Shaquille O’Neal’s $1.5 Million Donation to Ray J Helped His ‘Sexy Can I’ Record

Shaquille O’Neal is a seasoned businessman, who always seeks out worthwhile investment opportunities. Early investments in many suitable opportunities have made Shaq a lot of money and has also built him a reputation as an investor. His early investment in Google is a good example. RnB artist Ray J is another opportunity that the big man decided to invest in. 

And he was rewarded once again. Ray J (aka William Ray Norwood Jr.) recently revealed how Shaq made a timely investment in him that kickstarted his career.

The singer, songwriter turned entrepreneur was recently a guest on the Club Shay Shay podcast. During his sit-down, the RnB star revealed how O’Neal sponsored his song ‘Sexy Can I’, released in 2008.

The 43-year-old further explained:

“He gave us $1.5 [million] for the ‘Sexy Can I’ project, which was the ‘All I Feel’ project, and ‘Sexy Can I’ was the record to lead off. It sold 8 million copies.”

Shaq’s investment paid off, as Norwood Jr. blew up soon after the “Sexy Can I” track dropped. The big fella got back more than he put in.

What’s more, Ray J is still grateful for O’Neal’s support and sees him as a pivotal reason why his career took off. He added:

“We recouped the number back for Shaq, and I don’t know five months, six months, and everything else has been profitable ever since, so shout out to Shaq.”

“Sexy Can I” is the first single from Ray J’s fourth studio album, All I Feel (2008). It was produced by Noel “Detail” Fisher and features rapper Yung Berg. The single did extremely well on both domestic and international charts, even securing the third spot on the Billboard Top 100 in 2008.

But this wasn’t the first time Shaq invested heavily in the music industry.

In fact, O’Neal had a rap career for over a decade, which he ran alongside his duties as a center for the Orlando Magic and the Los Angeles Lakers. The Big Fella even has a platinum album (Shaq Diesel) and a gold album (I Know I Got Skillz) to his name and worked with many greats such as the Fu-Schnickens and Biggie Smalls.

Shaq’s ties to multiple music labels make him one of the front-runners in scouting and signing on talents. The big man is all for letting others have the opportunity to showcase their talent and make it big.