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James Harden weekend in Houston was successful to say the least. For the third year in a row, the professional NBA basketball player threw an eventful James Harden weekend in H-Town where celebrities, artists, and influencers from all over the country flew in to participate in its festivities.
While the 29-year-old hails from Bellflower, California, he was traded to the Houston Rockets during the 2012 – 2013 season and eventually became one of the best shooting guards in the NBA. On top of his prolific numbers, Harden is a seven-time NBA All-Star and was appointed as the NBA’s Most Valuable Player in 2018.
Harden calls his JH-Town event a “community-based weekend for the city of Houston.” One week ago, he took to his 10.1 million followers on Instagram to invite fans to come to the city. The caption read, “Come out and stop by ‘JH-Town Weekend’ with your friends and family for a fun time. We’re going to have a concert, a comedy show and a FREE softball game for the community.”
To excite Houston residents some more and encourage them to go, James created a Hot Boy Summer playlist on Spotify. The menu is a 50-track compilation featuring all of the hottest artists in 2019 including DaBaby, Young Thug, Gunna, YG, Nipsey Hussle, Travis Scott, Meek Mill, Drake, Rick Ross, and more.
The link in his bio diverted users to his website, which revealed the series of events that the public would be able to attend for the weekend. Through his 3 The Harden Way Inc. foundation, the site said the weekend’s aim was to create “provide higher learning opportunities for future leaders of our nation.” Started by James Harden and his mother Monja Willis, his initiative’s mission is to provide academic, financial support for students demonstrating leadership within communities, who are facing economic hardship.
On Saturday, Aug. 24, Harden hosted an intimate all-female brunch for the second year in a row. A group of women came together at Willie G’s Seafood inside The Post Oak Hotel to enjoy Remy Martin cocktails, fresh Lumiere red roses, and of course, bomb seafood.
In an exclusive interview to REVOLT TV, Harden said, “It means extremely a lot. I know how powerful women are, especially my mom — somebody who’s always right next to me. How strong-minded she is, how she did everything for me to be [where] I am today. That’s one of the main reasons I put this event on. With the help of Karen Civil and my mom… It’s a huge part of my weekend.”
With the help of Karen Civil’s Always Civil media company, Harden’s itinerary also included a charity concert on Friday, a comedy show and birthday bash/concert Saturday, and a celebrity softball game on Sunday open to the general public. Harden made it so that if you were a Houston resident, this was a cost-friendly event that everyone could take part in.
Speaking on behalf of H-Town, the L.A. native stated, “I’ve been here for the last eight years, they’ve embraced me as a basketball player, best man that I am. It just makes sense fuzing the community. I try to do anything to give back. Today, we’re actually refurbishing basketball courts with the mayor. It’s a beautiful weekend for people to come out, have a good time, and smile. Community-based.”
Of course, we had to recognize the one woman who’s killing it out of Houston: Megan Thee Stallion.
“It’s dope! She’s new, but she’s been on a high wave right now. Just Houston artists in general… I’m from L.A., so I listen to a lot of West Coast music. But, whether it’s Megan or Travis — Houston really embraced me as who I am.”
On Friday, Aug. 24, a surprise charity concert took place at Revention Music Center where music lovers could purchase $20 tickets — with proceeds going to his foundation — to enter. Earlier that day, Harden threw a scavenger hunt for those who wanted to come, but couldn’t afford it by hiding 10 pairs of tickets all around H-Town.
With Travis Scott announcing his new Netflix documentary via a pop-up in the city just the night prior, many pulled up to the 5000-person capacity venue hoping to see him hit the stage — and they were not disappointed. The openers consisted of OG Ron C dropping all the slaps until Houston legend Slim Thug graced the stage. “Still Tippin’” featuring Mike Jones and “Thug” immediately gave everyone a trip down memory lane.
Next, Maxo Kream hit the stage. The H-Town rapper kicked off his set with “She Live” featuring Megan Thee Stallion, a fan-favorite off of his most recent album Brandon Banks, followed by “EA,” “FETTI” featuring Playboi Carti, and lastly, “Cell Boomin.”
Soon enough, the West Coast was in the building as YG came out with Harden. The crowd did not hesitate to scream “MVP!” Also in the cut was Russell Westbrook, who is seen on stage going brazy with YG during the rapper’s “Go Loko” set. 21 Savage graced the stage next to perform his hits “X” and “Bank Account.”
Meek Mill was second to last, as he came out to “Going Bad” featuring Drake, and continued his set with “Tap” featuring Nav, the timeless single “Dreams & Nightmares,” and “Uptown Vibes” off Championships. The grand finale was Travis Scott, who completely shut down the venue. “Antidote,” “Mamacita,” “Way Back,” and “Goosebumps” had Harden and the rest of the room geeked. Shout out to Houston legend Z-Ro who was also in the building.
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