Shaquille O’Neal has always been more than just a 7-foot-1 force of nature on the basketball court. Known for his larger-than-life personality, NBA fans remember him for his four rings, 28,596 career points, and the 1999-00 MVP Award. He is also Diesel, the only athlete in history to go platinum with a rap album.
Recently, the Big Aristotle dropped a bombshell that could shake the music world if it were released. Shaquille O’Neal is holding onto a secret, unreleased verse from the late rapper The Notorious B.I.G. However, he is keeping it locked in the vault, insisting that the public will never get to hear those bars.
Shaquille O’Neal Keeps Unreleased Notorious B.I.G. Verse in the Vault
In an October 2022 episode of the “Drink Champs” podcast, O’Neal revealed the story of how he got his hands on the rapper’s verse and why he chose to keep it away. O’Neal said that he was shaking with nerves in front of his favorite artist. When the hosts asked about the moment with The Notorious B.I.G., O’Neal said, “It was different.”
“I sent him the beat, and he said he liked it. I had a studio in my house, and I was writing with my engineer. I don’t like that. I go back. I don’t like that. I did the record probably over about seven times. Then I got the one that I liked. The one that you hear. I was nervous as because for me, it wasn’t about being a rapper. It was about rapping with my favourite artist,” shared O’Neal.
He continued, “So Biggie gets to the house. I go into the studio, and I’m shaking. I play it and Biggie goes (nods his head) ‘That’s tight, Big Dog.’ Now I’m happy, and I’m like for real.”
Shaquille O’Neal reveals he has an unreleased Biggie verse, but he insists he’ll “never put it out”: pic.twitter.com/jYu4eAfPfd
— BasketballMuse (@basketballmuse0) October 10, 2022
What followed was something even O’Neal had never seen before. “Biggie goes in, and in one take, he killed it. But it was super vulgar, and I had to hit the button like…I’m the only one with that vocal verse, and I’ll never put it out. It is out of respect for his fans,” stated O’Neal.
Shaq’s Success and Legacy as a Rapper
O’Neal’s interest in music was not just a hobby. In fact, he had some of the biggest collaborations with rap royalty and produced a rap album that earned RIAA certification. His debut album, “Shaq Diesel,” released on Oct. 26, 1993, in collaboration with the group Fu-Schnickens, reached No. 25 on the Billboard 200 and sold over 1 million copies.
The album’s single, “(I Know I Got) Skillz,” was certified gold by the RIAA on Dec. 21, 1993. But it was a wake-up call about the reality of the music industry when O’Neal received just $600,000 of the total profits, prompting him to say, “All this for that!”
If one compares O’Neal’s NBA career with his rapper persona, both led careers surrounded by the best in the business. His rap discography includes five studio albums, featuring legendary figures such as The Notorious B.I.G., Jay-Z, RZA, and Redman. On the “Check-In at Wynn” podcast, O’Neal claimed that he had the “best discography ever” for a non-rapper.
Despite the insurmountable fame and global reach, he is not treating the unreleased audio as a commodity to be sold, which shows that integrity and brotherhood matter more than the big checks.
