{"id":103,"date":"2025-01-28T00:49:00","date_gmt":"2025-01-28T00:49:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.coverchargeblog.com\/?p=103"},"modified":"2026-06-15T04:00:41","modified_gmt":"2026-06-15T04:00:41","slug":"liangelo-ball-and-the-basketball-rap-canon","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.coverchargeblog.com\/index.php\/2025\/01\/28\/liangelo-ball-and-the-basketball-rap-canon\/","title":{"rendered":"LiAngelo Ball and the Basketball-Rap Canon"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">While LiAngelo Ball, a.k.a GELO, a.k.a G3, has yet to play a minute of NBA basketball, he has made his mark on the league in his own way. Despite this, he is NBA adjacent, with stints in both the NBA\u2019s G-League and Summer League, two development leagues used by the NBA to assess the talent of basketball prospects. His brothers, Lonzo and LaMelo Ball, have both carved out successful careers in the NBA for themselves. With the release of Ball\u2019s debut single, \u201cTweaker\u201d, is now a mainstay in NBA locker rooms and arenas, propelled largely in part due to the online virality of the song\u2019s opening line. \u201cI might swerve, bend that corner, woah-oah-oah<em>\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"GELO - Tweaker (Official Audio)\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/F2MdybKPqfE?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The song took off in popularity instantly, the original viral snippet hitting the Twitter-sphere \u00e0 la an appearance on a Twitch stream by the questionable internet personality N3on. He promptly released the snippet, which debuted at No. 7 on the Hot Rap Songs Chart. Ball is far from the first basketball player to moonlight as a music artist, but he has already made it farther than most, with news recently coming out of his signing of a record deal with Def Jam worth up to $13 million, as well as his being booked to perform at this year\u2019s Rolling Loud California. Here\u2019s a few others who have tested the musical waters.<br><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The first NBA player to experience major crossover success in hip-hop was Shaquille \u201cShaq\u201d O\u2019Neal. Shaq didn\u2019t wait long after joining the league in 1992 to start releasing music, putting out four rap albums during the 1990\u2019s. While all of his albums charted, his debut, 1993\u2019s\u00a0<em>Shaq Diesel<\/em>, performed the best, peaking at No. 25 on the US Billboard Chart, and earned Platinum status from the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). The album holds up and has its heights, such as two features from A Tribe Called Quest\u2019s Phife Dawg, and many memorable lines. Shaq\u2019s resonance as an artist decreased album by album, each performing worse than the last until he put his music career on hold in 1998. In recent years, Shaq has reemerged in the music scene, performing DJ sets all over the country and releasing electronic music under the name DJ Diesel. <\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"225\" height=\"225\" src=\"http:\/\/www.coverchargeblog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/Shaq-Album-Cover.jpeg\" alt=\"Shaquille O'Neal's face in a dark setting, looking down at the viewer.\" class=\"wp-image-105\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.coverchargeblog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/Shaq-Album-Cover.jpeg 225w, https:\/\/www.coverchargeblog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/Shaq-Album-Cover-150x150.jpeg 150w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 225px) 100vw, 225px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Shaquille O\u2019Neal\u2019s Debut Album \u201cShaq Diesel\u201d<br><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In 2000, the late Kobe Bryant released the single \u201cK.O.B.E<em>.<\/em>\u201d from his planned debut album\u00a0<em>Visions<\/em>\u00a0featuring a hook from supermodel Tyra Banks, a collaboration manufactured by Columbia Records in hopes to bolster the song and replicate Shaquille O\u2019Neal\u2019s commercial success. Kobe spends the runtime of the track flexing the spoils of his newfound lifestyle that was taking place in the early years of his basketball career. The song is by no means bad, but feels choppy, robotic, and like it was made by an NBA player after they\u2019d already made it in their field. The single drastically underperformed, prompting Columbia to quietly scrap the planned Kobe project entirely. The song, as well as the rest of the album, have since leaked online. The tracklist is star-studded, featuring appearances from Destiny\u2019s Child, Nas and 50 Cent to name a few. While Kobe\u2019s album failed to see the light of day, he remains a part of rap as a genre, with thousands of references to Kobe having been made in various hip-hop songs over the years.<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"227\" height=\"222\" src=\"http:\/\/www.coverchargeblog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/kobe-album-cover.jpeg\" alt=\"Kobe Bryant in a sweater sitting down and clasping his hands, looking straight ahead at the viewer. \" class=\"wp-image-108\"\/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Kobe Bryant\u2019s debut single \u201cK.O.B.E.