The Smithian

Drake and Blake and LeBron and Jay Z aren't endorsing brands; they're helping brands exist via the stars' stated or assumed core beliefs and surrounding aura. This is possible now because hip-hop's influence is at last a true and not merely an ancillary currency. It's not just the Grammys, and it's not just the games—life itself is to be touchdowned and home-runned, slam-dunked and Spotified. The game is always on. And it's to be won.

"It's a human game. I'd love to fight it and argue it and let's play that fourth quarter again...but you can't. It just happens."