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In case you missed it, Cleveland has officially won the 2016 NBA Championship. Led by Finals MVP LeBron James, who have won the first sports championship for the city of Cleveland since 1964 and, in the process, become the first and only team in NBA history to come back from a 3—1 deficit in the Finals series to win the championship! Impressed yet?

Behind 26 points from Kyrie Irving and a huge 27-point triple double from the King himself, Cleveland Cavaliers have triumphed over NBA Regular Season MVP Steph Curry and the Golden State Warriors 93 — 89 to seal the deal on their miraculous Cinderella story and finally bring home the trophy to Cleveland. With hugely emotional scenes beginning with the victory in Oakland and sure to spill over in to Cleveland in the coming days, we take a look at five times LeBron James has been shouted out in hip-hop to celebrate King James bringing the NBA Championship home to Cleveland, Ohio.

  • Words: James Schofield

01. 'New God Flow' - Kanye West

“Went from most hated to the Champion God flow, I guess that’s a feeling only me and LeBron know…” 

– Kanye West

Kanye West is a name in hip-hop who often draws comparisons to LeBron, in the sense that both men are loved and hated in equal measure, for various reasons. Yet, without question, in both of their respective fields, both Kanye West and LeBron James could so easily lay claim to being the very best.

With this line in ‘New God Flow’, taken from 2012’s Cruel Summer, Kanye West touches on the similarities between himself and King James, with a line so much more significant now that LeBron James is a champion once again.

02. 'Levels' - Meek Mill

“If it’s the Finals, I’m balling like I’m LeBron now…” 

– Meek Mill

In all fairness, Philadelphia’s Meek Mill is probably a 76ers fan, but that doesn’t mean the MMG shout-rap pioneer can’t recognise greatness when he sees it, shouting out LeBron in this line.

With LeBron named 2016’s NBA Finals MVP, this line (much like the one previous) takes new, profound significance.

03. 'Martians vs Goblins' - The Game

“Fall back like LeBron’s hairline against the Mavericks, he lost” 

– Tyler, the Creator

It hasn’t all been happy mentions for LeBron in hip-hop however, just like it hasn’t all been happy moments in LeBron’s career. Missed opportunity in the 2011 NBA Finals, where LeBron (then playing for the Miami Heat) lost to the Dallas Mavericks, certainly stands out as one.

But, as with any great champion, the losses are oftentimes equally as important as the victories for LeBron James. With missed opportunities driving him further on to victory and, indeed, inspiring his now triumphant return to Cleveland, it pays to recognise LeBron’s bad moments just as much as his good ones.

04. '1Train' - A$AP Rocky

“Fuck them haters and fuck them hoes, a championship win is the aftermath, ask LeBron…” 

– Big K.R.I.T.

LeBron may not have been victorious in 2011 with the Miami Heat, but bounced back the following year to win the NBA Championship in 2012 with the same year. This followed a great deal of hate and vitriol following LeBron’s move from Cleveland to Miami, seeing LeBron prove all of his doubters and haters wrong with his victory.

Today, LeBron has achieved the same feat with the Cleveland Cavaliers, to whom he returned after the 2013-2014 NBA Season. With hate seeming to follow LeBron everywhere he has gone, this line by Big K.R.I.T. on A$AP Rocky’s huge posse cut rings as true as ever.

05. 'FuckWithMeYouKnowIGotIt (Freestyle)' - LeBron James

“It’s a damn shame that you ever doubted…” 

– LeBron James

Yup, the King himself dropped this freestyle over Jay Z and Rick Ross’s ‘FuckWitMeYouKnowIGotIt’, from Jay-Z’s Magna Carta Holy Grail. Though LeBron originally dropped this freestyle in what would be his last season as a member of the Miami Heat, it’s just as impactful today, if not moreso, given that LeBron James has finally delivered on his promise to bring a championship to Cleveland.

Having been born and brought up in nearby Akron, Ohio, LeBron James has finally rewarded the state and city to which he has proclaimed to owe so much. Through a tough season, and through an arguably even tougher NBA Finals series, LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers have achieved the nearly impossible by claiming victory and the 2015-2016 NBA Championship with their victory over the Golden State Warriors.

Congratulations, LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers. Enjoy the well-earned victory!