Sports and Music

Well, it was inevitable that I found a way to crossover my blog with my love of basketball. There were two ways that I could tackle this; I could either focus on how they have impacted one another, or I could look for the specific examples where they have intertwined. I have chosen the latter, as I find it to be a lot more fun for me to research, as I get to listen to some music that ranges from great to very below average. There are numerous athletes who have crossed over into rapping as a side profession; some of the most notable may include Shaquille O’Neal or Damian Lillard, but did you know that role players Andre Drummond and Iman Shumpert have also tried their hand at the career? Let’s look at some of the most notable and interesting intersections of these two careers. Please note that there will not be a whole lot to say about some of these, so excuse the brevity in some cases. This will also be skewed towards NBA players, as I have no care for any other sports.  

Shaquille O’Neal

The Big Diesel himself has solidified his name as the most successful rapping basketball player, due both to his outrageous off-the-court persona and his actual success in translating it into music. The four-time champion and one-time MVP has released five albums across the last three decades, starting off as a rapper before switching it up and becoming a DJ affiliated with the label Monstercat. While I can’t say that I’m exactly as big a fan of his music as I am his game, he does provide some really fun and silly songs across his catalog, such as the top 40 hit “(I Know I Got) Skillz”. It’s also interesting for him to not only have been part of the rap scene, but to be one of the most name-dropped athletes in rap. More recently, he reappeared in the rap game for the remix of “Shaq & Kobe” by Rick Ross and Meek Mill, with a surprisingly passable verse (despite some outdated flows). Also featured on this remix: our next focus, Damian Lillard.

Damian Lillard

People most commonly tout 8-time All-Star Damian Lillard as the best rapper in the NBA, which is hard to contend when you realize he is very easily the most notable despite a lack of commercial success. He has released four albums since his debut The Letter O in 2016, and has managed to garner features from rap legends like Lil Wayne, Mozzy, and Snoop Dogg throughout his career. On a technical level he is definitely more than capable, with a voice well-suited for rapping and some decent flows. While I have not listened to his entire catalog, tapping out after the first two albums he has released, I could never really get behind his music and became rather bored. I’m sure he is having fun while making it, but there’s no fun to be had in listening to him for an hour at a time. 

Miles Bridges

Now this is a fun rapper. Controversy and criminal record aside, there is not an NBA rapper that I would rather listen to than Bridges. Slotting perfectly within the burgeoning Detroit scene with his music and crossing over with notable artists in the scene such as Babytron, Miles Bridges manages to come across as a rapper who also happens to play basketball professionally, instead of being an NBA player who has decided to release some rap music. Lacing some fun references to his day job throughout his tracks, his outrageous music fits perfectly alongside some of his high-flying highlights. He even managed to get another NBA player, former teammate Terry Rozier, to appear on one of his songs to mixed effect.

Javale McGee

This is gonna be a short one, but it is interesting because this is the first instance of one of the players being a producer on this list, as opposed to being the main musician. Shaqtin’ A Fool lifetime MVP Javale McGee managed to land himself a production credit (under his stage name Pierre) on Justin Bieber’s album Changes for the track “Available”. This would make McGee a Grammy nominee, as the album had been nominated for Best Pop Vocal Album. So that’s pretty cool, especially for someone who was frequently scrutinized in the NBA. He has apparently also released his own solo album under his moniker, but any attempts of mine to find it on streaming just lead me to Pi’erre Bourne.

Chris Webber

Here’s an instance of an NBA player rapping and producing. His only album 2 Much Drama was released in 1999, with features from rappers Kurupt and Redman, and was largely self-produced by the 5-time All-Star. Not only has he worked on his own music, he has a production credit for a Nas track, “Surviving the Times” from his greatest hits album, a very solid song worth checking out. While his solo album was not very notable and I cannot say I highly recommend it, sparing yourself a few minutes to listen to a couple tracks definitely wouldn’t hurt, either.

And The Others

I’m gonna run through a handful of other NBA players who have tried their hand at music. Lonzo Ball, perpetually injured point guard for the Chicago Bulls, releases music under the moniker Zo, which is less than spectacular. Tony Parker, the Hall of Famer point guard for the San Antonio Spurs, released some French rap a while ago, which is very not good. Andre Drummond, another Shaqtin’ A Fool mainstay, has made an attempt at crossing over, and believe it or not, it also is not the best. Marvin Bagley III releases under the stage name MB3FIVE, and if you like Meek Mill maybe you can find something to take away from his music that I could not. And finally, legendary player Mason Plumlee, the Plumdog Millionaire himself, featured on a song by a guy named Will Roush, which ended up being hilarious. That’s about all I had today, nothing too fancy, just a fun little post that gave me an excuse to talk about another one of my favourite hobbies.