Shaquille O’Neal had a long and fruitful career as a basketball player. However, the hardwood floor wasn’t the only place he made a name for himself. An exceptional rapper, Shaq also made quite a splash in the music industry. He was incredibly talented and even has a Platinum album to his name. Recently, he’s taken to Instagram to share some rap-related content. And, 11 months after clarifying why a collaboration with Jay-Z was never released, he has shared one of the rapper’s legendary videos.
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Almost 11 months ago, Shaq appeared on an episode of Drink Champs, where he spoke in depth about his career as a rapper. In particular, he discussed a record of his that went unreleased. Featuring Jay-Z, Naz, and Biggie, the record titled “No Love Lost” did not get cleared for release. However, Big Diesel did not take it personally, because as he revealed the opportunity to work with the greats was amazing. Additionally, it helped that the money wasn’t even enough to entice him.
Shaquille O’Neal shares legendary video of Jay-Z recreating his album covers
Rap has always been a big part of Shaquille O’Neal’s life. In addition to having a successful rap career, Shaq has had the chance to work with some of the legends of the game. One of these legends is none other than Jay-Z. The Big Aristotle has had the pleasure of working with the Brooklyn-based rapper on several occasions.
Recently, Shaq decided to show his appreciation for J-Hova on Instagram. The Hall of Famer shared a video that recently went viral of Jay recreating some of his best album covers. The video was made for his Rhapsody commercial and featured some of his best covers. This includes The Blueprint, Kingdom Come, and The Dynasty: Roc La Familia, among others.
A nice little tribute from Shaq, that too, just 27 years after he, Jay-Z, and Lord Tariq released the song “No Love Lost.” The same song that was initially meant to be a record featuring Biggie and Nas as well.
Shaq shows Jay-Z love for his album cover recreation video pic.twitter.com/p3RHQAKUKz
— tragicpatek (@tragicpatek) September 25, 2023
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As mentioned earlier, the unreleased record wasn’t something Shaq took personally. He loved working with the greats and has a special bond with many of them. Jay-Z, Biggie, Nas, Lord Tariq, and so on, he enjoyed getting to collab with the whole lot. And, to this day, he still remains close with some of them.
Shaq has moved from rap to EDM and recently hosted his first music festival as DJ Diesel
Rap will always hold a special place in Shaquille O’Neal’s heart, but he has shown interest in other genres of music as well. In recent years, Shaq has embraced the persona of DJ Diesel as he looks to tackle the EDM genre.
He has had a ton of success on that front recently. Having just completed a tour with his son, Myles, a fellow DJ, he even released his first-ever album, “Gorilla Warfare”. Additionally, Shaq had the pleasure of throwing his first-ever music festival. Hosting it in Fort Worth, Texas, the four-time NBA Champion introduced the world to Base All-Stars.
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It was a huge success, and Shaq was, as expected, proud of how the entire festival went. He is looking forward to hosting the next edition in 2024, and so are his fans.