Harlem’s Mohamed Bamba is a top-5 prospect in the Class of 2017. We’ll be following Bamba on the journey through his senior year of high school as he holds down the SLAM HS Diarist position for the 2015-16 season.
About that photo from last summer with A Boogie Wit The Hoodie…Last February, one of my good friends who played with my AAU team introduced me to some random rapper he said I should listen to. He said it was his cousin who was trying to do his rap thing, so out of respect I gave it a listen with an open mind.
So I’m listening to it and I’m like, “Yo! This dude is legit!” The song was “Game Winnerz,” and it featured A Boogie. My teammate’s cousin was Don Q from Highbridge the Label and he was just going at it, bars after bars. I was like, “Yup, I gotta do some more research on these fellas.”
My teammate was telling me they’re going to make it big. Before I heard the song, I thought to myself “Yeah, right, I’ve heard this story before, but after listening, I was a believer.” And now, less than a year later, they’re the hottest thing out of New York right now.
Boogie and I have since been staying in touch every now and then. Obviously he’s always on the road now so he’s very busy, but he took time to come to my SLAM shoot last summer. His music has such a broad, powerful arsenal – he can go from a love song to a pump-you-up song in a heartbeat.
I’ve always enjoyed different kinds of music, and occasionally I take some heat for my eclectic taste. Recently, I was in the gym with my teammate Anthony Ochefu and I’m letting all my music play on shuffle. Started with a pretty standard workout pump-up lineup – Future, A Boogie, 21 Savage –then all of the sudden 112’s “Cupid” comes on. I sprinted to change the track but it was too late. It was embarrassing. People call it soft, but hey, I’m just a fan of good music – I stand by it!
Lastly, a quick update on the season – we’ve started off strong and the team is really starting to come together in advance of some major games against top competition on a national level here in Florida (City of Palms tournament), Delaware (Slam Dunk to the Beach) and Massachusetts (Hoophall Classic). This stretch will definitely be a significant test for us but I’m looking forward to rising to the occasion.
