NBA Star Miles Bridges Put Out a Mixtape—and It’s Actually Not Embarrassing

Pitchfork writer Alphonse Pierre’s rap column covers songs, mixtapes, albums, Instagram freestyles, memes, tweets, fashion trends—and anything else that catches his attention.

Breaking down Charlotte Hornet Miles Bridges’ surprisingly decent mixtape

For decades, when basketball players have tried to rap, the results have been ugly. There was Shaq, who once miserably failed at his unofficial audition to join the Gravediggaz on the RZA-produced “No Hook.” Or the time Troy Hudson tried to channel Three 6 Mafia and ended up sounding more like Terrence Howard in Hustle & Flow. Or more recently when Damian Lillard forced us to listen to his wannabe Tyga club anthems during All-Star Weekend. But the Charlotte Hornets’ Miles Bridges, under the pseudonym RTB MB, is putting some respect on the NBA rapper. He’s done this by figuring out the problem with almost every basketball star who wants to spit: They almost always sound more influenced by radio hits than their hometown regional scenes.

Bridges comes from Flint, Michigan, currently one of the hottest rap cities on Earth. Given those roots, and a successful stint at Michigan State, the 22-year-old forward was destined to be name-dropped on Michigan rap songs for generations, even if he had never stepped into a studio. So when Bridges popped up on a single with hometown funnyman YN Jay in September, it wasn’t a complete shock. On “1st Quarter,” he rapped, “R&B chick at the crib blowing eighties with me/Ass thick, slim waist, let me taste the kitty,” in a flow borrowed from the Coochie Man himself and he didn’t feel out of his element.

The song wasn’t a one-time thing. At the end of 2020, Bridges returned with a mixtape of his own called Up the Score that doubled down on his hometown’s signature sound. He could have easily gone down to rap’s epicenter in Atlanta, cut some records on 808 Mafia-type beats, hit the strip club with Gunna, and went back to hooping. Instead, Bridges recorded an underground Michigan rap mixtape, a refreshing choice that also left me conflicted: Did I like the tape because of how unexpected it was to hear an NBA player venture into such niche rap territory or because it’s a legitimately good Michigan tape? I came up with a few questions to figure this out for myself.

1. Is Miles Bridges good at basketball?

Let’s be honest with ourselves—we don’t want to listen to just any basketball player rap. If the unremarkable forward Theo Pinson was to hop on a Wheezy beat, I’d probably sit that one out (I apologize for the stray, Theo, but this is what happens when you’re on the Knicks). But Miles Bridges is good at basketball. If this were The Ringer, I would back up my claim with Bridges’ shooting splits and advanced statistics. But this is Pitchfork, so all I have to say is his dunks are sick.

2. Are the punchlines funny?

A dark and wicked sense of humor is a crucial part of what makes Michigan rap so great. And while Miles Bridges won’t ever make you spit out your drink, it is kind of funny to hear a normally brand-conscious NBA player willing to say whatever it takes to make a solid local rap song: “Real Flint nigga, I ain’t ever have to act tough/Claiming she a city girl, I’ll leave her if she act up,” he raps on “Dark Days.”

3. Do the beats work?

There are a lot of cheap-sounding beats that blandly try to imitate Michigan’s tense, horror-flick instrumentals, but luckily Bridges went straight to the source. It’s hard to go wrong with a handful of instrumentals from prolific local mainstays Enrgy and Sav.

4. Is he outshined by the guests?

Up the Score occasionally feels too normal for a Michigan rap record, as Bridges falls somewhere in between the region’s larger-than-life personalities like Jay and Sada Baby, and the too-cool-to-care types like Babyface Ray and Baby Smoove. His shortcomings are easiest to notice when he’s rapping alongside Nuk, one of the best rappers in the state right now. But for the most part Bridges does enough to keep my attention, even when I wish he had some more personality.

5. Would I listen to Up the Score if Bridges was not in the NBA?

This is the most important question. Up the Score for sure sounds and feels like Michigan rap, but if we’re being real, Miles Bridges doesn’t have that much to say. I’m sure his day-to-day involves mostly basketball or fitness-related activities, so instead of rapping about his cardio routine he brags about Range Rovers and Benzes and parties with IG models. But those sorts of flexes just sound way less impressive coming from an NBA player than they do a rapper, because, duh, you’re in the NBA, of course this is your lifestyle. There are quite a few moments like that, though they don’t strip away the fun of it all. Up the Score isn’t the best Michigan rap has to offer, but hey, adding a professional basketball player into the scene should only make things more ridiculous.

