Key Points
- The Air Jordan 4 "She's A Star" drops today, July 2, in kids sizing for $165.
- World Cup Round of 32 rolls on with Spain-Austria, Portugal-Croatia, and Switzerland-Algeria.
- Essence Festival of Culture returns to New Orleans July 3-5 with Cardi B, Brandy & Monica, and George Clinton.
- Together AI closes an $800 million Series C at an $8.3 billion valuation.
Our latest roundup covers the World Cup 2026 quarterfinals, the Air Jordan 7 “Miro,” and Beyoncé’s surprise single — read the July 5 Daily Roundup.
Sneakers
Jordan Brand keeps its summer calendar moving with the Air Jordan 4 "She's A Star," releasing today, July 2, for $165. The drop pairs a "Sweet Beet" leather upper with mismatched red and light-blue accents (style code IO2829-600), and it lands as a kids-only run — grade-school, preschool, and toddler sizing only — which makes it a play for parents and collectors chasing full-size-run sets rather than adult buyers. Our latest Daily Roundup for July 3 covers Messi and Argentina closing the World Cup Round of 32, Nike’s Ja 3 and KD 6 drops, and OpenAI’s $122 billion raise.
It is a quieter release than what is coming later this month. Uristocrat covered the Free The Youth x Air Jordan 16, one of the more culturally loaded collaborations on Jordan's July slate, dropping July 17 for $255. All of it arrives against a cooler backdrop for the brand's parent: Nike guided to a 2% to 4% revenue decline as executives warned on softening demand. For the full month's release grid, WWD's July calendar is the running reference.
Sports
The World Cup Round of 32 continues today with a marquee three-match slate: Spain face Austria at SoFi Stadium (3 p.m. ET), Portugal meet Croatia in Toronto (7 p.m. ET), and Switzerland take on Algeria in Vancouver (11 p.m. ET). The knockout bracket has already produced drama: the USMNT beat Bosnia 2-0 with ten men to reach the Round of 16, where they will face a Belgium side that survived Senegal 3-2 in extra time. The Round of 16 begins July 4.
NBA free agency is the other main event. Norman Powell agreed to a two-year, $45 million deal with the Chicago Bulls, pairing the first-time All-Star with a young backcourt of Matas Buzelis, Josh Giddey, and rookie Caleb Wilson. It follows a wild opening stretch that reshaped contenders: the Celtics traded Jaylen Brown to the 76ers for Paul George and two first-round picks, the Lakers landed Walker Kessler and added Collin Sexton and Quentin Grimes, and Los Angeles is now weighing waiving Jarred Vanderbilt to chase Jonathan Kuminga.
Culture
The Essence Festival of Culture returns to New Orleans July 3-5, one of the largest annual gatherings of Black cultural and economic power in the country and a multi-day driver of the city's summer economy. The Caesars Superdome concert lineup runs Cardi B, Kehlani, and Latto on Friday; Brandy & Monica with Patti LaBelle on Saturday; and George Clinton & Parliament Funkadelic with Big Boi and Public Enemy on Sunday. Off the stage, Michelle Obama sits for a conversation with Keke Palmer, and Teyana Taylor's production company The Aunties serves as chief curator. Daytime programming at the convention center is free; evening concert passes are sold as single-night and full-weekend tickets through Ticketmaster.
The festival caps a busy stretch for Black cultural institutions and their owners — Uristocrat this week covered Young Guru's full-tuition scholarship at the Roc Nation School of Music and Google and Idris Elba's fund for AI tool access across African creative studios.
Technology
Together AI closed an $800 million Series C at an $8.3 billion post-money valuation, led by Aramco Ventures with Nvidia, Salesforce Ventures, General Catalyst, Vista Equity, and Emergence participating. The company builds infrastructure for enterprises to train and run open-source models — the "picks and shovels" layer of the AI arms race that keeps drawing the biggest checks even as attention fixates on the model labs.
It is the latest data point in a market where capital keeps flowing to the operating layer rather than consumer apps. That same market recently produced a pair of Nasdaq debuts Uristocrat covered — Bending Spoons' $1.6 billion IPO at a $19 billion valuation — and a wave of consolidation and unwinding, including Getty Images terminating its $3.7 billion Shutterstock merger after a U.K. regulator demanded an editorial divestiture.
Today on Uristocrat
Catch up on everything we published in the last 24 hours. The headline reads: the Celtics-76ers Jaylen Brown blockbuster reset the East overnight, while Young Guru's Roc Nation scholarship is the kind of ownership-and-access story — a legendary engineer funding the next generation's tuition — that rewards a full read.
Sports. On the World Cup knockout run, the USMNT beat Bosnia 2-0 with ten men, Belgium edged Senegal 3-2 in extra time, and Mexico beat Ecuador 2-0 for its first World Cup knockout win in 40 years. In NBA free agency, we tracked the Lakers landing Walker Kessler, their plan to waive Jarred Vanderbilt for Jonathan Kuminga, Mitchell Robinson's three-year, $47.4 million deal with the Celtics, Tobias Harris to the Spurs, and Kelly Oubre Jr. to the Pacers. Off the court, the NBA Cup final moves to Butler's Hinkle Fieldhouse for Dec. 11, and our Games to Watch mapped the full slate.
Culture. Beyond the Roc Nation scholarship, we covered Google and Idris Elba funding AI tool access for African creators and the floods in Ghana and Ivory Coast that killed at least 24.
Technology. On the business beat, the Getty-Shutterstock merger collapsed, and the global ad industry cut off revenue to 1,400 illegal World Cup streaming sites.
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