No sport embodies hip-hop more than basketball. No music genre embodies basketball more than hip-hop.<\/p>\n
In 1988, when journalist Greg Tate explored what the relatively new genre was<\/a> and where it might go, he wrote hip-hop \u201cis the most modern example, after capoeira and basketball, of African culture\u2019s bent towards aesthetic combat \u2014 what the graffiti movement itself long ago defined as \u2018style wars.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n Tate, who went on to become one of hip-hop\u2019s greatest cultural critics<\/a>, recognized the importance of the music, with its four original key pillars (DJing, MCing, breaking and graffiti writing), as a cultural movement, a form of expression and a rhythmic complement to the game of basketball.<\/p>\n It\u2019s timing. Rhythm. The anticipation of knowing where you\u2019re supposed to be and where someone expects you to be is like a rapper riding the pocket.<\/p>\n The societal similarities between the sport and the art form gave athletes and rappers a natural connection. It was an intersection of similar circumstances and desires, particularly in Black communities. There\u2019s something interesting in how America was embracing this urban culture \u2014 as some love to call it \u2014 with basketball and hip-hop right there with it.<\/p>\n This week, starting with this essay and featuring other pieces, including the best NBA name drops in hip-hop, The Athletic will explore how this sport and this music genre were made for each other.<\/p>\n Going back to rap\u2019s early days, there have been mentions of basketball. When Big Bank Hank rapped, \u201cSo after school, I take a dip in the pool, which is really on the wall\/I got a color TV so I can see the Knicks play basketball,\u201d on Sugar Hill Gang\u2019s \u201cRapper\u2019s Delight\u201d<\/a> in 1979, the two became intertwined for the first time.<\/p>\n Then in 1984, Kurtis Blow employed a full-court press of NBA references with \u201cBasketball,\u201d his paean to the game. The hip-hop hit \u2014 with its famous and instantly recognizable chorus, \u201cThey\u2019re playing basketball. We love that basketball.\u201d \u2014 reached No. 71 on the Billboard Hot 100 in April 1985 and mentions 22 NBA players from Tiny Archibald to Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, with Magic Johnson, Larry Bird and Isiah Thomas in between. Even Rick Barry and Jerry West get shout-outs.<\/p>\n Legendary Public Enemy MC Chuck D, who was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2013, recalls DJs being an integral part of games at the parks in New York. Basketball greats and hip-hop excellence shared a similar foundation within the city.<\/p>\n \u201cThe music was always played,\u201d Chuck said. \u201cIt seemed like the more that music was bumping by the DJ, that helped the fast breaks. It energizes the crowd.\u201d<\/p>\n Now it\u2019s impossible to attend an NBA game and not hear music. Having a DJ in the arena is common. Chuck, however, said the music in arenas can sometimes be too much and take away from the game.<\/p>\n \u201cYou try to watch the play-by-play, and then all of a sudden, they play a song,\u201d he said. \u201cI think it\u2019s overemphasized. They don\u2019t know how to do it right, in my opinion. But back then, you know, nothing was in the way, and it was all done for the great reasons that keep the crowd occupied and the ballplayers doing their thing.\u201d<\/p>\n As the NBA grew in popularity in the \u201880s and \u201890s, so did hip-hop. Rap was the purveyor of cool, and ballplayers were its primary clientele. From baggy shorts to hoopers making their own \u201cmixtapes,\u201d<\/a> a term borrowed from DJs, the two were at the forefront of pop culture.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m two years away from being 50 years old. I\u2019ve been into hip-hop from its inception all the way up until now. I still work as a DJ, you know what I\u2019m saying?\u201d said Wally Sparks, an Atlanta-based DJ with Chattanooga, Tenn., roots who has worked with Ludacris, Rick Ross, Big K.R.I.T. and others. \u201cMore than half of my life, I\u2019ve been spinning, applying one of the elements of hip-hop as a career, and basketball has been right there with it.\u201d<\/p>\n The connection between hip-hop in sports has bred mutual respect. It also brings out the fandom in athletes. Name drops in songs are a big deal, so when a player hears their name, it\u2019s usually a memorable moment.