Q & A number 9 in the Top 10 series brings us writer, music lover, hoops lover and Dimer, Scott Leedy ( @ScottLeedy). Scott explains his infatuation with Tracy McGrady, his love of Freddie Gibbs and Madlibs collaborations, his thoughts on “good kid m.A.A.d. city” (GKMC) and a few other things. I started following Scott after finding him to be pretty cool during my trips to DDL (Daily Dime Live).

My questions will be in bold, and his responses will be in plain text.

Scott’s Avi

How would you describe your tweeting style?

That’s always such a weird question, trying to describe your own style. I guess it’s pretty random/stream of consciousness. Lately I’ve been feeling like I’m just ridiculous enough not to be taken seriously but serious enough to not be one of the better sort of “fuck it” tweeters. So I guess I try to find a healthy balance, but sometimes having this outlet to just write down whatever I’m thinking can be a bit of a problem haha.

What role does Twitter play in your day to day life?

I think it’s given me an outlet for my own thoughts, but also allowed me to interact with smart, insightful people who have different views. It’s also provided me with a great deal of support and sort of kinship if you will. I feel like basketball Twitter is this weird family of anti social people that really like to talk. It’s part of the reason we’ve all run to Twitter as one of our escapes and methods of interaction.

I usually ask this later, but I’ll ask it now. What are your thoughts on #BasketballTwitter apart from what you’ve described already?

Like I already said I sort of view it as a family. We get in fights about silly things, there’s some pretty wacky characters, and we all have our own little quirks. But ultimately we are all there to support each other and just enjoy watching and talking about basketball. I feel like there needs to be a basketball Twitter Thanksgiving dinner haha.

You’re a huge NBA fan and you’re also really into music. Which one do you prefer tweeting about?

Jesus, that’s a really really tough question. Basketball and music have been the two most important parts of my life for as long as I can remember. I think it sort of depends when you talk to me. Some weeks or days its basketball, other times its music. Right now, even though it’s the start of the season and it’s an exciting time. I think it’s music. Partly because I’m really liking GKMC, but also because early season basketball Twitter is somewhat insufferable. Too much overreaction and reading into things that will all change by the end of the year anyway.

With music, GKMC came out recently and you were really excited about it leading up to the release, but as it got closer you became convinced it’d be disappointing. What happened?

A few different things. One, it’s very difficult to follow up an album as good as “Section.80”. Even if GKMC was a very good album it was going to be tough to live up to the expectations built by the praise “Section.80” received. I also went to a Kendrick Lamar concert and had this sort of weird moment that caused me some concern. Early in the show he yelled out “Who wants to get fucked up with me after the show?” of course everyone cheered and yelled. But this whole thing sort of rang false. Kendrick’s music is really about the exact opposite of that kind of statement (or at least Section.80 was) and that’s part of what makes it so compelling. I was worried he was caught up in it, and maybe the album was going to be different. Possibly disappointing. Also the two singles I heard “Compton” and “Backseat Freestyle” didn’t exactly inspire confidence. Of course it turns out “Backseat Freestyle” is actually genius within the narrative of the whole album, but listening to it as just a single had me worried.

Would you say your worries as a whole were unfounded?

I don’t think they were unfounded. The Gaga thing was somewhat concerning, and there’s A LOT of history of promising rappers ultimately losing their way. But obviously the album isn’t a disappointment, it’s goddamn brilliant. So I guess in retrospect, ya, you could say it was much ado about nothing.

Freddie Gibbs, you believe in his dopeness. You often shout out his collaborations with Madlibs, but you don’t shout out his other equally extraordinary (in my opinion) work very much. Why is that?

First off, when those two get together to make music it’s absolutely phenomenal. Gibbs recently said something along the lines of “I know how to rap over his beats” and that’s very direct and very accurate. I shout out those works so often because Gibbs + Madlib might be the best thing going right now. It’s also because MadGibbs was kind of my introduction to Gibbs brilliance. I love Gibbs rapping but I’m not a big trap music guy, which is unfortunately a lot of what his previous projects are riddled with. It’s another reason why I’m a big fan of “The Hard” and pretty much all of BFK (Baby Face Killa). The production is more varied and Gibbs is on top of his game. It’s also why I think “Scottie Pippen” was one of the best songs of last year. Freddie Gibbs is such an incredible talent, when he finds dope beats to rap over there’s really nothing better.

Shifting to hoops there’s a certain man that has a stronghold on your heart, Tracy McGrady. Can you take us through your T-Mac infatuation?

Yeah, the genesis of that is kind of random actually. When I was really young and just getting into basketball I was a big Penny Hardaway fan. Obviously Penny struggled a lot with injuries and his career ended far too soon(SOUND FAMILIAR?). I was watching a Raptors game for some reason (no idea why) and the broadcasters mentioned how this young player named Tracy McGrady wore #1 in tribute to Penny Hardaway his favorite player growing up. From that point forward I became a fan. Then T-Mac ended up on the Magic, wore #1 and started obliterating fools left and right, and I got really really into his career. I would make a point to watch every game he played on national TV. And every T-Mac playoff game was a momentous occasion in my life. Unfortunately it was more disappointment than I was looking for. But I’ve never enjoyed watching basketball as much as I did when I got to watch T-Mac. We’ll never see anything quite like him again. I really miss it. Which probably isn’t healthy haha.

I became aware of you through DDL as you were a co-moderator at various times. What was your reaction to head moderator Zach Harper (@TalkHoops) leaving DDL for new ventures?

I was very surprised but also happy. While Zach was incredible at running the chat I always felt he deserved to be writing more. Now he gets a chance to do that at CBS. Plus his podcasts with Matt are always a must listen. I’m so happy to have those around again.

From DDL

What are your favorite DDL moments and what drew you to it?

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