Basketball, Bars & Beats.
- @Rarerecordings_
- Oct 7, 2015
- 3 min read
Back in 1994, an album named “B-Ball’s Best Kept Secret” came out, & it was hilariously awful. It featured tracks by Dana Barros, Dennis Scott, Isaiah Rider, Gary Payton, & of course Shaq. Most of which bummed me out, because I had imported it (not cheap) after seeing the ad in Slam magazine.
The stand out for me was a song by Jason Kidd called (seriously) “What The Kidd Did”. He sounds incredibly uncomfortable over a g-funk beat that wouldn’t have been out of place as filler on a Warren G album.
I’d pay good money to hear Kidd rap about the Toni Braxton drama that broke up the young, promising Dallas Mavericks at the time. (If you never knew about that, read this it’s crazy).
Shaq released his first album (can you believe there were 5!?) after his rookie season, & it wasn’t as bad as you’d expect. Being the superstar that he was right from the start of his Magic career, credible hiphop producers & artists were always willing to work with him (for a massive fee, one would assume). He improved over the course of his rap career, but he was always best sandwiched between people who get paid to rap for a living.
& even better when he was asking Kobe “how’s my ass taste?”
Speaking of Kobe Bryant, Grantland wrote an in-depth piece on his rap career here which covers all that needs to be said on that topic. But, I’d like to point you to this.
Yep. That’s Kobe featuring Tyra Banks’ limited vocal range, live & endorsed by the National Basketball Association. What a time to be a basketball fan.
Another Laker who liked to rap was the Artest formerly known as Ron. While he was serving the longest suspension in NBA history for the “Malice At The Palace” brawl, he famously said that “at least now I’ve got time to work on my album”. He released his album “My World” on his own Tru Warier label while on the David Stern forced holiday. His stand out track for me, was this one released after he won a title with the 2010 Lakers
Everyone who played NBA2K11 would have heard this a million times.
Another player involved in the Pacers/Pistons brawl who served a long suspension/rap sabbatical was Stephen Jackson AKA Stak5. Captain Jack isn’t a bad rapper, if you like the Southern stuff. Greg Popovich definitely doesn’t.
The Answer, Allen Iverson is one of my favourite players of all-time, so it pains me to do this, but rapping wasn’t for him. If any NBA star ever possessed the background, attitude, & credibility to do street rap, it was him. He recorded an album during the Larry Brown Sixers era, which was never officially released (it can be found on the internet) due to negative feedback & publicity over the content of this track.
The album was scrapped, & he went on to refocus himself & drag an average Philly team to the finals, & an MVP award. For a man who had so much rhythm on the court, he has a lot of trouble staying on beat.
Lou Williams is probably best known for winning the 2015 6th Man of The Year award, & having 2 girlfriends. For real, even JR Smith tweeted about it.
He can get it in on the mic much better than the aforementioned ballers, & with that lifestyle he lives, I’d probably be rhyming about being a boss, too.
I guy I used to pay a lot of attention to, as a Knicks fan, was Iman Shumpert. He dropped a mixtape a couple of years ago while he was rehabbing his torn ACL, called “Th3 #Post90s” which used a bunch of classic ‘90’s beats, & he did them justice, for the most part. Overall, Shump is a credible MC.
Now that he lives in Cleveland, I’m hoping for a collab with local MC Stalley.
Damian Lillard drove the rest of the Blazers solid starting 5 out of town, but presumably not because of his rapping ability. Dame Dollar has genuine talent on the mic, check this freestyle
He might get cut from Team USA, & only make the All-Star team when someone gets injured, but Dame Lillard is the best MC in the NBA.
Before I bounce, let me also remind you of this.
The ultimate NBA/rap crossover.
Chur.
@Rarerecordings_
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