Headline of the week: “Rap artist clogged toilets at N.J. mansion, caused $260K in damages”

New York Magazine should get A Boogie to do a Grub Street Diet because we need to evaluate what a person who can do this much damage to a very expensive toilet is eating. Is Boogie just devouring extra-cheese pizzas and washing it down by chugging bottles of Nesquik? Or maybe he gorged on plates of the raisin-coated mac and cheese Drake ate at his birthday party. We need to get to the bottom of this.

The mysterious Florida connection in Trump’s rap pardons

In his final hours in office, Donald Trump pardoned Lil Wayne and granted Kodak Black a commutation. Like most of the Trump presidency, these moves were bizarre but not necessarily surprising.

Kodak has been lobbying for leniency since last year by getting Baltimore Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson to vouch for him and vowing to donate a million dollars to charity if Trump would help release him from jail. With Wayne, it was murkier. Right before the election, the internet flipped out when the Young Money head honcho endorsed Donald Trump’s campaign. Yet it all quickly came together once it was revealed that Wayne was facing a federal weapons charge in Miami. The apparent quid pro quo made even more sense once whispers began to arise of Trump associates possibly selling pardons. But if the last four years have taught us anything it’s that Trump usually has an even more diabolical plan waiting behind the curtain.

During the final days of Trump’s 2020 campaign, all signs were pointing to a defeat. In a desperate move, Trump flew in Miami rapper Lil Pump to give an endorsement at an event in Michigan. The internet laughed at Trump for scraping the bottom of the barrel, but is it possible he was already beginning to lay the foundation for his next move? The Florida connection between Lil Pump, Pompano Beach’s Kodak, and Wayne, who is a longtime resident of Miami Beach, doesn’t feel like a coincidence—especially as the Trump family officially relocates to gated communities in the Sunshine State. There’s also been an uptick in talks of Ivanka Trump’s plans to spawn her political career in two years by running for Marco Rubio’s Senate seat in Florida. Could these pardons and appearances be planting the seeds for goodwill that the Trump clan is hoping to use to reemerge down the line? Have the last four years turned me into a Lil Pump conspiracy theorist? Time will tell...

Baby Money: “Moncler Bubble”

Whether it be the casual North Face Nuptse puffer or the over-the-top Canada Goose parka best suited for a trek through a blizzard, a rapper’s winter outerwear says a lot about their personality. In the designer brand-obsessed Detroit rap scene, it only makes sense that Baby Money chose to rap about his “Moncler Bubble.” It’s a flashy coat that looks expensive in photoshoots, but it’s also plushy enough that if you fell on the icy ground while wearing it, you would feel like you landed on a mattress. On the song, Baby Money uses his wordplay to boast about more than just his outer layer—he’s unfazed by the crashing of his Corvette, by the way—but it all comes back to what’s keeping him warm in the brutal Midwest winter. “Moncler bubble for the times we ain’t have shit,” he raps, with a smoothness perfect for appreciating the luxury of a good coat.

Pop Smoke in the trailer for Eddie Huang’s Boogie

Boogie doesn’t look like it will be a good movie. Directed by chef, author, and television personality Eddie Huang, it tells the story of a high school-age Chinese-American in New York who dreams of making it to the NBA. On paper, that sounds like the type of formulaic crowd-pleaser I would lazily leave on in the idle of a Sunday afternoon, but the trailer makes everything feel so dry and flavorless. (It also does a lackluster job of convincing us the lead actors aren’t really pushing 30—I mean, c’mon, who has ever seen a high school student wear a Hugo Boss crewneck?)

But the movie does star Pop Smoke as the villain, and his charisma bursts through the screen, just like it did with his music. Whether Pop is handing out an intimidating glare or hurling racist insults at the protagonist, I can already tell I will be rooting for his character, who appears to be a combination of the Tupac and Wood Harris roles in Above the Rim. (Hopefully Pop also gets to flex his acting muscles by throwing a tantrum on the court in one of the final scenes.) Even so, it’ll be difficult to completely enjoy the late Canarsie rapper in this role, knowing that it’s his last.

