Shaquille O’Neal always goes hard in the paint — literally and figuratively — and his latest rap feature demonstrates why he has such a dominant presence in the entertainment space.
On Friday (September 1), Los Angeles Hip Hop duo Coyote dropped a new single with the former Lakers center and it was as triumphant a homecoming as the three championships he won the city during his prime.
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“Being 2 Mexican kids from LA this was a special moment,” Coyote wrote on their social media. “WE BROUGHT @SHAQ BACK TO LA!!”
On the same day as the song’s release, MCs Ladies Love Guapo and Ricky Blanco sat down for a chat with TMZ and discussed how they brought the Diesel collaboration to fruition.
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“[Shaq] was like as long as it’s some hardcore stuff, I’m down,” Guapo explained. “So we made a hardcore Hip Hop ’90s-type song and we’re like, ‘Bro, let’s send it to Shaq,’ and he got on it, did his thing, he spit like 32 bars. He went off!”
He added: “Four hours later he FaceTimes us and he shows us his verse and he went crazy! He’s rapping better than 90 percent of rappers out there.”
Check out the music video of “3 Lokos” below:
The big man is no stranger to Hip Hop. From early in his career, he was tapped into the culture and has sporadically participated in it as an artist over the past few decades. Most recently, he even shared a freestyle about trying to track down a Home Depot worker who went viral a few months back.
Ariana Josephine a.k.a. the “Home Depot Girl” started making waves on social media in June for both her videos and her profession, and Shaq took a moment to slide into Josephine’s DMs after she received backlash for allegedly shading sex workers.
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“Don’t let them peopl [sic] bother u,” O’Neal wrote to Ariana, according to screenshots shared by The Legion of Hoops. “Don’t read the comments stuff like that will drive you crazy.”
Josephine said she was grateful for O’Neal’s kind words, to which the NBA legend replied: “Have a great day tell all your boyfriends I said hello lol.”
Shaq then took it one step further in a hilarious Instagram video in which he attempted to track her down at her place of business, all while rapping about how he’s been slept on his entire career.
Donning Home Depot’s signature orange apron, the basketball legend took over the store, towering above the isles as he promoted his new DJ Diesel song, “I Know I Got It.”
Shaq wrote in the caption: “JUST LAUGH PEOPLE, and have a wonderful day.”
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People seemed to be feeling the track for the most part, including Anderson .Paak, who commented: “OUTSTANDING.”
