Hip-hop and sports have always been synonymous. Since the genre’s birth, the two have been intertwined and that’s continued up to this point in 2023.
Rappers want to be athletes and athletes want to be rappers. In some cases, there’s a bit of crossover. We’ve already ranked some of the best athletes who are rappers, so now’s a great time to look at some of their songs.
We’ve compiled the 10 best songs from athletes that you need to hear today. I’ll be completely transparent at the top — “best” is mostly subjective. While most of these songs are great, a few are admittedly bad. But it’s the shock value of them that reels you in.
And these aren’t songs from established rappers turned athletes like Master P and J Cole. Including them would be cheating.
These are the folks who you wouldn’t think would have songs. But here we are listening to them in our headphones. There’s plenty to choose from here.
So, without further ado, let’s dig in.
WARNING: There is NSFW language included in the videos below
1
"Can't Stop the Reign" by Shaq ft. Biggie
Shaq had to be the most interesting person in the world back in the 1990s. The dude was arguably the best center in the NBA playing in the biggest market on one of the best teams we’d ever seen.
Oh, and he also was a legitimate rapper. His track “Can’t stop the Reign” on the 1996 album of the same title was a banger.
It featured Biggie, who honestly did most of the work on the track. But Shaq certainly held his own, too.
2
"Reign, Reign Go Away" by Damian Lillard
Damian Lillard is the best rapper in today’s NBA like Shaq was back in his heyday. But who is better between the two of them? They actually went head-to-head to try and figure that out.
Dame Dolla dropped an incredible track called “Reign, Reign Go Away” as a diss track to Shaq, playing on the track with Biggie, and WHEW it’s a banger. He reads Shaq for filth on here.
YOU AIN’T HAVE TO DO EM LIKE THAT, DAME.
3
"Super Bowl Shuffle" by the 1985 Chicago Bears
The 1985 Chicago Bears are one of the greatest teams in NFL history. But did you know they also had a dance, too? The Super Bowl Shuffle, man. This thing is vibey.
That’s a classic right there. Never forget it.
4
"Sittin Sideways" Freestyle by Malcolm Kelly
Malcolm Kelly was catching bombs on the field at Oklahoma. He also dropped a big one off of it with this freestyle after the Sooners won the Big 12 Championship.
Kelly won the MVP and did this.
The screen gets foggy because that man was spitting HOT FIRE.
5
"Big 4" by Flau'Jae Johnson
Flau’jae Johnson is one of college basketball’s biggest stars and that’s saying something because she might actually be better at rapping. She’s carrying the title of the only rapper to ever win a National Championship after LSU’s title last season.
She deserves that, too. She’s really, really, really good at rapping, y’all. Peep Big 4. It’s a banger.
6
"Free Smoke" by Lonzo Ball
It’s probably asking for way too much of Lonzo Ball right now considering he’s trying to rehab from an injury that seems pretty devastating, but man do I miss his raps.
Zo is actually pretty good. His Free Smoke track is crazy, man.
Maybe once he gets back to the court he can get back to rapping like this. It’s really good stuff.
7
"Must be the Money" by Deion Sanders
Okay, so, remember when I said that all of these songs weren’t necessarily the greatest? Yeah, “Must be the Money” by Deion Sanders fits squarely into that category.
Sanders sounds like he’s rapping and holding his nose at the same time here, which is not great. It’s also not mixed very well, either. But, man. There’s something about this song that’s entrancing.
Maybe it’s the “Must be the Music” sample. Maybe it’s just how smooth Sanders is in the video. I’m not sure. But, regardless, please watch this. You won’t be able to stop.
It’s just so fly, man.
8
"Kazaam Intro" by Shaq
This isn’t necessarily a song. It’s just the introduction to Kazaam, who is played by Shaq. But, man, isn’t this just a fun sequence? Like, Shaq is dropping bars here, y’all. You can’t tell me otherwise.
9
"Say my name remix" by Destiny's Child ft. Kobe Bryant
Kobe tried his hand at rapping a few times and, well, honestly he wasn’t that great at it. But, listen. It’s hard to be terrible when you’ve got an absolute classic from Destiny’s Child in the background.
Kobe could’ve said just about anything on the “Say my name” remix and I probably would’ve loved it. But it definitely helps that his verse was actually good here.
That’s good stuff, man.
10
"It Ain't Easy" by Kevin Durant and LeBron James
Ok, yeah. This is another one that isn’t really good. But it’s so bad that I am begging you to listen to it.
The title “It Ain’t Easy” tells you exactly what this song is about to be. It’s low-reaching, simple and kind of plain. Yet … the production is honestly good? The beat sounds good. The levels sound just right. The hook is … kind of awesome? It’s just that KD and LeBron are remarkably bad at rapping.
LeBron starts his verse saying “It ain’t easaaay, on this path alone. I put the world on my back because I’m very strong.” And I’m like … OK. But, also, I can’t turn this dumpster fire off. You’ve got to just power through it.
By the end, you’ve wasted about four minutes of your life. But, hey, what were you doing with that four minutes, anyway? Scrolling through Twitter X? At least now you’ve got something to laugh at. Your welcome.
