I think people just respect my rap [because] I didn’t skip steps. It’s a passion I picked up before [my] status as an NBA player. I took the route of any other aspiring artist; I started a platform on Instagram called #4BarFriday, where you rapped four bars and I got some big basketball names to do it [LeBron James, Paul George, CJ McCollum] and basically created a whole community. I started dropping freestyles every Monday, performing little shows in Portland and Washington, then started getting tweets from people who actually wanted to hear me make more music. I dropped two albums, people liked them, then I dropped another one last summer which was the most well-received—people just loved it.
What was that “battle” about that you and Shaquille O’Neal engaged in last year?
The battle with Shaq was not personal. He took offense to something I said and decided to diss me. So we settled it in a lyrical spar…But since then, we’ve done a song together and communicate often through text.
Who were your musical influences growing up?
I love Tupac, Nas, André 3000, Common, Lil Wayne…Lil Wayne is on all three of my albums. When I started putting out my rap music, he heard my stuff, we connected and started talking and became really good friends.
What do your basketball game and your music have in common?
If there’s an area of my basketball game I’m struggling in, I’m not opposed to someone telling me you need try this, and if it makes me sharper and better I do it. The same thing with my music: I’ll send it to Common, Joe Budden, J. Cole, QTip—friends who are elite in music. I want to hear the absolute truth. And they tell me the truth. They give me directions.
Much of rap music is about struggle; did you have a rough childhood?
I did have a rough childhood. I come from a real strong family—a lot of aunts, uncles, cousins, and grandparents—we had dinner, we had school clothes. We didn’t have everything, but our life was fine. But the environment where we grew up in Oakland was rough.
You were chosen for the All-Star Game this past year but were injured and couldn’t play. Were you able to train, and record music since the NBA shut down on March 12?
I’m healthy now, and I have a gym in my house, so I’ve been training. I record in a studio in L.A. and one in Portland. But with all this stuff going on, I set up a studio in my house, so every few days I’ll come in and write and record. After my last album was received so well, I got the attention of real music fans, so from now on I want everything I put out to be of a high quality.
How has your music evolved from your last album to what you’re working on now?
My last album was me making the kind of music that other people want to hear. In this era they want the bounce or the mumble rap, but I love Nas and J. Cole, that’s more of my style. With this new one, it’s me giving 100% authenticity of how I think and feel—being more vulnerable.
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