While a knee injury suffered in last season's playoffs keeps Kawhi Leonard off the court and on the sideline, the Los Angeles Clippers' star is making big moves in the music industry.
After dropping the highly-anticipated Culture Jam Vol. 1: Part 1 , a "first-of-its-kind project that celebrates the union of hip hop, basketball, and community," featuring songs by NBA YoungBoy, Gunna, Lil Uzi Vert, Polo G and Yung Blue, among others, it was announced today that the first annual Culture Jam Sports and Music Festival will take place on November 21 at Shrine LA Outdoors in Los Angeles.
The sports and music festival will be hosted by former Everyday Struggle host, Wayno, (who we recently interviewed) and will feature a handful of big-name musical acts, multiple basketball games "and an educational panel discussing financial literacy, mental health, and beyond," according to a Culture Jam press release.
Among the scheduled performers are Trippie Redd, Cordae and G Herbo. Herbo will also captain a basketball team and take on a Fivio Foreign-led crew in an exhibition game. High school basketball phenoms Mikey Williams and Hansel Emmanuel are set to square off, as well as WNBA players Te'a Cooper and Jewell Lloyd.
Culture Jam has been billed as "a movement where artists, athletes, and community connect, create, and reimagine how culture influencecs the world," intended to "challenge the norms of how sports and entertainment currently intersect." and the Culture Jam Sports and Music Festival is obviously the first example of that.
Tickets for the event will cost between $70 and $250, and attendees will be required to show proof of full vaccination, or a negative COVID test taken 72 hours prior to the event. A livestream of the event will also be available on Amazon Music's Twitch channel.
Leonard, who is known for a stoic and sometimes-robotic demeanor on the court, has been slowly dipping his toes into the music industry but with the release of Culture Jam Vol. 1: Part 1 and this announcement, it's clear that the 2x NBA Finals MVP is all-in on the rap game.
Will you be in attendance for the first annual Culture Jam Sports and Music Festival? Let us know in the comments below.