From Ron Artest [click to read], to Allen Iverson [click to read], to Shaquille O’Neal [click to read], a plethora of basketball players have tried their hand at rapping, only to the find responses from the Hip Hop community less than praising. With this in mind, Phoenix Suns all star power forward Amar’e Stoudemire is making a different move that would likely give him a more legitimate presence.
According to Vibe, Stoudemire and T.I. have struck a collaborative deal between their respective record labels. Breaking the cycle of baller-turned-rapper, Stoudemire is pursuing a side-career as a manager. “What we are doing is collaborating as far as managing players…That’s something I have a special interest in; with me being an athlete I know what it takes and how important it is to have a great management team.”
The NBA has sported a Hip Hop image since the mid-90’s, with players and rappers mingling on a regular basis. With that said, it was only fitting that T.I. and Stoudemire found their hobby interests meshing well.
“T.I. and Grand Hustle are great from a music standpoint,” Stoudemire explained. “I got a record label out called Hypocalypto Records. My artist Juice [click to read] is the next project for me. T.I. wants to get into sports management, and I’m already involved with that so we are just going to collaborate with both companies. We’ve been talking the past two weeks about making something happen. We are finally starting to get the ball rolling.”
AD LOADING...
Juice, who also resides as a Black Wall Street affiliate, will be the first artist to jumpstart this new joint venture between Hypocalypto and Grand Hustle.
