Back in the early 2000s, Jadakiss and Allen Iverson were heavily instrumental in fostering the NBA’s apparent relationship with the Hip Hop community through a pair of Reebok commercials that exemplified both of their talents.
During a recent interview with HipHopDX, the Ignatius creator explained, if anything, their pairing was organic.
“Shout out to my man [Steve Stoute],” Jada recalled. “He came to me like, ‘Yo, I got this commercial for you to do with Allen Iverson.’ A.I. was on fire … I was on fire fire, it made sense. I loved basketball … he loved rap, it was only right.”
Shaq Says Rap Battle With Damian Lillard Was "Just For Fun"
Kiss also denied ghostwriting The Answer’s bars for the A6 commercial but did offer his take on which NBA ballers actually had credibility on the mic.
“I think Shaq broke the barrier of what a basketball player could do commercially with sales and where he took it to,” he explained. “I think Damian Lillard is the best lyricist to be in the NBA or play basketball.”
NBA champion Iman Shumpert also got an honorable mention.
Jadakiss’ fifth studio album Ignatius was released on Friday (March 6) and features appearances from Pusha T, Rick Ross, 2 Chainz, DeJ Loaf, Ty Dolla $ign and more.
Stream it here.
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Got all the respect in the world for Jadakiss for what he’s given to the genre over the years, but never realised he was so shy…No eye contact for the video, fidgety…
I mean, not knocking the guy, just find it fascinating how a braggadocious, rugged street dude on wax could be that awkward in front of a camera is all.
He’s high
Dana Barros best NBA player MC ever
Beautiful Connect!- my mom’s simply love AI( rip to her; he’s the reason why she started watching pro b-ball)!
I got game he got game