  Sometimes, I’m in for a nice surprise – case in point, Torae. Hailing from Coney Island, Brooklyn, Torae may be new to your ears but he’s definitely not new to the scene. He’s been spittin’ his game since the 90’s with the likes of Masta Ace, The Clipse, Little Brother, Sean Price & countless others in addition to touring Canada & Europe all before signing a major recording contract. He’s been on many compilations and has been known to hang with Cam’ron and the Dipset. Torae has even worked with Nike – he recorded a song for Cleveland Cavaliers forward LeBron James, which ran in a Nike ad for his signature shoe.  His newest single “Wun, Tu, Thr3″ just dropped on iTunes and you can cop it here for only $0.99. That’s nothin’! The hypnotic beat that lingers in your head long after you’ve heard the song is the work of San Francisco-based (via NY) producer T.Dragonette.  Keep your ears to the street for T.Dragonette and Torae, I have a feeling we’ll be hearing a lot more from them.