<\/p>\n If the line was good, or just wasn\u2019t a diss, they like to let rappers know they heard the shout-out. There are times when Chuck is reminded he said an athlete\u2019s name. According to the website RapGenius.com<\/a>, 218 hoopers have been name-dropped in a hip-hop song. Only the combination of fighters and wrestlers have more with 226.<\/p>\n \u201cYou damn near forget about it, and (the players) say they remember that it was special,\u201d Chuck said. \u201cThey say, \u2018I listen to the music and I like the culture and, and you name-dropped me.\u2019 That\u2019s important.<\/p>\n \u201cI think it even permeates years later, because even with their kids \u2014 and not to say the kids are part of our audience, but the fact that it happens to be a bar and a bar happens to have another life to it \u2014 they\u2019ll be like \u2018Damn, Daddy, you were like that?\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n The \u201990s weren\u2019t just about fusing hip-hop culture with only sports. It became the basis for movie soundtracks. Chuck\u2019s musical connection to basketball included being commissioned by film director and New York Knicks superfan Spike Lee for the \u201cHe Got Game\u201d soundtrack, the basketball film that starred Denzel Washington and Ray Allen.<\/p>\n The \u201cAbove The Rim\u201d soundtrack has been a part of basketball culture since its release on March 22, 1994.\u00a0 The soundtrack is the third album to be released by Death Row and it\u2019s not really about the basketball played in the movie. Executive produced by Suge Knight, it sold more than 2 million copies and peaked at No. 2 on the Billboard 200 \u2013 a pop music chart \u2013 establishing Death Row as a serious player in the music industry. It also won Soundtrack of the Year at the 1995 Source Awards.<\/p>\n Along the way, there is plenty of blending within the two. Rappers such as Dave East (University of Richmond) and 2 Chainz (Alabama State) played college basketball. Cam\u2019Ron and J. Cole each have basketball backgrounds, too. Cam was one of the best high school hoops stars in New York City and Cole played varsity for two years of his high school career and frequently shares how much he loves hoop<\/a>. Master P saw time in the NBA with both the Charlotte Hornets and the Toronto Raptors on their training camp rosters.<\/p>\n Shaquille O\u2019Neal, Damian Lillard, Iman Shumpert, Marvin Bagley III and other players have used rap as a respite from basketball. Chris Webber has two production credits for Nas \u2014 \u201cSurviving the Times\u201d and \u201cBlunt Ashes.\u201d<\/p>\n Additionally, so much of sneaker culture really is the public turning basketball shoes into fashion statements, something rappers have been doing for more than 50 years. Conversely, as rappers\u2019 jewelry became gaudier, it\u2019s no coincidence the same happened with the NBA.<\/p>\n \u201cRappers want to be athletes. Athletes want to be rappers. I think the crux of it is both positions (come with) a certain amount of neighborhood love as well as spotlight and shine,\u201d said Dr. Antoine Hardy, assistant professor of communication and hip-hop studies at Seton Hall. \u201cYou have people coming from similar backgrounds and circumstances, not just neighborhood wise, but (in) having a gift that is nurtured by your community in some way.\u201d<\/p>\n What separates basketball from other sports is how effectively a player can show off their skills as an individual. There can be that one-on-one competition within the game that\u2019s similar to a rap battle. There\u2019s a certain performance aspect of basketball that lends to the relationship with the musical genre in a different way than boxing or football or even baseball.<\/p>\n Basketball at its best can be like a great posse cut, too. When the Wu-Tang Clan is trading bars effortlessly like on \u201cTriumph\u201d \u2013 \u201cMax mostly, undivided then slide in sickening\/Guaranteed made \u2019em jump like Rod Strickland\u201d \u2013 \u00a0isn\u2019t that a lot like great ball movement on offense?<\/p>\n But what ultimately makes basketball and hip-hop work are flow and rhythm. Both are needed in either field for success. Even one-on-one, a basketball player has to have a plan of attack, just like an MC breaking down how he wants to rhyme.<\/p>\n \u201cPure straight up rhyming, that\u2019s shooting the ball,\u201d DJ Wally Sparks said<\/a>. \u201cEminem is the Ray Allen of hip-hop. Ray was probably one of the most pure shooters in the history of the NBA. Rapping is akin to shooting the ball.\u201d<\/p>\n Truly, no sport embodies hip-hop quite like basketball.<\/p>\n