Thursday, March 5th, 2009 at 3:48 pm  |  44 responses

Cold, Hard Truth

For a while, there was nothing like The Mixtape Tour.

AND1Photo by Michael Schrieber
Originally published in SLAM Streetball, Vol. 3

There was a minute when these cats were getting as much shine as NBA‘ers. They were loved for what they did on the blacktop, and while their minute is up, there influence can be felt and seen every time you see some kid spending time on perfecting his AND1 cross-over. — Tzvi Twersky

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  • mike

    BUMS

  • shink

    Still gotta hand it to these cats – they were just tryin’ to get paid playin’ the game they loved.

    It was a good run.

  • Brian

    AI’s next team?

  • http://www.alllooksame.com Tarzan Cooper

    50!

  • http://ittakesanationofmillionstoholdthissac.blogspot.com ciolkstar

    These guys really were dope when the mxtapes were first coming out. The tours and TV show played themselves out, as expected. But these dudes could ball and they were cool too, I met 50, Main, and Alimoe in San Antonio and they hooked up some courtside seats.

  • Ping Ping

    Was it the Shoes? ….nope

  • http://itsadcthing.blogspot.com Squad

    it was cool when you got the free VHS version of the first few mixtapes when you bought the shoes. then again, you deserved somethin free for wearing those things. they were like thugged-out clogs.

  • wilz

    good times

  • Teddy-the-Bear

    My favorite was always AO. Hot Sauce was always one of my favorites, as was Skip To My Lou. And 1 was so fresh back then. I still have the first 5 mixtapes on DVD and Ball Access.
    I remember Skip was the sh!t back in New York during those days.

  • j-smoov 5

    And1 was dominant back then.

  • Tuomas

    Half Man played a season in Finland in like ’95. Man, could he dunk the f out of that ball.

  • http://double-technical.blogspot.com Zee!

    Skip and Alimoe were the illest out of this group. It seemed like the rest of the group threw a ton of hate their way.

  • http://double-technical.blogspot.com Zee!

    And Vince would’ve KILLED the other half-man, half-amazing. I don;t even know why they put a battery in his back about him thinking he could give vince any problems.

  • Niio

    I have a lot of respect for these guys.. They came down to my reservation last week and did a charity game to help raise money for the hs basketball teams. They also came to our Boys & Girls club to talk about education, living a drug free life and to stay away from gangs.

  • Tuomas

    Zee!, no matter how much Vince might’ve smoked him, it was the original Half-man etc, not the “other”. By the way, have you ever seen a 6’6 (that’s Half-man if we’re generous) cat nearly tear down a whole basket stand? That’s one thing Vince could never ever do.

  • Jacob

    Hot Sauce was always and still is my favorite and 1 player

  • http://slamonline WeezyLeezy

    Oh hell yeah these dudes was the sh*t. I remember Mixtape Vol. 1 wit the Mos Def and GZA playin in the backround. Skip doin the damn thang

  • http://slamonline WeezyLeezy

    Buy the And 1′s, getta free video, be like AAIIIGHT!!!

  • http://where-basketball-b-longs.blogspot.com/ B. Long

    The good ol’ days. Whatever happened to Headache?

  • http://www.another48minutes.blogspot.com Gerard Himself

    Advil

  • http://allanzuss@yahoo.com Mendel

    ESCALADE BABY!!!

  • http://www.alllooksame.com Tarzan Cooper

    he can cross you fast or in slow motion!!! YEAAA BABY!

  • Hussman25

    The original fellaz were all DOPE! AO, MAIN, SKIP, ALIMOE AND THE CREW WERE NICE. I still remember when I got the first mix tape down in VA when I was a freshman in college. It WAS great now it’s too commercialized and too product driven. The real essence of the tour was that it was from the streets. OK have the tour, but the show and too much corprate sponsoring changed the product….

