John Elliott:

I’ve been following you for a minute, and I think it’s only right we do something with you, tell your story, expose our audience to you and hopefully vise-versa. It comes from a good place. It comes from a place of just being a fan. So, I’m very appreciative of you rocking with us.

Noah Farrakhan:

It’s been a long time coming, like you said. We’ve known each other for a long time. I’m glad you reached out so I can get the chance to represent myself, and to represent your brand too. I appreciate the opportunity, I’m excited too.

John:

When I hooped, I had a pretty good idea of where my generation was at. I came of age at the same time as LeBron. That was the AND1 generation, the post-Jordan generation. We had Kobe, AI, Shaq…and then LeBron coming into the league. I think it’s interesting now to see how the game has shifted. Obviously basketball culture is bigger than ever. I think there’s a new wave, where people are viewing the game differently.

Noah:

Exactly. It’s mixtapes, reels. It’s a media day and age.

John:

A lot of people don’t watch complete games anymore. That’s what I want this to be about. How you see the world, the culture shifting. First off, Where are you from, and when did you start hooping?

Noah:

I’m from Jersey. Basketball wasn’t my first sport. Football was. And soccer. I was a big soccer player, I played for six years. I fell in love with basketball when I was 5 or 6. It was when my Dad met his wife. Her son played ball, and his Dad was an NBA player - James Scott Sr. Just being around him, he showed me the culture, how the style of play was building. By the time I got to 8th grade, it turned into mixtapes, videos. People popping out to games, rappers, athletes - Everyone was showing up at games.

John:

When you talk about games, are you referencing AAU?

Noah:

Yea exactly, I’m talking about AAU, and high school basketball.

John:

Yes - Because high school basketball, specifically in New Jersey is big, correct?

Noah:

Yea, I think we have as big a level as NY inside the gym. Outside basketball, I’ll leave that to New York. But, the camaraderie, the oos and awes, we’re on that same level I think.

John:

Definitely.

Noah

So overall inspiration was my brother. Then, Isaiah Briscoe, he’s one of our legends. He’s a jersey legend. He came out of Jersey around 2017, as a senior. That’s when the mixtapes came about. Seeing the wave he started, how much attention he brought to the school..You could be at the barbershop getting a haircut - Isaiah playing, Boogie playing…It really was must-see TV. I saw that attention, and I thought - I want that, I like that.

John:

So then how did you go about cracking that culture?

Noah:

The media part, I never went up to anybody and said “I want this person to follow me." It kind of just took care of itself with the work I put in. Behind closed doors, you know, nobody’s watching you. At the end of the day, if you put in the work, your craft is gonna show itself. That’s where it took off for me. My 8th grade year, I got one mixtape. People thought, “When do you see an 8th grader, coming down, dunking the ball the way I was?” I believe I was 5’8” dunking the ball, in the 8th grade. So I kind of caught the media world by that. It took off from there. Every mixtape, every tournament I had from there on out had at least 4-5 photographers, videographers at the game. Instagram came about as an instant blowup.

At that point, 2018 - 2019, if I posted a video to my instagram @ogsiimba, it was going for 300 - 400k within 20 minutes to an hour. Just seeing how that took off, I realized I could build my brand around this. I became an overall wholesome athlete, diving into different things.

From there, basketball opened my life to other parts of culture. In my opinion, rappers want to be hoopers, and hoopers want to be rappers. So, naturally, the rap culture intervened, and blew me up even more. I started chilling with different rappers. Different people showed me around the culture, and added to my story.

John:

I think that’s a good segway, because I discovered you, probably through @ballislife on Instagram. The explosive nature of your game mixed with the way you carry yourself, I don’t want to put a term on it...But the way you carry yourself, the way you move is very unique. Like any good story, any good movie, there’s moments of surprise where as a viewer, you already are intrigued. Then you see something, and you’re like wait a minute - Oh Shit. So let’s talk about when Lil Uzi Vert showed up to Saint Patrick’s. There must be a lot of people who are really invested in your career, so can you talk to me about what that was like, and how that happened?

Noah:

Yea, Uzi - which we all call him ‘Vert.” That’s been my man since 2018. I’ve known him for 5 or 6 years now. He discovered me through the basketball wave. I believe it was him and A Boogie [ wit da Hoodie], they were having a conversation - Who’s their mans, who they got over this or that. I’m not sure if you’re familiar with Jaylen ‘“Juju” Murray, he plays at Saint Peter’s College, but he’s from the Bronx, and that’s where A Boogie is from. So Boogie had him, and Vert said, "this is my mans, I got Farrakhan."

I used to always put his music behind my mixtapes. Some of them were snippets of unreleased songs, because we started getting close. Randomly, he DM’d me, like “Yo whats up bro?” I was taking a summer class. It was 2019, Central High School and he was like “Yo where you at? I was like “Chilling in Jersey right now.” He said, “What you on today,” and I said “Nothing bro I’m taking a summer class right now.” So he was like “Let me pull up, lets go to NY, go shopping.” (laughter) I was like, in my head, “Alright ok, I guess”…I was just sitting there a bit shocked, like this is Lil Uzi Vert - it was just so random, so random. So I said “Alright, for sure.”

He pulled up to the trenches - and to preface - This is maybe the worst part you could possibly come in Jersey. He pulled up three deep in black Escalades. Kids were getting let out, running up to the car. You know me, I was playing it cool like I already knew him. So I hopped in the car, we started chopping it up. This was around the time his album from 2020 was about to come out. He’s letting me hear unreleased stuff.

