Long before the connection between basketball and hip-hop had become a given, a hip-hop magazine for basketball was born. It was 1994 and the foundations that both art forms stand on today had been undergoing heavy construction thanks to the work of icons like Michael Jordan, Tupac Shakur and The Notorious B.I.G.

SLAM accurately captured how language, whether it was written, performed or designed, was changing. It stood out because it represented the love of the game with an authenticity that other mainstream outlets couldn’t sniff. Stories were told about ballplayers—but not just about them playing ball.

The cover quickly became prime real estate when players like MJ, Allen Iverson and Kobe Bryant repeatedly agreed to pose for now-legendary photos, and the tradition continued when LeBron James, Carmelo Anthony, Dwyane Wade and many others led the next generation of cover stars. The game and culture evolved and grew, but the SLAM cover remained the Holy Grail, and in 2016 Canadian superstar Drake became the first entertainer to grace the cover, doing so alongside Raptors Kyle Lowry and DeMar DeRozan. In 2021, J. Cole became the first artist to do it solo.