\u201d<br><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Allen Iverson, a.k.a. \u201cThe Answer\u201d was not just an immensely influential basketball player, but also an all-around cultural force. His fashion, tattoos, and general off-court persona still reverberate through modern day basketball and hip-hop culture. Iverson\u2019s foray into music was brief. While gearing up to release his debut album, \u201cMisunderstood\u201d, under the name Jewels, the NBA\u2019s league office, specifically then-league commissioner David Stern, got ahold of the lyrics for Iverson\u2019s single, \u201c40 Bars\u201d<em>.\u00a0<\/em>Stern soon after called Iverson and his team to the league offices and held a meeting consisting of him reading off the lyrics to Iverson\u2019s single, including its explicitly homophobic lyrics and violent content. Stern told Iverson his album would not be allowed to be released, as Iverson had become far too big a star, one of the faces of the league, and \u201c40 Bars\u201d could have easily jeopardized his personal sponsorships and the league\u2019s as a whole. Iverson relented and kept his album in the vault.<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-full is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"500\" height=\"500\" src=\"http:\/\/www.coverchargeblog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/Iverson-album-cover.jpeg\" alt=\"Allen Iverson shirtless and looking to the side with many chains and a hat on.\" class=\"wp-image-109\" style=\"width:224px;height:auto\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.coverchargeblog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/Iverson-album-cover.jpeg 500w, https:\/\/www.coverchargeblog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/Iverson-album-cover-300x300.jpeg 300w, https:\/\/www.coverchargeblog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/Iverson-album-cover-150x150.jpeg 150w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 500px) 100vw, 500px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Jewels\u2019 debut single \u201c40 Bars\u201d<br><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">LiAngelo Ball will have ample opportunity to prove he is here to stay. He\u2019ll certainly have to improve his performing chops, as evidenced by a recent live rendition of \u201cTweaker\u201d at a recent Detroit Lions football game.\u00a0 Ball will have a plethora of resources at his disposal, whether that be the monetary support from Def Jam or the loud, vocal emotional support from his promoter-father, LaVar Ball. Time will tell if Ball can carve out a permanent spot for himself.<br><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>While LiAngelo Ball, a.k.a GELO, a.k.a G3, has yet to play a minute of NBA basketball, he has made his mark on the league in his own way. Despite this, he is NBA adjacent, with stints in both the NBA\u2019s G-League and Summer League, two development leagues used by the NBA to assess the talent [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":143,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[8,6],"tags":[37,11,36,28],"class_list":["post-103","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-music","category-sports","tag-basketball","tag-music","tag-nba","tag-rap","entry"],"featured_image_src":"https:\/\/www.coverchargeblog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/Untitled-design-5-600x400.png","featured_image_src_square":"https:\/\/www.coverchargeblog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/Untitled-design-5-600x600.png","author_info":{"display_name":"Benjamin Kenyon","author_link":"https:\/\/www.coverchargeblog.com\/index.php\/author\/benjaminkenyon\/"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.coverchargeblog.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/103","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.coverchargeblog.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.coverchargeblog.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.coverchargeblog.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.coverchargeblog.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=103"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.coverchargeblog.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/103\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":110,"href":"https:\/\/www.coverchargeblog.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/103\/revisions\/110"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.coverchargeblog.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/143"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.coverchargeblog.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=103"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.coverchargeblog.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=103"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.coverchargeblog.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=103"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}