  • Randy Brown

    AO looks like a clown in those trousers. Besides that, the old And1 team was great to watch. Shame the rest of the world caught up on it. The newer players didn’t have the personalities either, which made the series far less interesting

  • CSP8

    Skip and Alimoe were the best, they were doin gametime moves w/ no traveling. But Sause took the rule book too far for me.

  • http://apeachbasketandadream.wordpress.com/ Peach B.

    Ahhhh. I just watched Volume 2 with my little cousin a couple weeks ago. It started to fall off for me when they started playing in arenas and stuff. How are you streetballing at the Toyota Center?

  • Teddy-the-Bear

    Co-sign Hussman25. The mixtapes really were fresh because they came from the street. They were raw because of that.

  • dfrance83

    The original crew was dope, and then when the Professor got on there was still a buzz, but when they started transitioning to Professor being the featured dude, it fell off hard. AO and Alimoe were dope, especially Alimoe. He had handle, a little jumpshot and he’d throw it on you! Black Widow!!

  • http://www.shawn-kemps-offspring.blogspot.com Eboy

    “and then when the Professor got on there was still a buzz, but when they started transitioning to Professor being the featured dude, it fell off hard.”

  • http://www.shawn-kemps-offspring.blogspot.com Eboy

    ^Exactly

  • nastierthanyou

    I remember when main was a skinny cat playin @ Rutgers.

  • zrek

    AO!!!!!

  • http://www.twitter.com/kevinchung Kevin

    the original squad was ill, don’t front..

  • miguel024

    whats good with the tour this summer?

  • http://www.myspace.com/mcnarrative Kieran

    They fell off after volume 4 or 5 for me

  • http://nbacheapseats.blogspot.com Chendaddy

    There was a poignant moment at the end of season one of the show when they interviewed Skip, and he was saying how, even though all these guys dreamed of going to the NBA, none of them had ever gone up to him, the only And1 baller who ever made the transition, and asked him how he did it. That was kind of sad. These guys kept balling and collecting paychecks but never took time to consider the future.

  • http://dime dennis

    Some those players could have went pro. I know that the grind of trying to make it was very hard.

  • illmatic88

    These guys right here were my motivation to play ball during my high school days. Damn the movement fell off hard.

    They need to retro some of the classics like the Tai Chis.

  • Maethegreat

    Amazing stuff!!

  • tempy

    HOT SIZZLE WAS THE SICKEST. GETTING THE CROWD TO THEIR FEET EVERYTIME HE TOUCHED THE BALL. NOW ALL THE GOT IS MY GOD SON THE PROFESSOR

  • http://finishline.com aaron12

    I liked and1

  • goldenC

    man, back in the dayz and1 was sick. i remember watchin mixtape vol2 and than going outside and practicing the moves. The origingals was dope, the new cats they have are all outta sync.

  • olskoo11

    Here in the UK, ball has kind of an underground following and over the years, And1 has made an impact here, make no mistake. I’m all for promoting what I feel is a fantastic team sport. The mixtapes and clips on the internet have helped to inspire the young blood. It’s all good Ohhhhh baby, you gotta love it!!!

  • nosmelone

    Yeah, I agree. I didn’t actually hop on the whole and1 bus until vol 4 was released. I had already memorized all of soul in the hole and hoop dreams by then. I bought the first three volumes via ebay and kept a ball in my hands everyday since then. I met future and Alimoe and most of the and1 crew in 2003 and they were all down to earth although future seemed a bit cocky. Alimoe was as down to earth as could be, its a damn shame that he never followed skip on the Jerry Tarkanian offer cause those two cats can ball. Alimoe had nothing but positive words to say about the legend Ed booger Smith and any other balled I asked about and same with Half man as well. Once it started falling off you had to admit that AO held it together for a few years cause he can straight up ball. I met Silk back in 03 at a streetball legends tour with future and he was just sick then, so I still watch and1 because he’s legit. You have to admit that the Erving Opong vs The Professor battles were nice, those two would take it to each other. I think Opong won those but props to Fess for hanging around. Its a dang shame SLC Saints ABA team didn’t scoop up fess like they intended too.

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