“Shaquille O’Neal Sold Millions of Records”: Kobe Bryant’s Recording Contract was Motivated by Shaq and Will Smith’s Success

Former record executive Steve Stoute appeared on Shannon Sharpe’s show Club Shay Shay and shared a ton of Kobe Bryant stories. Nas’ former manager turned back the clock to the time when he and Mamba lived together for six weeks. At the time, the Lakers guard was just 18 years old. Straightaway, Sharpe turned his attention to the recording contract between Stoute and Bryant. 

The 53-year-old admitted he signed Bryant to a recording contract, not without a reason. The host of Club Shay Shay reacted befuddled considering Bryant’s lack of critical acclaim as a rapper and asked, “To do what?”

Then the former record executive highlighted that through the 1990s, rap music shifted to a “much darker” sound by artists such as Nas and Mob Depp. Then he went on about how Will Smith, whom he launched in this shifting rap scene found a lot of favorable ratings with his samples. This success made Stoute feel that he could replicate this model with Kobe. Apart from that, Stoute pointed out how Shaquille O’Neal’s debut album Shaq Diesel had gone platinum. If Shaq could do it, why couldn’t Bryant?

“Shaq[Shaquille O’Neal] sold millions of records man. He really did it, it is not a fake thing. Shaq had a successful recording music career. I’m like if Shaq can do it, Will Smith did it, this kid Kobe, people would love this guy,” expressed Steve Stoute

The businessman also revealed that Kobe had a “rap group” and had some experience in the field. However, both Stoute and Sharpe laughed at the notion of Kobe being in a rap group and weren’t surprised that he went “solo” soon.

At any rate, despite not having a critically acclaimed career, Kobe “Bean” Bryant got to record with some of the industry’s elite names.

Kobe Bryant collaborated with a ton of talented artists but his solo career never launched 

On January 29, 2020, the LA Times published an article titled “Kobe Bryant: Basketball star, Oscar winner and … rapper? Remembering his music career”  which delved into Kobe Bryant’s rap career. The article touched on the criticism aimed at Bryant’s lack of flow during his debut rap album K.O.B.E which was never fully released.

Despite not making much of an impression as a rapper, he did play some part in some music tracks. The 5x champion contributed as a remixer to Destiny’s Child’s track “Say My Name”, he also had a cameo in Brian McKnight’s “Hold Me”. Apart from that, he also convinced 50 Cent, Nas, and Broady Boy for his song “Thug Poet”, from his unreleased K.O.B.E album.

In 2020, during an interview with Entertainment Tonight, LL Cool J recalled a time when he prompted Bryant to not pursue a rap career. A Complex article titled LL Cool J Says He Talked Kobe Bryant Out of Dropping Gangster Rap Album covers the reaction of LL Cool J to Bryant’s unreleased debut album. When he heard the album, the renowned rapper told Kobe, “Come on, dog. That’s not what you need to be doing.‘”