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Shaquille O’Neal is one of the most dominant big men to ever step onto a basketball court, and I’d argue he’s easily the most talented member of the sizeable list of professional athletes who’ve stepped into the booth to show off their rap skills.
In the 1990s, the Hall of Fame center released a string of hip-hop albums that managed to hold their own on both the commercial and critical fronts, and now, he’s officially released the first song to ever feature Jay Z and Nas on the same track after reissuing one of those records close to three decades after it dropped.
Shaq wasn’t content with simply being known as one of the best players in the NBA when he took the league by storm after he was drafted by the Magic in 1992. His foray into acting may have left a lot to be desired, but he was actually a pretty proficient rapper whose first two albums (Shaq Diesel and Shaq Fu: Da Return) respectively achieved Platinum and Gold status.
In 1996, he released his third studio album in the form of You Can’t Stop the Reign. It wasn’t as successful as its previous ones, but it still featured an impressive list of heavy hitters thanks to features from the Notorious B.I.G., Mobb Deep, and Jay-Z.
Hov was featured alongside Lord Tariq (the Bronx MC best known for releasing “Deja Vu” with Peter Gunz and subsequently getting sued by Steely Dan over an uncleared sample) on the song “No Love Lost.”
That song took on a second life during the Napster Era courtesy of an unofficial version known as “Analyze This” that boasted a verse from Nas, who famously found himself beefing with Jay-Z in the early 2000s before they reconciled midway through the decade.
On Friday, the world was treated to the official version of the first song Jay-Z and Nas ever appeared on together when the longer version of “No Love Lost” and Can’t Stop the Reign hit streaming platforms for the first time after being rereleased.