1100 Himself and Mitchell’s tragic rap trilogy

Listening to 1100 Himself and Mitchell’s three-part song saga is like being dropped into the climax of an action movie. On the “Set Up (Pt. 1),” the Oakland duo are followed by undercovers while on a chill cruise through their city. Once things get violent, 1100 Himself’s past flashes before his eyes as he realizes he might not make it: “Big bro passed me the AR and said, ‘It’s time to shoot’/I hear my uncle voice up in my head saying ‘You should’ve hooped.’” But they find a way.

Well, that’s until “Plot Twist (Pt. 2),” where 1100 wakes up to missed calls and anxious texts from Mitchell who has gone full Tupac in Juice. Mitchell is out looking for an easy score, and 1100 rushes out the house to stop him—but 1100 gets sidetracked by a girl who compliments his Vlone T-shirt and doesn’t reach Mitchell in time. The fallout is disastrous on “Civil War (Pt. 3).”

In a shocking twist (and possible plot hole) we learn that an unaware Mitchell took out 1100’s friend, and a war between the twosome begins. “One decision is all it took to get this shit crackin’,” Mitchell regretfully raps on the opening line as he rides through the Bay Area, windows tinted, trying to track down a revenge-seeking 1100. The song ends on a cliffhanger that teases a face-off that may rival Nic Cage and John Travolta’s. Even if they don’t stick the landing in the inevitable fourth part, 1100 and Mitchell have cemented themselves as a pair of the West Coast’s best storytellers right now.

Mercury: “Slob on My Kat”

Every generation should have their own regional underground anthem about getting head. In the early 2000s, La Chat solidified her spot in Memphis rap lore with “Slob on My Cat,” a fiery response to Three 6 Mafia’s “Slob on My Knob,” with an endless series of unforgettable punchlines including, “Suck up all the nut, like you was a squirrel.” Emerging rapper Mercury is now adding her name to this legacy. “Yeah nigga I don’t want no relations or no shit/I just want you to get on your knees, suck up on this clit,” she raps indifferently on “Slob on My Kat,” over an instrumental with blaring Memphis-style drums. Yet the hook deserves the spotlight, as chants of the song’s title fill the air. Though it’ll inevitably be compared to La Chat’s classic, the song stands on its own.

Top 10 Yams Day 2021 Moments

10. A$AP Ant’s performance from a chinese food restaurant

9. The A$AP cypher

Nothing memorable was said, but watching the A$AP crew bounce off of each other in one room reminded me of the energy around Lords Never Worry.

8. John C. Reilly appearing to announce an award for Lil Baby

7. Teezo Touchdown singing his award acceptance speech

There were quite a few unclear awards given out at Yams Day, including Teezo Touchdown’s Big Awgie Award. He sang his acceptance monologue, which was much better than a speech by Lil Durk, who seemed to have no idea why he was being recorded.

6. Ten seconds of A$AP Nast getting fitted for a suit

5. Nast rapping

Nast should probably be considered more of a lifestyle blogger than a rapper at this point, but his performance is a reminder that he can make good songs.

4. Rocky and Clams Casino snippet

My nostalgia refuses to allow me to let go of LIVELOVEA$AP—not even Rocky comparing himself to George Lucas and Stanley Kubrick can do it.

3. Key!

Would watch an entire virtual show of Key! performing The Alpha Jerk.

2. The return of Rowdy Rebel

His short freestyle feels like when a wrestler teases their comeback with a video package.

1. The Yams stories

Including one about how Yams would always walk like a pigeon so he wouldn’t crease his sneakers, and another about a phase where he became so obsessed with being cozy that he wore slides to the barbershop and left with his socks covered in hair.

Central Cee: “Pinging (6 Figures)”

Central Cee has a knack for opening lines. “Day in the life, let’s see if you really trap,” the rising West London rapper challenged on last year’s “Day in the Life.” “Cee don’t be on the road too tough/But I still cut through with the local thugs,” he bragged on October’s “Loading.” His first single of 2021 starts off with a bang as well. “Take that risk and go independent/I just turned down six figures,” he raps on “Pinging (6 Figures).” This isn’t to say that Cee is some kind of lyrical mastermind, but his suave demeanor, packaged with a subtle melody, can make a seemingly random line stick. Even beyond the first couple of words, “Pinging (6 Figures)” is filled with these earworm moments.

Originally Appeared on Pitchfork