Big Sean Expands Pistons Role as Team Pushes Global, Culture-Led Growth

Big Sean poses in Detroit Pistons gear in a promotional image shared on Instagram. The Detroit native was recently named the franchise’s creative director of global experience as part of an expanded partnership focused on culture, design and international fan growth. (Photo via Instagram / @bigsean)

The Detroit Pistons are leaning harder into culture — and into Big Sean — as the franchise tries to sell Detroit Basketball to the world in a moment when teams don’t just need wins, they need identity.

On Sunday, the Pistons announced an expanded partnership with the Detroit rapper and entrepreneur, naming him the team’s Creative Director of Global Experience and rolling out a new initiative called “Creatives Across Continents” tied to World Basketball Day, which is observed each year on Dec. 21.

The move is framed as part of the team’s push for global fan growth and a bigger cultural footprint — the modern sports playbook where music, fashion and design don’t sit on the sidelines, they are an integral part of the game experience.

In the Pistons’ announcement, the team said Sean will be involved in future community engagement and international fan development, and that the initiative will invite designers and artists worldwide to create original work inspired by Detroit Basketball, with a collaborative retail collection planned for 2026.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by BIG SEAN (@bigsean)

“Big Sean’s influence reaches far beyond music — he’s a global creative visionary who already brings Detroit wherever he goes,” Pistons Chief Marketing Officer Alicia Jeffreys said in a statement. She called the program “the next step in introducing Detroit Basketball to the world.”

Sean, in his own statement, positioned the role as both hometown loyalty and infrastructure — less “brand ambassador,” more “build something that hires and opens doors.”

“Detroit has always been rich with talent and culture, and my mission is to keep opening doors and hiring our city’s creatives to shine alongside one of the most iconic franchises in sports,” he said, adding that he’s “grateful to the Pistons for trusting me to help define what the culture of Detroit Basketball really means.”

For the Pistons, the headline is that the franchise is treating creative direction as an actual department with an actual title, then attaching it to a Detroit name that has always been intentional about Detroit as brand and birthplace. It also continues a relationship the team says has already included merchandise and experience work, with more details promised around future events and retail collaborations in the year ahead.

What the announcement does not include: financial terms, how finalists for the design initiative will be selected, or what creative control looks like in practice — the part that determines whether this becomes a real pipeline for artists or another glossy concept that lives mostly in a press release.

Still, the direction is clear. The Pistons aren’t just selling tickets. They’re selling a story about Detroit — and betting Big Sean can help translate it in a language the world already understands.

Romanian Court Sentences Wiz Khalifa to Nine Months in Drug Case

Wiz Khalifa performs during a live concert in 2023. The rapper was later sentenced by a Romanian court in connection with cannabis use during a 2024 festival appearance in Costinești. (Photo by Rickmunroe01, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons)

Wiz Khalifa’s habit of lighting up onstage has long been treated as part of the show. In Romania, it became a criminal case — and, this week, the court issued its final ruling.

The Pittsburgh rapper, born Cameron Jibril Thomaz, was sentenced to nine months in prison by Romania’s Constanța Court of Appeal, which overturned an earlier penalty stemming from his July 2024 detention at the “Beach, Please!” music festival in Costinești. The ruling, issued Monday and entered into the court registry, followed an appeal by Romanian prosecutors and marked the conclusion of a case that began when Khalifa smoked cannabis during his live set.

According to court documents and a translated statement from Romania’s Directorate for the Investigation of Organized Crime and Terrorism, known as DIICOT, Khalifa was found to have possessed more than 18 grams of cannabis and to have consumed additional marijuana onstage in the form of a handmade cigarette. Under Romanian law, cannabis is classified as a “dangerous drug,” and public possession and use remain criminal offenses regardless of quantity.

Police allowed Khalifa to complete his performance before taking him into custody. He was detained briefly, questioned and released, and prosecutors later initiated criminal proceedings for illegal possession of dangerous drugs for personal use.

