MONEY & the POWER

Because There's A Lot of Internet Out There No Images? Click here Why Prodigy Was a Once in a Lifetime Rapper   "Battle-scarred and wizened, Prodigy lived long enough to see himself become a grand antihero of sorts."   Prodigy—who passed away in Las Vegas this week at age 42—was one of hip-hop’s Three P’s. Along with the late Sean Price (who died in his sleep at 43 in 2015) and Pharrell Williams, he was one of few rappers whose name could be filed down to a single letter. But—unlike Price, who needed his first name to accentuate himself, or Williams, who characterized his name with modifiers (like “Skateboard P”)—Prodigy was simply “P.” And with good reason. Even as half of one of the genre’s most vaunted duos (along with Kejuan “Havoc” Muchita), P was a singular character in hip-hop, a rule-breaker and world-creator, weary and grounded even as he threatened to stab your brain with your nose bone. READ FULL STORY A Ranking of the 2017 NBA Draft Prospects   "Whether or not he lives up to Kidd’s outstanding resume remains to be seen, but Lonzo Ball is an elite point guard prospect."   No matter where you fall on the continuum of NBA Draft geekdom, you likely find yourself comparing incoming prospects to players currently in the league. We set out to take the top seven prospects entering the 2017 NBA Draft and compare them to their pro counterparts based on a number of criteria, including strengths and weaknesses, style, personality, background, and physical profile. Read Full Story Best Sneakers of the Year (So Far)   "There are years where it feels like you have to be into one type of shoe to be part of the sneaker scene, 2017 has been anything but that."   There have been unexpected retros, groundbreaking technology, and an abundance of sneakers from Kanye West. Nike made the VaporMax. Kaws got his own Air Jordan, and the Air Max series got its just due with proper retros. What more could people want? There are years where it feels like you have to be into one type of shoe to be part of the sneaker scene, 2017 has been anything but that. Check out what’s dominated the world of footwear this year with our list of the best sneakers of 2017 so far. READ FULL STORY Music Exec Jimmy Henchmen Opens Up About the Realities of Serving Six Life Sentences   "I had to look out for myself, instead of other people, because then I'll end up like a Chris Lighty or a Don Cornelius, and I'm not letting that happen to me."   James Rosemond can’t escape his past. Try as he may, the sins of his former life still haunt him. Known for years as “Jimmy Henchmen,” Rosemond has earned a reputation as a fearsome figure in the music industry as well as the streets. The fact that he's currently serving six life sentences while waiting for a retrial on murder-for-hire allegations only adds to the mystique. But during the course of a two-hour phone conversation from prison, the longtime manager proves himself to be more benevolent than violent.  READ FULL STORY The Best-Dressed Men of 2017 (So Far)   "Conor McGregor's exuberant style is undeniable and, quite honestly, refreshing when other athletes just can’t seem to get their look right."   Who are the best-dressed men today? Some choices are obvious—ASAP Rocky and Pharrell—but there are some who surprised us this year. There are also a few people who we left off this list. That isn’t to say they aren’t well-dressed, but they were either super low-key (as in, we rarely saw them in the last few months) or were just not having a good year so far. Things will change though, we’re sure. But at the halfway point of 2017, here are our picks for the most stylish men of the year. Read Full Story How Rhude, One of the Best L.A. Brands, Started With a Single T-Shirt   "It was hard to get fresh. You had to create your own, start boosting, or wear bootleg. I wasn’t about to be the kid that wore bootleg."   In 2012, Rhuigi Villasenor designed a black/white paisley bandana T-shirt. “It was a nod to West Coast culture,” says the 25-year-old L.A.-based designer. It was the very first thing he created for Rhude, the brand he founded a year later, and the piece that helped catapult the label. Villasenor had no intention of selling the T-shirt at first. “I didn’t want anyone else to have my look,” he says. But he eventually gave it to Lamar, who wore black and red versions to the BET Awards. “It was beautiful,” he says. “It changed my life.” Read Full Story The Best Movies of 2017 (So Far)   "Wonder Woman is hands down one of the best superhero films of late and the best FU to all those fedora-clad dudes doubting it."   In 2017, the theatrical releases thus far did not make that an easy task. We of course have the easy picks—Get Out, Wonder Woman—but after those it became a grueling decision process, filled with mid to awful films (although shout out to Katherine Heigl's vaping, masturbating, catfishing scene in Unforgettable that didn't make the cut) that we couldn't in good faith include on this list. So, here we are with the 20 Best Films of 2017 (So Far), here's hoping that the latter half of the year gives us more to work with.  Read Full Story  Only want to receive Rare Reads moving forward (and remove yourself from Complex Daily)? Click here. © 2017 Complex Media Inc. All rights reserved. 1271 Avenue of the Americas, 35th Fl. New York, NY 10020 Unsubscribe