The drama surrounding NBA point guard Ja Morant never seems to end, and it has now crossed over into the hip-hop space. Rapper NLE Choppa, who was set to partner up with the Memphis Grizzlies star player and Powerade on a promotional campaign for NCAA’s March Madness, has reportedly lost out on the ad due to Morant’s recent troubles.
Morant, who has been the subject of one controversy after another, was recently suspended for eight games after posting an Instagram Live video of himself with a gun at a strip club in Denver. This incident followed allegations of him beating up a teenager and having people in his crew threaten those involved with the Indiana Pacers. Overall, the past month has been a PR disaster for him, and Choppa is now paying the price for it.
His recent hit, “MO UP FRONT” was supposed to soundtrack Powerade’s “What 50% More Means” campaign, but they no longer want to work with Ja Morant. With the ad now terminated, the Memphis MC has been left hanging. Yet, Choppa hasn’t budged and continues to support Morant. Though he is certainly disappointed at the deal not going through, he remains a fan of his city’s most championed hooper.
Watch the Music Video of “MO UP FRONT” by NLE Choppa
Still, not everyone is taking kindly to Morant’s behavior like Choppa. On a recent episode of the It Is What It Is talk show, rapper Cam’ron hosted fellow veteran Ma$e. During their conversation, they both addressed the 23-year-old athlete’s media slump.
“He never played sports, but I call it the Gary Coleman Syndrome.” Cam’ron said. “It’s when you get money at a young age, and you got more money than the n*ggas around you, so when the older n*ggas around you got some knowledge, you don’t wanna hear that. You only listen to the n*ggas that be like, ‘Word, you doing the right thing.'”