That’s really how it started. Ever since that day, we’ve been inseparable. I call him if I need anything, he’s always there. Any advice I need, how to handle certain situations, pressure. He’s been like a big brother to me, just showing me the ropes, and also just how to be a regular person, enjoy life. Having him in my corner, it’s been something special for sure.

John:

And he would come to high school games correct?

Noah:

Yea he came to the game I played Sharife Cooper. As I’m warming up, everybody started going crazy, just screaming, losing their minds. I look, and it’s Vert. They started storming the court. We’re at East Orange High School, it’s only so big. It’s getting packed, everybody bulldozing through. People from the inner city don’t know how to act sometimes…So just watching the crowd go crazy, it was just unbelievable.

John:

What was your energy like in that game? How’d you play?

Noah:

I had 20. I shot 43% from the field. And we won. It was a big game.

John:

You showed out.

Noah:

I could have done better. I felt like I could have caught a few more dunks, had a few more opportunities to create more excitement. But I was trying to get the win instead of being fancy. But, bro said I did good, so as long as he said that I’m straight. It was a great experience. He popped out, had everybody jumping.

John:

From the other side of America, from California - someone who saw it online. All that mattered was that you played well, looked good, and you guys got a win.

Noah:

That’s what it’s really about, getting that win.

John:

Something else I think is interesting to talk about…The culture we’re referencing, it’s the intersection of music and basketball. I don’t want to overrank myself here, but you have people like myself, Bronny James, Kevin Durant, a very interesting group of people who follow you. That leads me to - where do you see the game going? When you have people like KD, Tracy Mills, Nick Young, JR Smith and Bronny James following you, clearly you’ve made a dent in culture. Obviously it has a lot to do with the internet and highlights, but - where do you see basketball culture going from here?

Noah:

It can only go up. Due to the fact we have tons of young minds and innovators out here that want to be special - and different - Adding uniqueness and different styles of play, overall rhythm.

John:

To that point, how would you describe your rhythm? Because I think that’s a perfect word to describe your game is rhythm - You legit have a rhythm while you play.

Noah:

Yeah. I have to give credit to my Mom. She put me on to R&B slow jams. When I’m playing I always have a song that I listen to before the game and have in my head, and I play to that rhythm. That’s been my thing, ever since I was young. As a side note, my Mom managed Lauryn Hill for my whole life, since I was a kid. Lauryn’s my godmother, she raised all of us. Having her go on tours with them, watching her early on - before Lil Uzi Vert and all them, having her lead the example since I was a kid introduced me to the culture and rhythm thing.

John:

That just gave me the chills. Lauryn Hill, in my life, in terms of significant artists…She’s on Mount Rushmore. That’s incredible. So you grew up around Lauryn Hill. What were some of the lessons she passed on to you?

Noah:

She instilled a lot of lessons in us. I grew up around the kids too. John, Josh, Zion, myself...We call each other cousins. We’re a core group, that’s been my group since I was a toddler. So she instilled: ‘Anything you ever do, do it 110%. Don’t half ass anything. Treat everything like it’s your last. Don’t play with your money. People are always going to have something to say.’ Hearing that coming from her, you know, can only lead you down the path of greatness. Being in those rooms with her, around great people also just rubs off on you in a way, too.

John:

I’m sure. Well, I don’t want to take up too much of your time, so we’ll wind this down. But, I am interested…On a basketball tip, what does your summer look like? What are you working on, how are you trying to improve and trying to approach the game now that you’re in the off-season?

Noah:

Last year I had one of my breakout years, to get my draft stock buzzing again. This year we had an ok year - lots of ups and downs. So next year, I’m really going for that ‘me’ year. It’s one of those years I want to show the world I’m something special. I want to be one of those players that’s talked about forever, has memorable college seasons - Cinderella story, I’d say - Especially when it comes to March. I want to be able to make the tournament next year…Show people I can dance, show my abilities to the fullest extent.

John:

Then do you mind if I ask, what was this year like? You’re at Eastern Michigan, you and Emoni Bates pull up, it had to have been a circus.

Noah:

There was nothing but hype around it. But it was up and down, we couldn’t really find that gelling piece together as a team, as a whole. That comes with a brand new team, with young players, young guys. Not really having experience on a college level. We just really couldn’t make that one push, that one stretch to find the right accord. Overall, it was a learning experience. You learn from stuff like this. It’s something I learned from, and I’m pretty sure my teammates learned from. I don’t look at it as a down year, it’s just one of those years that things didn’t go our way, and we’re going to definitely get them this year, especially if guys come back with the mentality of vengeance - That’s how I’m coming.

John:

I can’t wait to see you next year, and I’m excited to see snippets of it over the summer.

Noah:

The main focus is body, getting my body right is a whole other level.

John:

Speaking to you, honestly I’m fired up. Even hearing the spirit in your voice, I can tell you’re about it. I’m excited to see what you do next year. I’m a believer.

Let’s finish it up with this: Going back to music, who are three artists you’re listening to now, doesn’t have to be new - can be anything. How do you go about discovering music?

Noah:

I’m in the underground Soundcloud type wave lately. But, Lil Uzi Vert is always in my category. I’ve been listening to Lucky. His vibe is different, it’s like a new kind of sound I’m not used to. New York Drill, any type of NY Drill that’s what really gets me pumped up I’ll say.

John:

I really really enjoyed this conversation. It will definitely not be the last. Thank you for doing this with us Noah. After speaking to you I’ve become more of a fan, and I’m excited for our customers and fans of the brand to get introduced to you. We’ll all be rooting for you next year, and just appreciative you’re doing this with us.

Noah:

That’s a bet. Appreciate this.