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Nothing says love more than climbing atop a New York City Department of Sanitation garbage truck with your friend and waiting three hours for the New York Knicks to arrive.
Well, maybe the only thing that tops it is
climbing over steel barricades — in defiance of whatever barriers the NYPD set up — with your pal and squeezing past thousands of other rabid spectators to get as close as possible to seeing the team… and waiting…
The New York Knicks, NBA champions for the first time in 53 years, drew over a million people to their first-ever ticket-tape parade in lower Manhattan’s legendary Canyon of Heroes, according to reports. In addition to team stars like Jalen Brunson, OG Anunoby, Karl Anthony Towns and Josh Hart, the floats carried Mayor Zohran Mamdani and many members of the team’s celebrity cheering section, like Chris Rock, Spike Lee, Timothee Chamalet and Fat Joe.
Joe rolled deep with his own squad, bringing along Mary J. Blige, Havoc of Mobb Deep (both pictured above, with Joe), Remy Ma, Joe’s podcast partner Jadakiss (with his group the Lox), Ja Rule, Teyana Taylor, Remy Ma, Yung Miami and members of the Wu-Tang Clan.
He took the opportunity to turn his float into a concert curation on wheels where everybody got a chance to perform.
“We had three hours worth of songs,” said DJ Ted Smooth ,who was the DJ and maestro for Joe and co. “Of course we couldn’t get to all of them, but we were ready for everything.”
In all, Joe’s ensemble gave the crowd along Broadway about 90 minutes’ worth of hits.
Yung Miami did her new smash “Spend Dat” early in the set, and from there it was a tag team, with performers sharing the spotlight. Mary J. Blige sang “Real Love,” the Lox did “Mighty D-Block (2-Guns Up),” then Remy weighed in with “Conceited.” Mary J’s “Family Affair” remix with Fabulous and Jadakiss fanned the flames and the Lox’s Styles P stepped in with “Good Times.”
Wu-Tang Clan came with “Triumph,” then back to Joe and Remy for “Lean Back.” The duo also did “All The Way Up.” Joe, Jada and Ja Rule then shook the crowd with “New York,” which has become a Knicks anthem.
Not to be outdone was Teyana Taylor with “Rose In Harlem,” Melle Mel with “The Message,” Havoc with “Quiet Storm” and “Shook Ones PT. II” and of course C.R.E.A.M. by the Wu.
“It was like a dope ass live mixtape,” Smooth said. “I treated it like that — play their records, two verses, next record. I was going round-robin.”
Joe made the most of the day, shooting scenes for a video of “Victory Lap (Him),” featuring Jadakiss and Yung Miami.
“It meant everything to me to watch the Knicks win the championship,” Joe told Variety. “I’ve been going to games since I was a kid sitting in the nosebleeds, so it still feels like a dream to have been part of this ride. There was a time that I wasn’t sure if I’d ever see the Knicks win a title during my lifetime. As long as I’m alive, I will always stand with the Knicks.”
“Basketball has been synonymous with hip-hop for a long time,” Wu-Tang’s Method Man told Variety. “Kurtis Blow, anybody? — ‘Bassssssketballl.’ Even if you aren’t a New York Knicks fan, you became one during their run because it was so magnificent to see.”
Joe and some of his compatriots even walked with the crowd to watch the ceremony, hosted by Mamdani and featuring a performance from Alicia Keys.
“This is our time!” Keys exulted. “We are the champions! We on fire today!”
Keys then sang a short snippet of Billy Joel’s “New York State of Mind” before leading into her solo rendition of “Empire State Of Mind,” her classic with Jay-Z that has become an anthem for the city.
There have been multiple Knicks-specific anthems this year: French Montana, Max B and Remy Ma have the “Big Bronx Remix” of “Ever Since U Left Me,” which played through the NBA Finals, and at midnight last night, Busta Rhymes released “The Championship Anthem.”
A longtime believer is Nems, who made the 2021 Knicks anthem “Bing Bong” (Knicks Remix) and attended the parade as a fan.
“It’s united the city like crazy,” Nems said. “New York is a place where you can have a Black neighbor, a Puerto Rican neighbor, next door over is Arabs, and then Greeks and Asians, and sometimes, not all the time, but sometimes groups of people stay to themselves. But not when the Knicks are on! The energy is out of this world.”
New York rapper Maiya the Don added, “Everyone is so unified, it’s really beautiful to see. New York culture is hip-hop culture by default, and every true New Yorker is a Knickerbocker.”
