This Week in Dulture…

Approx 5.5 minute read:

👟 The SB dunks no one saw coming

🏀 The hottest team in the NBA

🛹 A new interview!

🚗 Rush Hour one more time

Dulture weekly mix

You know what’s a good time? When you’ve worked all week, just want to sit on the couch with a drink and watch your friend live stream music while you chill out.

Most Fridays and/or Saturdays DJ Shtoops live streams on his channel around 9PM EST. Honestly, if you’re like me and just want to do absolutely nothing after a long week, this is perfect to stream on your TV while you doom scroll on your phone.

C’mon, you know that’s actually not a bad time when you don’t want to socialize anymore.

The Hottest Team in the NBA*

At the beginning of the month, Toronto experienced its biggest sports heartbreak ever, as 51 million people from the US, Canada, and Japan watched on.

I still don’t know how this happened…

It’s crazy game 7 of the World Series was only November 1st.

Anyway - as a city, we’ve rebounded (oh pun…) through the Raptors.

Just the other night…

The Raptors have won 9 in a row, and 13 of their last 14 games and man…it’s just fun that everyone’s talking about the Raptors.

Like, when did Kendrick Perkins become a Raptors fan??

The Raptors have flat out sucked for a couple years so it was a breath of fresh air when they picked up Brandon Ingram in February, even though he wasn’t going to be cleared to play until this season.

The starting 5 of Ingram, Barnes, Barrett, Quickley, and Poeltl has been a VERY QUIET offensive juggernaut with all 5 guys averaging double digits but like, when you look at individual player stats, none of these guys really shine through in the league.

However when you look at team stats there’s a couple that stand out.

One of the biggest reasons Toronto is winning HOW it wins right now is possessions are often distributed evenly. There’s units between the starters and the bench that seem to have found their rhythm on and off the ball.

Which is why they’re also top 5 in field goal % - when you pass the ball enough, shots become so much easier.

Will this run keep going? Who knows, let’s see what happens in Vegas with the NBA Cup now.

*I’m well aware that OKC has won 10 in a row (at the time of writing this) and most likely will be 11 in a row by the time you read this. Shai is a guy, what can I say?

The Best Skater You Haven’t Heard Of

There’s something about the neighbourhood I grew up in - all this talent.

Firstly you got the DJ that provides the weekly Dulture mix above.

Secondly you got this man, who you’ll eventually see in Dulture…and maybe his partner in crime 🤔 

And then you have Dwayne Anderson Jr.

For the longest time I only remembered Dede as this little kid who one time ran into the living room while a Mudvayne music video was on, looked at it, and started crying instantly.

I eventually moved out of the neighbourhood and next thing I see is this guy 360 flipping down famous giant sets in Toronto.

It’s only fitting I had him answer a few questions for this week’s issue.

Andrew Dulture: If someone in LA or NYC has never heard your name, what’s the one sentence you’d want to introduce yourself with?

Dwayne Anderson Jr: Hey I’m Dwayne, I’m from Toronto.

AD: I guess that makes sense… OK, and then explain Toronto’s skate DNA to an American skater. Like, what makes it different from New York, LA, or Philly?

DAJ: There isn’t a ton of pros that live in Toronto, the skate scene itself isn’t huge. Lots of skaters in here go hard without incentive of being seen by big brands / names.

AD: True true. If tomorrow a major brand gave you a full part budget, who are you calling to film it and where are you going?

DAJ: If I could pick up and go anywhere I’d hit up my homie Callum Kelley and go to New York, there’s lots of cool spots there and a lot of history. I’d wanna film here in Toronto too, I think the clips would mesh well together.

AD: Toronto has always felt like a mini NYC - the clips would def vibe. OK, next question: Why is everyone so good at skateboarding these days? And HOW are these Japanese kids so technically good?

DAJ: I think skating is just evolving, people are inspired by what’s already been done, the standards are getting higher.

AD: I grew up watching TJ Rogers as a young blood, he’s now your OG. Who are the OG’s you look up to these days?

DAJ: Tj is a legend, what he’s done in skating and is still doing is incredible. He’s helped me and my friends in LA so much when we visit. Another OG is Morgan Smith, he’s looked out for me heavy with skating. He also has some legendary video parts.

AD: Damn, Morgan Smith…I swear we bumped into him and Johnny Tang randomly at the FEW skateparks that were in Toronto in the early 2000s - those dudes were so good.

Alright, what’s your fav spot in Toronto to skate right now?

DAJ: My favourite spot in Toronto is probably gold rail. It’s a perfect indoor rail, quick kick out but it’s worth it.

AD: Thanks man, this has been dope - any last shout outs?

DAJ: Shoutout to Daniel spriel, Jalen Baisden, Terrence Fante, and Cyrus Thompson.

Go follow Dwayne on IG here and check out the latest vid featuring him and other Toronto skaters here.

Also shout out the same kid who repped a brand I created out of the back of my trunk 15 years ago, he was already pretty good back then, I think at like 9 years old?

Rush Hour 4 Before GTA 6? Maybe.

Just the other week as I was driving my kid to one of the many classes she has after school, I began to introduce her to a couple Dru Hill songs.

I was telling her about this group of Chinese guys who always put on a pretty good dance performance at our high school talent shows and one year they chose How Deep Is Your Love by Dru Hill.

I remember all the girls in the cafeteria were screaming as they danced, it was at that point I realized, I was not in elementary school anymore.

And of course, the song blew up because Rush Hour blew up.

In fact, I don’t care man, all 3 Rush Hour’s were pretty good. Obviously the first one really set the tone. I mean, we def don’t get as excited about Fast and the Furious movies the way we did when the first one came out - then again, not sure anyone gets excited over them anymore given they’ve been stretched out longer than Lebron’s career…what? 🤷‍♂️ 

So looks like we’re getting Rush Hour 4 and both Jacky Chan and Chris Tucker are confirmed to star in it.

Here’s how it went down:

Rumour has it one of Donald Trump’s favourite genres of film is martial arts, with Jean-Claude Van Damme films, specifically Bloodsport, being his favs.

In January, Trump appoints Sylvester Stallone, Jon Voight, and Mel Gibson as his “special ambassadors to Hollywood” to I guess indirectly influence Hollywood - so you know something is eventually gonna happen.

This month Trump calls up David Ellison, CEO of Skydance Media and Larry Ellison’s (friend of Trump) son and tells him to green-light the previously stalled Rush Hour 4 project.

And so we have the stalled Rush Hour 4 project now in the midst of getting funding and back on track.

There’s a bunch of political undertone to this but I’m not here to talk politics with you. I don’t care for the politics side nor do I really get it.