The NBA is back, the WNBA Finals turned into a best-of-three, the World Series is finally here and North Carolina A&T’s 100th homecoming starts today. Here’s everything that mattered on IAHHM this week, plus what to watch for in the week ahead.
The Week’s Biggest Stories
1. Kurtis Blow and The D.O.C. get their flowers. The Paid In Full Foundation named both legends 2026 Grandmasters at its fourth annual gala on Saturday, Oct. 24. Read more
2. A heavy week of new music. Che Noir rapped through motherhood on It Takes a Village, Hit-Boy got personal on the nine-track The Chauncey Hollis Project II, and Gucci Mane kept his October release tradition going in our roundup with Lucky Daye, Fredo Bang, Meek Mill and the first GTA VI soundtrack single. Che Noir | Hit-Boy | New Music Roundup
3. Cardi B brought 1990 Mugler to the Tiny Desk. Her NPR Tiny Desk concert dropped Oct. 19, and the vintage fit was our Shoot of the Week. Read more
4. LL Cool J’s advice to young rappers: build real fans. On Carmelo Anthony’s 7PM in Brooklyn, LL told new artists to chase loyal supporters, not viral numbers. Read more
5. Meek Mill is going home for Thanksgiving week. “Meek Mill & Friends: Dream Chasers Nights” is a one-night hometown show at Xfinity Mobile Arena in Philadelphia. Read more
6. The Archive went deep. Westside Connection’s Bow Down turned 30, DMX’s The Great Depression hit 25 and Gucci Mane’s Hard to Kill turned 20. We also revisited Pharoahe Monch, Grand Puba, NxWorries and Black Sheep. Bow Down | The Great Depression | Hard to Kill
7. Nike’s Air Force 1 Low “Ghostface” brought Scream vibes for Halloween. Our full Halloween-week release list is up too. AF1 “Ghostface” | Sneaker Releases This Week
8. Luka vs. the rookie. Warriors rookie Yaxel Lendeborg said he “lost all respect” for Luka Doncic, then Luka dropped 28, 8 and 7 in a 127-105 Lakers win and said trash talk gets you “a different me.” Read more | Luka responds
9. Opening week around the NBA. Kawhi Leonard’s Raptors beat the Bulls 135-92, the biggest season-opening win in franchise history. Anthony Davis put up 34 and 12 in his Wizards debut, and the Pistons erased a 22-point deficit to beat Boston. Kawhi | AD | Pistons
10. Cooper Flagg’s wild first week. Flagg scored 32 in a 128-110 opening loss to Houston, then left Friday’s win in Indianapolis with left shoulder soreness after a hard foul from Aaron Nesmith. Read more | Injury update
11. The WNBA Finals are tied 2-2. Angel Reese and the Dream took Game 3 97-71, but Gabby Williams scored 17 as the Valkyries won Game 4 67-62 on Saturday to even the series (WNBA.com). Game 3 | Steph’s message to Gabby
12. The Brewers lead the World Series 2-0. Milwaukee erased a four-run hole to take Game 2 from the Rays. One of these franchises is winning its first title. Read more | Series preview
Also worth your time: the Fever front office shakeup, with Kelly Krauskopf stepping down (read), and our Misty Green review (read).
Carolina Corner
Who You Should Hear: NC edition. sosocamo, Reuben Vincent and prettifun are pushing North Carolina forward. Read more
Rough Saturday for the ACC schools. NC State’s late rally came up short in a 31-28 loss at Stanford (read). That night, Syracuse beat UNC 31-30 in overtime at Kenan Stadium, winning on a two-point conversion after the Heels scored first in OT. UNC is now 4-3 (Chapelboro).
JCSU’s perfect CIAA run ends. Johnson C. Smith led Bowie State 13-9 heading into the fourth, but Bowie State scored the go-ahead touchdown with 34 seconds left. The Golden Bulls’ five-game win streak is over, and they’re now 5-1 in CIAA play (HBCU Sports). Carolina Game Day preview
Four NC casting calls. Seven open casting calls this week, four of them in North Carolina. See the list
Still on the weekend board. Vince Staples closes out the weekend in Raleigh tonight. NC Weekend Guide
Coming This Week
Carolina Events
- GHOE 100, Oct. 25 to Nov. 1: North Carolina A&T’s centennial homecoming takes over Greensboro, with the homecoming game against Elon on Saturday, Oct. 31 (N.C. A&T).
- Concerts (JamBase):
- Mon., Oct. 26: Skilla Baby, The Underground, Charlotte
- Tue., Oct. 27: Victoria Monét, Red Hat Amphitheater, Raleigh. Also EsDeeKid at The Ritz, Raleigh
- Wed., Oct. 28: Victoria Monét, Skyla Credit Union Amphitheatre, Charlotte
- Thu., Oct. 29: Earl Sweatshirt, The Fillmore Charlotte
- Fri., Oct. 30: Earl Sweatshirt, The Ritz, Raleigh
- Sat., Oct. 31: Method Man in Greensboro, right in the middle of GHOE weekend
- Sun., Nov. 1: Young Miko, Spectrum Center, Charlotte
Big Games
- Panthers: host the Buccaneers today at 1 p.m., then play at Green Bay on Thursday Night Football, Oct. 29 at 8:15 p.m. ET (WCCB).
- World Series: Games 3, 4 and 5 (if needed) are in Tampa Bay Monday through Wednesday at 8 p.m. ET on FOX. Games 6 and 7, if needed, are Oct. 30 and 31 in Milwaukee (MLB.com).
- WNBA Finals Game 5: Monday in California with the series tied 2-2 (WNBA.com).
- UNC vs. No. 1 Miami: Saturday, Oct. 31, 7:30 p.m. at Kenan Stadium (Chapelboro).
- Hornets vs. 76ers: a Halloween game at Spectrum Center on Oct. 31 (WBTV). LeBron and Jaylen Brown debuted for Philly this week (read).
Music and Sneakers
- BKtherula, N5ON: the Atlanta rapper’s new album arrives Friday, Oct. 30 (The Needle Drop).
- Air Jordan 3 “Fireside”: drops Friday, Oct. 30 at $205 (Hypebeast). Our full breakdown
That’s the week. What story did we miss? Let us know, and we’ll see you next Sunday.
Sources
- WNBA.com: Finals Game 4 recap
- Chapelboro: Syracuse stuns UNC in overtime
- HBCU Sports: HBCU football winners and losers
- N.C. A&T: Homecoming 2026, the Centennial Edition
- MLB.com: 2026 World Series schedule
- WCCB: Panthers 2026 schedule
- WBTV: Hornets 2026-27 schedule
- JamBase: NC hip hop concerts
- The Needle Drop: BKtherula announces N5ON
- Hypebeast: Air Jordan 3 “Fireside”
