Over the past 30 years, hip hop has become one of the most popular genres in all of music. These days the culture can be seen everywhere from billboard, to television ads, and especially in basketball.
As the rise of the culture began to expand, we started to see more athletes who wanted to spread their wings, and try to turn their passion for hip hop into a successful career in music.
Shaquille O’ Neal is the first NBA player to be successful following the release of 1993’s Shaq Diesel which went platinum, and 1994’s Shaq Fu: Da Return which went gold.
Back in 2000, Philadelphia 76ers legend Allen Iverson also brought excitement to the hip hop world with the release of his freestyle under the name Jewelz titled “40 Bars.” Unfortunately, due to much controversy we never received his debut album Non Fiction in 2001. (Good thing we still have those A5, and A6 commercials!)
Other NBA stars have tried, but have not been as successful, such as Kobe Bryant or Chris Webber.
These days, the NBA has Portland Trailblazers star point guard Dame Lillard who is widely considered as one of the best MC’s in the league today.
Today (Aug 9), under the name Big D.O.L.L.A. the Oakland, California native released his third studio album titled Big D.O.L.L.A. The project carries 10-tracks with features from Lil’ Wayne, Jeremih, and more.
New album alert