In the initial trial, a lower court imposed a criminal fine of 3,600 lei, roughly $800 at the time. DIICOT appealed that sentence, arguing it failed to reflect the seriousness of the offense under Romania’s drug statutes. The appellate court agreed, partially vacating the original ruling and imposing a nine-month prison sentence, to be served in detention, while leaving other aspects of the judgment intact.

The decision is final under Romanian law.

 

What the ruling does not immediately mean is just as important as what it does. Khalifa was not taken into custody this week, nor have Romanian authorities announced steps related to extradition, enforcement abroad or international arrest warrants. The sentence was pronounced by making it available through the registry rather than in Khalifa’s physical presence, a procedural detail common in Romanian appellate cases involving foreign defendants.

Legal experts note that cross-border enforcement of such sentences can be complex and often hinges on bilateral agreements, prosecutorial discretion and future travel. None of those questions were addressed in the ruling itself, and Romanian officials emphasized that Khalifa benefited from full procedural rights and the presumption of innocence throughout the case.

Still, the judgment stands as a rare example of a global rap star receiving a custodial sentence overseas for conduct that, in much of the United States, would no longer raise eyebrows — let alone criminal charges.

The case also underscores the cultural disconnect between hip-hop performance norms and international drug laws. Cannabis remains central to Khalifa’s public image and music, woven into lyrics, branding and decades of live shows. But Romanian law makes no exception for celebrity, context or stage persona.

Since the incident, Khalifa has not publicly commented on the appeal ruling. At the time of his arrest in 2024, Romanian authorities made clear that his status as a foreign artist did not alter the legal framework governing the case.

Bronx Drill Rapper Kay Flock Gets 30-Year Sentence in Racketeering Case

Kay Flock, born Kevin Perez, is shown in a photo shared on social media. The Bronx drill rapper was sentenced Tuesday to 30 years in federal prison after being convicted on racketeering and attempted murder charges tied to a series of gang-related shootings.

For a brief moment, Kay Flock looked like the next voice to break out of the Bronx’s drill scene — a raw, volatile presence whose videos racked up millions of views and whose name moved fast through New York rap circles. On Tuesday, that ascent ended in a federal courtroom.

The Bronx rapper, born Kevin Perez, was sentenced to 30 years in prison for his role as the leader of a gang prosecutors said carried out a series of shootings that terrorized neighborhoods between 2020 and 2021. Perez, 22, was convicted earlier this year on racketeering conspiracy, attempted murder and assault with a deadly weapon in aid of racketeering, along with a firearm offense, following a two-week trial in U.S. District Court.

U.S. District Judge Lewis J. Liman, who imposed the sentence, said Perez “taunted, celebrated, and created a culture of violence,” adding that the harm caused by his actions “was immense,” according to court records.

Federal prosecutors described Perez as the leader of a Bronx-based gang known as Sev Side/DOA — shorthand for “Dumping on Anything” or “Dead on Arrival” — operating around East 187th Street. According to the indictment and trial evidence, the group used violence to defend territory, elevate its reputation and increase members’ status, while funding itself through bank and wire fraud schemes that later supported Perez’s music career.

“Kevin Perez used violence and fame to fuel fear and intimidation across the Bronx,” U.S. Attorney Jay Clayton said in a statement announcing the sentence. “Perez and his gang members carried out a string of shootings that struck both rival gang members and innocent bystanders.”

Prosecutors tied Perez to multiple shootings during a roughly 18-month span. Among them was a June 20, 2020, attack in which a rival was shot in the jaw and several others were wounded. Days later, Perez appeared in a music video that investigators said referenced the shooting. Additional attempted murders in June 2020, August 2020 and November 2021 were also presented at trial, with evidence showing multiple victims were struck by gunfire.

Clayton said Perez used his platform as a rising drill rapper to amplify the violence, releasing songs and videos — some drawing millions of views — that “threatened his rivals, bragged about his shootings, and taunted his victims.” Prosecutors argued the music and online posts helped spark retaliatory violence that rippled through the Bronx.

In addition to the prison sentence, Perez was ordered to serve five years of supervised release after completing his term.