“There Wasn’t Enough Money in it”: When Shaquille O’Neal Revealed the Reason He Gave Up on His Rap Career

Shaquille O’Neal only recently returned to the rap game, releasing his single ‘King Talk’ back in 2023. The Big Aristotle had taken a long hiatus from the genre prior to this, and clues as to why can be found in his 2011 biography Shaq Uncut.

In a section of the book, Shaquille O’Neal candidly talked about his exit from the rap game, and what led to it. Quoting from the book, Shaq’s reasoning was as follows,

“By the time my fourth rap record came out, the critics were after me. They were saying, “If Shaq weren’t a superstar his rap albums wouldn’t sell.” Well, that’s a brilliant observation. What’s your point, brother? Once the politics of it kicked in, I realized there wasn’t enough money in it for me to bother. I didn’t need it. It was a dream and I got to live it. I had one platinum record, two gold records, and one wood record. Time to move on.”

From the looks of it, Shaq was done with rap. Shaquille O’Neal never really got to enjoy his rap career, as media and critics would often discredit his success, as they branded his musical success a ‘media gimmick’.

But O’Neal did rack up baffling numbers for someone who was ‘ new to rap’. Though he had always dabbled in music, he never really put out anything on a record. It wasn’t till O’Neal had finally made the NBA, did he used his platform to sell records.

O’Neal went on to pave the path for many like Dame Dolla (Damian Lillard) and even Allen Iverson (Aka Jewelz). But O’Neal would enjoy success like none before or after him, as he would produce one platinum record, two gold records, and one wood-level record. A lot of artists take a lifetime to achieve their first platinum record, and O’Neal would smash all expectations, as he went platinum with his debut album ‘Shaq Diesel ‘.

Even with all the Fame and fanfare coming in through his rap career, O’Neal would ditch his musical career to focus on basketball. For O’Neal the situation didn’t make sense, as the money didn’t justify the late nights and the media storms, for O’Neal, basketball made sense.

Shaq collaborated with the best

To say that Shaq had no help on his way to the top would be an inaccurate statement to make. O’Neal’s popularity as a basketball player would put him in circles he would otherwise, never be a part of. While also giving him access to features no ‘ rookie’ rapper could even dream of.

His first album, Shaq Diesel (1993) featured artists such as Phife Dawg, Def Jef, and Fu-Schnickens. Some of the tracks were produced by EPMD’s Erick Sermon and Ali Shaheed Muhammad.

Within a year, Shaq would drop his second album, Shaq Fu: The Return. The album would go gold and would be graced by features from Method Man, RZA, Redman, and Keith Murray.

Shaq’s third album, “Can’t Stop The Reign”, would be his last commercially successful project, going gold as well. The album would see Shaq’s best features yet, with rap legends such as Notorious B.I.G., Jay-Z, Rakim, DJ Quik, Mobb Deep, and Peter Gunz gracing the album. Even with all its star power, the 1996 album would be underwhelming to most, as many correctly predicted Shaq’s impending downfall from rap superstardom.

But before calling it quits, O’Neal would embark on his last project called ‘ respect’, an album that saw Shaq’s most unique collaboration. The album featured a song “3X’s Dope”, which saw Shaq’s teammate and Lakers Legend Kobe Bryant feature on it. The duo even co-produced the song, leading to Kobe making his debut in the rap game.