Friday Notes: Sports, Jay-z x D'Angelo, 21 Savage

This is an edition of Uristocrat Notes, a newsletter that guides you through the biggest cultural stories of the day.

Sports

NFL wild-card round playoff game picks, schedule, guide

Our guide to the NFL wild-card round: Picks, predictions and stats to know for all six matchups

Here’s everything you need to know for the six NFL wild-card games. Which teams will win, and which players could make an impact?

ESPNESPN staff

Nick Saban Made Alabama Too Big to Fail

Nick Saban Made Alabama Too Big to Fail

Saban did more than just transform Alabama into a football dynasty—he built something unlike anything college sports has ever seen. And his greatest legacy could be evident in what happens next.

The RingerAlex Kirshner

Sources: Patriots tab Mayo as Belichick successor

Sources: Patriots tab Mayo as Belichick successor

The Patriots have chosen Jerod Mayo as Bill Belichick’s successor and the 15th head coach in franchise history, sources told ESPN.

ESPNMike Reiss

Thunder by 62, Bucks by 33: Huge margins define night of blowout NBA action

Thunder by 62, Bucks by 33: Huge margins define night of blowout NBA action

Thursday marked the first day in the shot-clock era where multiple teams led by 35-plus points at halftime.

ESPNESPN staff

Sources: NBA draft to become two-night event

Sources: NBA draft to become two-night event

The NBA is finalizing plans to turn the 2024 draft into a two-night event in Brooklyn, sources told ESPN.

ESPNAdrian Wojnarowski

Raheem Mostert Got Here the Hard Way

The new Dolphins single-season touchdown record holder on his journey from the practice squad to the Pro Bowl.

Raheem Mostert Got Here the Hard Way

The new Dolphins single-season touchdown record holder on his journey from the practice squad to the Pro Bowl.

GQCondé Nast

New Music Releases

21 Savage "american dream"

21 Savage doesn’t do small things. His 2022 full-length Drake team-up Her Loss certainly made that clear, and the long-anticipated follow-up to 2018’s i am > i was gives off similar blockbuster energy. Presented in the form of a trailer for a feature film, the Donald Glover-starring “all of me” music video, for example, seems to address head-on the long-standing queries about the UK-born rapper’s origin story and the immigration troubles that ensued in the intervening years. That song serves to set the stage for american dream, his third proper solo album and the apparent soundtrack to said cinematic entry.

Kid Cudi "INSANO"

Scott Mescudi’s ninth LP has an all-star guest list of features and producers.

THE BOOK OF CLARENCE (The Motion Picture Soundtrack)

The writer-director heads up his own soundtrack, exec-produced by JAY-Z.

Related

D’Angelo and Jay-Z Collaborate for First Time on Nine-Minute Jam ‘I Want You Forever’

D’Angelo and Jay-Z have collaborated with Jeymes Samuel for the nine-minute jam ‘I Want You Forever’

VarietySteven J. Horowitz

Business x Finance x Technology

Lugging Credit Card Debt Into 2024? Now’s the Time to Make a Plan

Lugging Credit Card Debt Into 2024? Now’s the Time to Make a Plan

Most Americans with card debt have not outlined a way to bring it down, a new report says. There are ways to get help.

The New York TimesBy

Exclusive: Goldman Sachs quietly shuts down diversity investment program Launch With GS after meeting $1 billion pledge to fund companies led by women and people of color.

Exclusive: Goldman Sachs shuts diversity-driven investment program

The firm says it has met its $1 billion commitment to diverse founders.

FortuneEmma Hinchliffe

Adebayo Ogunlesi's GIP bought by Blackrock for $12.5 Billion in Major Alternatives Push

BlackRock Buys Infrastructure Firm GIP for $12.5 Billion in Major Alternatives Push

BlackRock Inc. agreed to buy Adebayo Ogunlesi’s Global Infrastructure Partners for about $12.5 billion, vaulting the world’s biggest money manager into the top ranks of investors that make long-term bets on energy, transportation and digital infrastructure.

BloombergSilla Brush

Media

‘The Book of Clarence’ Rewrites the Biblical Epic

Director Jeymes Samuel does for sword-and-sandal movies what he did for Westerns with The Harder They Fall and lets a Black all-star cast leave their mark on a traditionally white mythology.

‘The Book of Clarence’ Rewrites the Biblical Epic

Jeymes Samuel lets a Black all-star cast leave their mark on a traditionally lily-white genre in this revolutionary rewrite of Biblical epics.

Rolling StoneDavid Fear

Sneakers

A-COLD-WALL* x Nike Air Max Plus | Nice Kicks

A-COLD-WALL* x Nike Air Max Plus boasts a captivating worn-away aesthetic in black and white. Head to Nice Kicks for more info.

Nice KicksMallory Chin

99Ginger x New Balance 1906R F&F | Nice Kicks

99Ginger x New Balance 1906R F&F sports a luxurious green croc construction. Head to Nice Kicks for more info.

Nice KicksMallory Chin

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