The AND1 Live Tour, formerly known as the AND1 Mixtape Tour, is a traveling

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately in diameter) through the defender's h ...

competition and exhibition presented by

B-Ball and Company The AND1 Live Tour, formerly known as the AND1 Mixtape Tour, is a traveling basketball competition and exhibition presented by B-Ball and Company and the basketball apparel manufacturer AND1. A group of streetball players, along with Emcee Rell a ...

and the basketball apparel manufacturer

AND1 AND1 is an American footwear and clothing company specializing in basketball shoes, clothing, and sporting goods. AND1 was founded on August 13, 1993. The company focuses strictly on basketball and is a subsidiary of Sequential Brands Group. It s ...

. A group of streetball players, along with Emcee Rell and B-Ball and Company CEO Linda Hill, travel from town to town and challenge teams composed of local talent. Games tend to be characterized by isolation one-on-one ball handling moves and acrobatic

slam dunk A slam dunk, also simply known as dunk, is a type of basketball shot that is performed when a player jumps in the air, controls the ball above the horizontal plane of the rim, and scores by shoving the ball directly through the basket with one ...

s and alley-oops. The tour was televised in half-hour "Streetball" segments on

ESPN2 ESPN2 is an American multinational pay television network owned by ESPN Inc., a joint venture between The Walt Disney Company (which owns a controlling 80% stake) and Hearst Communications (which owns the remaining 20%). ESPN2 was initially ...

, and were compiled into highlight reels, offered under the mark AND1 Mixtape, which were sold on DVD. AND1 has released 10 volumes. The first mixtape was ''AND1 Mixtape Volume 1'' (1998) and the most recent is ''AND1 Mixtape X'' (2008). The AND1 team has toured the world, meeting success against most international teams and scoring wins over adversaries from places as diverse as Chile and Angola, remaining undefeated outside the continental United States until they lost to the debuting Puerto Rico Streetballers in 2012.

Controversy

AND1's calling card and large reason for success are the flashy moves that rely on a more lenient set of rules than in regulation basketball. This has led to comparisons with the

Harlem Globetrotters The Harlem Globetrotters are an American exhibition basketball team. They combine athleticism, theater, and comedy in their style of play. Created in 1926 by Tommy Brookins in Chicago, Illinois, the team adopted the name '' Harlem'' because of ...

and has caused some journalists to criticize the tour. Supporters of the tour have responded by backing up AND1's credibility and the players' legitimate skill. The AND1 players maintain that they are serious basketball players who play against the seven best local players from each city. Many of the current and former AND1 Mixtape Tour players have played in college and in professional organizations such as the CBL,

ABA ABA may refer to: Businesses and organizations Broadcasting * Alabama Broadcasters Association, United States * Asahi Broadcasting Aomori, Japanese television station * Australian Broadcasting Authority Education * Académie des Beaux- ...

, NBDL, NBA or overseas.

AND1 Live Streetballers

Official MC of the Tour: Emcee Rell * Robin Kennedy Jr. a.k.a Sik Wit It from Pasadena, California * Philip Champion a.k.a. Hot Sauce from

Atlanta, Georgia Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,71 ...

* Antony Heyward Jr. a.k.a. 1/2 Man 1/2 Amazing from

Brooklyn, New York Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, behi ...

Troy Jackson Troy Jackson was an American basketball player. The younger brother of retired NBA player Mark Jackson (basketball), Mark Jackson, he was a member of the AND1 Mixtape Tour, known by his streetball nickname "Escalade". Jackson was listed by AND1 a ...

a.k.a. Escalade from

Queens, New York Queens is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Queens County, in the U.S. state of New York. Located on Long Island, it is the largest New York City borough by area. It is bordered by the borough of Brooklyn at the western tip of Long Is ...

* Dennis Chism a.k.a. Spyda from

Waliyy Dixon Waliyy Dixon (born February 7, 1974), better known by his streetball nickname "Main Event", is an American professional basketball player. He was born and raised in Linden, New Jersey. Early life Dixon spent his youth honing his streetball skill ...

a.k.a. Main Event from

Linden, New Jersey Linden is a city in southeastern Union County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. It is part of the New York Metropolitan Area, located about southwest of Manhattan and bordering Staten Island, a borough of New York City, across the Arthur Kil ...

* Jerome Holman a.k.a. Circus from

* Robert Martin a.k.a. 50 from

. Cousin of NBA player Kenyon Martin * Brandon LaCue a.k.a. Werm from Ft. Lauderdale, Florida * David Gabriel a.k.a. Big Dave from Port Saint Lucie, Florida * Hugh Jones a.k.a. Baby Shack from Washington, D.C. * Marvin Collins a.k.a. Highrizer from

* Paul Otim a.k.a. Polo from

* Guy Dupuy a.k.a. Easy J from

Nice, France Nice ( , ; Niçard: , classical norm, or , nonstandard, ; it, Nizza ; lij, Nissa; grc, Νίκαια; la, Nicaea) is the prefecture of the Alpes-Maritimes department in France. The Nice agglomeration extends far beyond the administrative ci ...

Grayson Boucher Grayson "The Professor" Scott Boucher (born June 10, 1984) is an American streetball player, actor, and former semi-professional basketball player. He is most known for playing on the highly stylized, international AND1 Mixtape Tour; he has also ...

a.k.a. The Professor from Keizer, Oregon *

Rafer Alston Rafer Jamel Alston (born July 24, 1976), also known as Skip to my Lou or Skip 2 My Lou, is an American retired professional basketball player. Alston first gained basketball fame playing in the AND1 Mixtape Tour in 1999 before making the National ...

a.k.a. Skip to my Lou, from

Bronx, New York The Bronx () is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City, coextensive with Bronx County, in the U.S. state, state of New York (state), New York. It is south of Westchester County, New York, Westchester County; north and east of the ...

. * Shane Woney a.k.a. The Dribbling Machine from

* Larry Williams a.k.a. The Bone Collector from

Tyler, Texas Tyler is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the largest city and county seat of Smith County, Texas, Smith County. It is also the largest city in Northeast Texas. With a 2020 census population of 105,995, Tyler was the List of cities in Texa ...

* Taurian Fontenette a.k.a. Air Up There from Hitchcock, Texas * Aaron Owens a.k.a. AO from

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, largest city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the List of United States cities by population, sixth-largest city i ...

* Tyrone Evans a.k.a. Alimoe * Andre Poole a.k.a Silk * Tim Gittens a.k.a Headache

AND1 Mixtape Volumes

*''AND1 Mixtape Vol. 1'' – The "Skip Mixtape", mainly focused on

. *''AND1 Mixtape Vol. 2'' – All games on this tape were filmed in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the U ...

and

. *''AND1 Mixtape Vol. 3'' – This tape was given to people who bought a pair of AND1 shoes. *''AND1 Mixtape Vol. 4'' – Volume 4 was the first tape documenting the AND1 Mixtape Tour, which visited

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the wor ...

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = List of sovereign states, Count ...

, Washington D. C. and

. *''AND1 Mixtape Vol. 5'' – Volume 5 was the return of Alston, after he had been playing Division I basketball at Fresno State University for three years. *''AND1 Mixtape Vol. 6'' – Volume 6 toured Los Angeles, Chicago,

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

, and New York City. *''AND1 Mixtape Vol. 7'' – Every game in this volume was played in NBA arenas, and

was discovered in the Open Run in

Portland, Oregon Portland (, ) is a port city in the Pacific Northwest and the largest city in the U.S. state of Oregon. Situated at the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers, Portland is the county seat of Multnomah County, the most populou ...

Open Run. The tape also featured a brief appearance from retired basketball player

Shaquille O'Neal Shaquille Rashaun O'Neal ( ; born March 6, 1972), known commonly as "Shaq" ( ), is an American former professional basketball player who is a sports analyst on the television program '' Inside the NBA''. O'Neal is regarded as one of the great ...

. *''AND1 Mixtape Vol. 8: Back on the Block'' – ''Back on the Block'' featured a lot of "Crash the Court" footage, in which the AND1 team plays against local teams in public streetball locations. *''AND1 Mixtape Vol. 9: Area Codes'' – This volume shows the hometown and home court of every member of the AND1 team, including Philadelphia with Aaron Owens and Los Angeles with Kenny Brunner. *''AND1 Mixtape X: The United Streets of America'' – ''AND1 Mixtape X'' marked a decade of AND1, with footage from the United Streets Of America tour, which featured former

Boston Celtics The Boston Celtics ( ) are an American professional basketball team based in Boston. The Celtics compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Atlantic Division. Founded in 1946 as one of ...

Player Carlos Arroyo. Additional AND1 Mixtape Volumes *''AND1 Ball Access: Global Invasion'' – Everything from the courts to the culture in

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. ...

Barcelona Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within ...

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

Milan Milan ( , , Lombard language, Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the List of cities in Italy, second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 ...

, and

Frankfurt Frankfurt, officially Frankfurt am Main (; Hessian: , " Frank ford on the Main"), is the most populous city in the German state of Hesse. Its 791,000 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located on its ...

. This was the first And 1 Mix Tape tour overseas adventure. *''AND1 Mixtape Tour: Asia Pacific'' – The '2004 AND 1 Mixtape World Tour' that ended with a comprehensive international visit of the

Far East The ''Far East'' was a European term to refer to the geographical regions that includes East and Southeast Asia as well as the Russian Far East to a lesser extent. South Asia is sometimes also included for economic and cultural reasons. The te ...

and

Australasia Australasia is a region that comprises Australia, New Zealand and some neighbouring islands in the Pacific Ocean. The term is used in a number of different contexts, including geopolitically, physiogeographically, philologically, and ecolo ...

in November. A compilation footage of the journey from

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and List of cities in Japan, largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, ...

to Sydney. Includes previously unreleased tracks from Paul Wall, Mike Jones, Sam Scarfo, Clipse, Dipset featuring JR Writer, and Kanecc. *''AND1 Ball Access: The Mixtape Tour'' – A documentary that highlights the 2002 And1 Mix Tape Tour. Get on the bus for a behind the scenes look at the action on and off the court as it rolls through

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the capital city, state capital and List of municipalities in Massachusetts, most populous city of the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financ ...

New Orleans New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,71 ...

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

, Louisville and the rest of the summer's Mix Tape Tour cities. It's an all access pass into life on the Tour as the Players show how their creativity, flair and attitude isn't limited to what they can do on the court.

References

External links

AND1 HomepageAND1 LIVE Homepage
{{DEFAULTSORT:AND1 Mixtape AND1 Basketball organizations Recurring sporting events established in 1998 Streetball